Channels overview: one brain, every inbox

Every place Wallu's AI can answer — web widget, Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, Discord, Telegram, Slack, and email — and how they all share one knowledge base and one inbox.

Channels overview

A channel is any place your customers can reach you where Wallu's AI can answer on your behalf. You connect each channel once, and from then on messages flow into one place, get answered from one knowledge base, and count against one set of Assist credits.

Wallu currently answers on these channels:

Web widget — the chat bubble you embed on your site
Instagram — DMs and comments (Business/Creator accounts)
Facebook — Messenger DMs and Page comments
WhatsApp — WhatsApp Business, via Meta Embedded Signup
Discord — a bot in your server (see Discord bot)
Telegram — a bot you create with BotFather (see Telegram bot)
Slack — a bot in your workspace
Email — inbound mail over IMAP/SMTP or a managed Postal address

There is also an X / Twitter tab, but X's free API tier does not allow the DM access or posting volume needed for auto-reply — the connected X developer account needs at least the paid Basic tier ($200/month, billed by X). Treat X as optional.

Where to connect them

Every channel lives in Integration Settings. Open a channel from the left sidebar (Web Widget, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Discord, Telegram, Slack, Email / IMAP) and follow its connect flow. The Connecting each channel article walks through the exact steps and fields for each one.

The shared-brain model

This is the single most important thing to understand about channels: they are surfaces, not silos.

No matter which channel a message arrives on — a WhatsApp text, an Instagram DM, a website chat, an inbound email — it runs through the same pipeline:

One knowledge base. Every channel answers from the same knowledge base. Update an article once and every channel uses it. You do not train per-channel.
One inbox. Every conversation, from every channel, lands in the Unified Inbox. You can read and reply manually from there regardless of where the message came from.
One set of credits. Each AI reply consumes Assist credits, whichever channel it was sent on. See the dashboard for your usage.
One escalation model. Human takeover and AI-pause work per conversation. When you jump into a conversation in the Inbox, the AI steps back for that thread on any channel.

Telegram and email inbound, for example, both funnel into the same processIncomingMessage handler that creates the conversation, generates the AI reply, applies escalation rules, charges credits, and pushes the live update to your Inbox. The plumbing is identical; only the connector differs.

Turning the AI on or off per channel

While the brain is shared, you control where the AI is allowed to reply. Instagram and Facebook have explicit response toggles inside their channel pages:

Instagram — *Reply to DMs* and *Reply to Comments* toggles, plus an optional per-channel *Instagram Sales Pitch* for DM conversations.
Facebook — *Reply to Messenger DMs*, *Reply to Comments*, and *Order Status Lookup* (which looks up orders via WooCommerce).

A useful nuance: on Instagram and Facebook, Comment Automation keyword rules always run regardless of these toggles. The DM/Comment toggles only control AI-generated replies — they do not disable keyword-triggered comment automations you have set up.

Web widget, WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, and Slack answer as soon as they are connected (email answers as soon as a message arrives), with human takeover available per conversation from the Inbox.

What lands where

DMs and chats (widget, WhatsApp, IG/Messenger DMs, Telegram, email, Slack) become conversations in the Inbox and are eligible for AI auto-reply.
Public comments (Instagram, Facebook) can get AI replies when the corresponding *Reply to Comments* toggle is on.
Discord can additionally power support tickets — see Tickets and Discord bot.

Limits and gotchas to know up front

Meta tokens expire. Instagram and Facebook access tokens are time-limited (~60 days). Instagram auto-refreshes on the next post; if a token fully expires you will see a *Token expired — please reconnect* warning and must reconnect.
WhatsApp has Meta fees. Meta gives 1,000 free conversations per month; beyond that Meta charges per conversation, and marketing messages have separate Meta fees. These are billed by Meta, not Wallu.
Slack real-time needs two tokens. A Bot token connects the workspace; an App-Level token is required for Socket Mode / real-time updates.
Email is verified on connect. For IMAP/SMTP, Wallu tests both connections before saving, so a wrong host or a non–App-Password will fail immediately rather than silently.

If you are just starting, connect the Web Widget first — it needs no third-party account — then add the messaging channels your customers actually use. See Getting started for the recommended order.

Connecting each channel

Step-by-step setup for the web widget, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Slack, and email — plus where to find the fields and the common connection errors.

Connecting each channel

Every channel is connected from Integration Settings. Pick the channel in the sidebar and follow its flow below. Three channels have their own detailed guides: Discord bot, Telegram bot, and Instagram bot.

Web widget

The widget is the fastest channel to launch because it needs no external account.

