Channels
Channels are the ways users talk to agents: Telegram, MAX, Bitrix24, SIP telephony, the mobile client and generic webhook channels. The screen shows installed channels only: their state, capabilities, connector configuration of the installed connectors. New connectors are installed on the Plugins screen — an uninstalled connector does not appear here.
The Bindings & access blocks live on their own screen (the «Channels & plugins» group), not on this page — on Channels you switch the channel itself on.
List and statuses
Each channel is a row with a connector icon, name, a single state badge (online / error / transitional / “no connector”) and its conversation and message volume. There is search and sorting by name or volume.
Channel features
Each channel has a collapsible features block — toggles grouped as:
- Messages — replies, threads, edit, delete, mentions, pins.
- Reactions & statuses — reactions, typing, read receipts.
- Interactive — keyboards, streaming.
- Sending — drafts, scheduled messages.
Features a channel doesn’t support are shown disabled. Toggling is applied optimistically and reconciled with the server.
Configuring installed channels
The collapsible “Configure installed channels” block shows cards for the installed channel connectors — this is where their credentials and parameters are edited (a form built from the plugin manifest), with live status while a deploy is in progress.
Bindings and access in 3 steps
In short, after installing a connector you answer three questions: who replies, who gets a reply, and under whose credentials.
- Who runs the channel — in the “Bindings” block, pick a default agent for the channel (the rule “new conversations on channel X are handled by agent Y”). Existing conversations keep their agent.
- Who the agent replies to — in the “Access control” block, the “Reply only to known users” switch (ON by default) decides whether the agent replies to everyone or only to provisioned users.
- Under whose credentials actions run — if the agent uses external services (mail, calendar, CRM), decide whether they run under a shared workspace account or under the user’s personal authorization, see Personal vs shared credentials.
For per-person personalization (a personal persona or personal connections for a specific user), give that user a personal credential via Connections — it automatically takes priority for them.
Bindings: which agent serves which channel
The “Bindings” block sets a default agent per channel — the rule “new conversations on channel X are handled by agent Y”. Existing conversations keep their agent (the per-conversation binding wins); an empty value means the connector’s default agent. The choice is saved immediately on change.
Access control: reply only to known users
The “Access control” block is a single switch — “Reply only to known
users” (ON by default). While it is on, agents reply only to people
provisioned in AiHummer (users bound to the instance) — random members of a
connected chat and unknown senders get no reply: the agent turn never
starts, and the unknown sender receives a one-time hint to ask the
administrator to add them. Turn the switch off to let agents reply to anyone.
The setting is stored in the settings catalog under the key
AIHUMMER_INBOUND_REQUIRE_BINDING.
Voice and SIP
The voice accordion shows the state of duplex, echo cancellation (AEC), the VAD threshold and barge-in. Telephony details are in SIP and STT/TTS.
Connecting a channel
The connectors themselves (Telegram, MAX, Bitrix24, SIP) are installed as plugins on the Plugins/Marketplace screen — the full catalog lives there. Once installed, the channel appears here: set its credentials in “Configure installed channels”, then enable features and assign an agent in “Bindings”.
If it didn’t work
- The channel isn’t in the list — the connector isn’t installed; install it on the Plugins/Marketplace screen.
- The agent won’t reply to a specific person — “Reply only to known users” is on and the sender isn’t provisioned; add them or turn the switch off in “Access control”.
- The “wrong” agent runs a conversation — the per-conversation binding wins over the channel binding; changing the default agent affects only new conversations.
- A channel feature is greyed out — it isn’t supported by that channel (unsupported toggles are shown disabled).
Next
- Telegram, MAX, Bitrix24, SIP — per channel.
- Personal vs shared credentials — under whose credentials the agent acts.
- Plugins/Marketplace — installing connectors.
- Schedules — scheduled messages into channels.