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Share an agent

A shared link puts one agent on a public web page, such as https://app.catalex.co/a/ID. Anyone who has the address can chat with the agent in a browser. They need no CatalEx, no sign-in and no Slack or WhatsApp account. Use it to let customers, colleagues or friends reach an agent without setting anything up.

Before you start:

  • CatalEx is signed in to CatalEx Cloud (see Get the app).
  • The agent exists on this computer (Add an agent).
  • This computer stays on and connected while people chat. When it is offline, the page shows the agent as offline and its message box is disabled.

In the app​

  1. Open Agents and choose Settings on the agent's tile, then the Channels tab. Choose Add channel. (On the tile you can also click a muted app logo or use Add channel.)
  2. In the Add new channel dialog (For NAME), choose the Shared link tile. The link is created at once, with nothing to enter. A notice says Shared link added. Copy it from the Channels tab.
  3. In the Channels tab, find the Shared link row. It reads You can disable this any time and shows the address with Copy and Unlink. Choose Copy; the button says Copied and the address is on your clipboard.
  4. Send the address to the people you want to reach the agent.

An agent has one shared link.

Each visitor's chat appears under the agent's Link channel in the agent's chat view, titled with the first words of its first message and marked Visitor beneath it, because a visitor has no name or address. Until you select one, the pane says Visitors’ chats appear here. Select one to read it. You read visitor chats there; you do not answer them, the agent does.

To stop sharing, choose Unlink on the row and confirm Unlink this shared link?. The address stops working at once, open chats on it end and the link cannot come back. Adding a shared link again makes a new address. Deleting the agent also ends its link.

If the row shows no address, CatalEx cannot tell the address of the service this computer is connected to. It never guesses one, so Copy stays disabled until it can.

With the CLI​

  1. Find the agent's ID:

    catalex agents list

  2. Create the link:

    catalex channels add --agent AGENT_ID --type share_link

    Expected: a line Shared link: ADDRESS. With --json, data.page_path and data.address hold it. A second link for the same agent is refused with AGENT_ALREADY_BOUND, and the message names catalex channels remove CHANNEL_ID.

  3. Show the address again. It is in the ADDRESS column (--json: page_path and address):

    catalex channels list --agent AGENT_ID

    Signed out, or when the service cannot be read, the column is empty.

  4. Unlink it. This asks nothing first:

    catalex channels remove CHANNEL_ID

    Expected: Unlinked Shared link CHANNEL_ID of AGENT. The address stops working at once.

Creating a link needs CatalEx Cloud. Without it, CatalEx refuses and gives the reason. The reference for each command is in the CLI reference.

There is nothing to accept or install. Opening the address shows the chat page straight away:

  • The agent's picture and name, with Online or Offline. When it is offline, the message box says Away right now.
  • A message box with Attach files, Record voice message and Send message. A recording shows Discard recording and Send voice message. If recording is unavailable, the page says Recording is unavailable here. You can attach an audio file instead.
  • A theme button (Match system, Light or Dark) and Clear chat, both beside the agent's name. Clear chat asks Are you sure you want to refresh this chat? Your messages will be cleared. and erases the visitor's messages at once.
  • Load earlier messages for older messages still kept.
  • At the bottom, Want to build your own twin? with Download CatalEx.

An address that was unlinked, never existed or belongs to a deleted agent shows Oops, this doesn’t look like a valid link. All three look the same.

What to know​

  • Each visitor has a private chat. The browser holds a random visitor key, so the same browser comes back to the same chat and nobody sees another visitor's messages. A new browser, or a cleared one, starts a new chat.
  • Messages are kept for 24 hours, counted from each message, then removed with their files. Your agent's own message limits apply to each visitor as on any channel. A visitor who is refused sees This chat has hit limits set by the author. Please try again later.
  • Visitors answer questions but never decide permissions. When the agent needs a permission, the page says NAME needs the owner's OK to … and you decide in CatalEx (Files, charts and decisions). An agent set to Always deny refuses without asking anyone.
  • Anyone with the address can use the agent. Share it only with people you trust with the agent's tools, and unlink it when you are done. Set the agent's Permissions and Limits first (Tools and permissions).
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