Open the Web Widget tab and style it (colors, launcher icon, position, typography). Your design is saved to the dashboard and loads automatically — you do not paste it into your site.
Open the Install section and copy the snippet. It looks like this:


<script>
  window.WALLU_CONFIG = { token: 'YOUR_TOKEN', position: 'right' };
</script>
<script defer src="https://YOUR-WALLU-HOST/wallu-widget.js"></script>

Paste it before </body> on every page.

Copy the snippet verbatim from the Install panel — the dashboard fills in your real widget token and host for you. The token authenticates the widget to your account, so keep it private; copy it only from the Install panel's Copy Code button.

Colors, icons, and design are pulled live from your dashboard, so you can restyle the widget any time without touching your site's code.

In-page triggers. The widget can auto-open the chat on a button click, a URL match, or a custom event — handy for cancel-flows or add-to-cart moments. Add a data-wallu-trigger="id" attribute to an element, or call window.Wallu.trigger('id') from your own JavaScript, and Wallu follows the playbook you configured under Proactive / In-page triggers.

Facebook

In the Facebook tab, click Connect Page. A Facebook Login window opens.
Approve the requested permissions and choose your Pages.
Back in Wallu, under Your Facebook Pages, toggle on the Pages you want active. An active Page subscribes to messages, comments, and feed events.
Under AI Response Settings, turn on Reply to Messenger DMs and/or Reply to Comments. Optionally enable Order Status Lookup to let the AI answer order questions via WooCommerce.

If a Page you manage isn't listed, use the attach / move page panel to reassign it to this account. Remember that keyword-based Comment Automation rules run even when the AI comment toggle is off.

Instagram

Instagram connects directly — no Facebook Page is required.

Your account must be a Business or Creator account (convert in Instagram → Settings → Account → Switch account type).
In the Instagram tab, click Connect Account and approve the permissions in the Instagram popup.
Turn on Reply to DMs and/or Reply to Comments, and optionally set an Instagram Sales Pitch used only in DM conversations.

Watch the token expiry note on the connected profile card — Instagram tokens auto-refresh on your next post, but a fully expired token needs a reconnect. Full details are in the Instagram bot guide.

WhatsApp uses Meta's official Embedded Signup — one flow, no manual token juggling.

In the WhatsApp tab, click Connect with WhatsApp.
Complete Meta's popup — it selects your WhatsApp Business Account and phone number and hands Wallu a token automatically.
Once connected, the tab shows your Phone ID and WABA and confirms the connection.

Incoming WhatsApp messages appear in your Inbox with AI auto-reply, and you can also reply manually. Note Meta's pricing: 1,000 free conversations per month, then per-conversation charges (marketing messages cost extra) — all billed by Meta. To disconnect, use Disconnect in the tab header.

Slack

Slack connects with tokens from your own Slack app.

In the Slack tab, click Connect Workspace.
Paste your Bot User OAuth Token (starts xoxb-) from the Slack API Console under *OAuth & Permissions*. This field is required.
Paste your App-Level Token (starts xapp-) from *Basic Information → App-Level Tokens*. This one enables Socket Mode / real-time updates.
Click Connect Bot.

You can connect multiple workspaces; each appears as a card you can disconnect independently. Tokens are stored encrypted. Slack is aimed at managing support tickets and inquiries from inside Slack channels.

Email

The Email / IMAP tab supports two ways of receiving mail.

Option A — IMAP/SMTP (self-managed). Best if you already run a mailbox (Gmail, your own mail server, etc.).

Enter the mailbox address (e.g. support@yourdomain.com).
Fill in IMAP (incoming) — host, port (default 993), username, password.
Fill in SMTP (outgoing) — host, port (default 465), username, password.
Click Connect Account.

Wallu verifies both the IMAP and SMTP connections before saving, so bad credentials fail right away. Passwords are stored encrypted. For Gmail and most providers you must use an App Password, not your normal login password — and use the mail server's hostname (e.g. imap.gmail.com), not your website domain, to avoid a hostname-mismatch error.

Option B — Postal (managed). If you have set up a sending domain in Reach, inbound mail to that address is delivered to Wallu by webhook and a channel is auto-provisioned. It shows up as "Receiving via Postal · Replies via SMTP" — no IMAP credentials needed.

Either way, inbound emails become conversations in your Inbox, the AI replies in-thread (proper In-Reply-To / References headers), and duplicate deliveries are ignored by Message-ID. Deleting a channel stops syncing that mailbox.

Discord and Telegram

Both are bots you create and paste a token for:

Discord — create a Discord application, then paste its Application ID and Bot Token, and invite the bot to your server. Full walkthrough: Discord bot.
Telegram — message @BotFather, send /newbot, copy the HTTP API token, paste it, and click Connect Bot. Full walkthrough: Telegram bot.

Both answer from your shared knowledge base and route conversations into your Inbox, just like every other channel.