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A channel is where your chat agent meets your customers: your website, their email inbox, or a messaging app like WhatsApp, Zalo, Messenger, or TikTok. Every chat agent is created for exactly one channel type, and most channel types need a connected account before the agent can send or receive anything. This page maps the whole channel system — what’s available, where accounts live, how connection status works, and which setup guide to follow for each channel.
Voice agents don’t use chat channels — they run on phone lines. See What is a Voice Agent?

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Available channel types

When you create a chat agent, the Channel Type dropdown offers eight options: Channel type dropdown when creating a chat agent The channel type is fixed at creation — it determines which settings tabs the agent shows and which accounts it can use. To serve the same use case on two channels, create two agents.

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Where channel accounts are connected

Channel accounts belong to the workspace, not to individual agents. Connect them under Settings → Channels, which has one tab per channel: WhatsApp, Zalo, Zalo OA, Messenger, TikTok, and Email. Two channel types don’t appear there because they have no account to connect: Each tab uses the connect method its platform requires:
Connect accounts before creating agents. An agent’s channel settings can only list accounts that are already connected, so doing Settings → Channels first saves a round trip.
Some accounts can be marked Outreach campaigns only, restricting them to outbound campaign messages instead of two-way conversations. Use this for accounts dedicated to campaign sends that shouldn’t pick up inbound replies.

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Connection status

Every connected account card in Settings → Channels shows a status: Any card with a non-connected status shows a Reconnect button that re-runs the connection flow for that channel. OAuth-based channels can expire on the platform’s schedule — TikTok refresh tokens, for example, have a fixed lifetime. When Channel Alerts are enabled, Revve emails you a reconnect warning before an account expires so you can reconnect before conversations drop. Enable alerts in Workspace Settings.

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Linking an agent to an account

For Zalo OA, Messenger, and TikTok agents, the agent’s Channel settings include an account dropdown (for example, TikTok Account) listing every account connected in your workspace. Pick the one this agent should use. If the account you need isn’t connected yet, the dropdown’s Connect new account shortcut takes you straight into Settings → Channels. Email and WhatsApp agents assign their account the same way from their own settings tabs — the per-channel guides below walk through each.

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Channel comparison

On some channels your team can reply manually alongside the agent from the Inbox — see Managing Conversations for which channels support human replies today.

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What’s Next