list_of_user_chats
List of user chats in managed state
LABSCO SUMMARY
Support conversations as input, not as a browser tab.
The design choice worth knowing is that both the message count and the response shape are capped on purpose: ten recent messages per chat, trimmed to the useful fields. That is what makes it possible to pull a batch of conversations into a session and ask what customers are actually complaining about, rather than hitting the context limit on the third chat. It reads; it does not reply, so nothing here can send a message to a customer.
What it is
A reader over the Channel Talk Open API. Two calls: one lists user chats by state, the other takes those chat ids and returns their messages, requesting them in parallel rather than one at a time.
What you get
- User chats listed by the state they are in, so an open queue and a closed backlog are separate questions
- Messages for several chats at once from a single call, fetched in parallel by chat id
- The ten most recent messages per chat rather than the whole history
- Responses reduced before they are returned — the fields that matter are kept and the rest of the API payload is dropped, so a large result set stays workable in a conversation
Requirements
Channel Talk API credentials — an access key and a secret key from an app you create in their developer console. They can be passed on the launch command as --access-key and --secret-key, or set as CHANNEL_TALK_X_ACCESS_KEY and CHANNEL_TALK_X_ACCESS_SECRET in the environment. Node.js 18 or newer; it runs as npx -y mcp-channel-io. This is an unofficial client and covers part of the Channel Talk Open API rather than all of it — reading chats and their messages, not replying to them. ISC.
Setup effort
One command plus a key — npx -y mcp-channel-io, then supply credentials
USE CASES
01
Finding out what is in the support queue right now
List the chats in the state you care about, then pull their recent messages together in one call.
02
Summarising a week of customer conversations
Take a batch of chat ids and read the recent messages across all of them, already trimmed to the parts worth reading.
03
Catching up on one conversation before replying in Channel Talk
Read that chat's recent messages to see where it got to, then answer in Channel Talk itself.
2 tools
Counted once with only startup setup. Other versions, modes or optional credentials may expose a different list.
retrieve_list_of_messages_in_user_chats
Retrieve list of messages in a user chats with parallel request
BEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
2 tools when we connected. Both tools only read, so you cannot reply to a customer. Message lists return only the latest 10 messages, with selected fields rather than the raw API payload.
Requires
- npx on PATH
- Node.js 18 or later
CONTEXT COST
Light Standing cost
Rated by the size of the 2 tool definitions that ride along on every turn, not by how many there are
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
Server setup
TERMINAL
npx -y mcp-channel-ioMCP Clients
Claude Desktop
CLAUDE DESKTOP · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcp-channel-io": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"mcp-channel-io",
"--",
"--access-key",
"<YOUR_ACCESS_KEY>",
"--secret-key",
"<YOUR_SECRET_KEY>",
"--ssl-off"
]
}
}
}Cursor
CURSOR · TERMINAL
git clone https://github.com/scarfunk/mcp-channel-io.git
cd mcp-channel-io
npm install
npm run buildCURSOR · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"channel-io": {
"command": "node",
"args": [
"<YOUR_PATH_TO_PROJECT_DIR>/build/index.js",
"--access-key",
"<YOUR_ACCESS_KEY>",
"--secret-key",
"<YOUR_SECRET_KEY>"
]
}
}
}This runs your own build instead of the npm package; it goes in .cursor/mcp.json. <YOUR_PATH_TO_PROJECT_DIR> is the absolute path of your clone, and <YOUR_ACCESS_KEY> and <YOUR_SECRET_KEY> are the keys from your Channel.io developer console app.
