Skip to main content
Glama
kaosensei

Intercom Articles MCP Server

by kaosensei
README.md
# Intercom MCP Server

Intercom MCP server for Help Center content management and CS workflow automation.

## Version

**v0.9.0** - Added `send_outbound_email` — start a NEW outbound email to a contact by email address (resolves/creates the contact, retries on the post-create 404 propagation delay). Complements `reply_conversation`, which only replies within an existing conversation.

**v0.8.4** - Internal cleanup: removed the unused `zod` dependency; extracted shared `ok()` (tool-result wrapper) and `clamp()` (pagination) helpers to cut ~140 lines of repetition; dropped four decorative pass-through interfaces. No tool, schema, or output changes.

**v0.8.3** - `get_conversation` no longer drops message-bearing `open` parts (customer email replies that reopen a closed conversation) or `assignment` parts (the first admin reply); also surfaces per-part `attachments` and lifts ticket-form content into explicit `ticket.title` / `ticket.description` — fixes triage missing the latest customer message or screenshots

**v0.8.2** - `get_conversation` keeps triage essentials (source/delivered_as, ticket-form attributes, contacts, per-part `from_quick_reply` flag) instead of stripping them — needed to tell "typed a reply" from "tapped a quick-reply button"

**v0.8.1** - Fix: `search_conversations` accepts the `query` even when the MCP client serializes the object as a JSON string (Intercom rejected the stringified form)

**v0.8.0** - Added `search_conversations` & `get_conversation`; slimmed all action-tool responses (reply/close/note/article/ticket) to return only confirmation fields instead of the full Intercom object — prevents flooding the MCP client's context window

**v0.7.0** - Added delete_article, create_collection, list_admins; optimized search_articles response

## Features

### Articles
- ✅ `get_article` - Get a single article by ID
- ✅ `list_articles` - List articles with pagination
- ✅ `search_articles` - Search articles by keywords with highlighting support
- ✅ `create_article` - Create new articles with multilingual content
- ✅ `update_article` - Update existing articles with partial updates
- ✅ `delete_article` - Delete an article permanently

### Collections
- ✅ `list_collections` - List all Help Center collections
- ✅ `get_collection` - Get a single collection by ID
- ✅ `update_collection` - Update collection info and translations
- ✅ `delete_collection` - Delete a collection (permanent)
- ✅ `create_collection` - Create new Help Center collections

### Admin
- ✅ `list_admins` - List workspace admins (useful for finding valid author_id)

### Conversations
- ✅ `search_conversations` - Search conversations (slim list: id/state/contact/timestamps, no parts)
- ✅ `get_conversation` - Get one conversation with message history (slim: keeps comment/note/quick_reply plus any message-bearing open/assignment part + attachments; pure system events filtered out)

### CS Workflow
- ✅ `reply_conversation` - Reply to a conversation as an admin (returns slim confirmation)
- ✅ `send_outbound_email` - Start a NEW outbound email to a contact by email address (resolves/creates contact, returns new conversation_id)
- ✅ `add_conversation_note` - Add an internal note to a conversation
- ✅ `close_conversation` - Close a conversation
- ✅ `update_ticket_state` - Update a ticket's state

## Installation

1. Clone the repository:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/kaosensei/intercom-mcp.git
cd intercom-mcp
```

2. Install dependencies:
```bash
npm install
```

3. Build the project:
```bash
npm run build
```

## Configuration

### Get Intercom Access Token

1. Go to Intercom Settings → Developers → Developer Hub
2. Create a new app or use existing one
3. Get an Access Token with **Articles** and **Conversations** read and write permissions

### Environment Variables

| Variable | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `INTERCOM_ACCESS_TOKEN` | ✅ Always | Your Intercom API access token |
| `INTERCOM_ADMIN_ID` | ✅ For CS tools | Admin ID used for `reply_conversation`, `add_conversation_note` and `send_outbound_email` when `admin_id` parameter is not provided |

### Configure with Claude Code (Recommended)

If you're using Claude Code CLI, you can easily add the MCP server:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport stdio intercom-mcp \
  --env INTERCOM_ACCESS_TOKEN=<your_token> \
  --env INTERCOM_ADMIN_ID=<your_admin_id> \
  -- node /ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/intercom-mcp/dist/index.js
```

Replace:
- `<your_token>` with your Intercom Access Token
- `/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/` with your actual project path

To verify it's configured:
```bash
claude mcp list
```

### Configure Claude Desktop Manually

Alternatively, edit your Claude Desktop config file:

**macOS**: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
**Windows**: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`

Add this configuration:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "intercom-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/intercom-mcp/dist/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "INTERCOM_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your_intercom_access_token_here",
        "INTERCOM_ADMIN_ID": "your_admin_id_here"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

**Important**:
- Replace `/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/intercom-mcp` with your actual project path
- Replace `your_intercom_access_token_here` with your actual token
- Replace `your_admin_id_here` with your Intercom admin ID (required for CS tools)

### Restart Claude Desktop

Completely quit Claude Desktop and restart it.

## Usage

Once configured, you can use these commands in Claude Desktop:

### List Articles
```
List Intercom articles
```

or

```
Show me the first 20 Intercom articles
```

### Get Article Details
```
Get Intercom article with ID 9876543
```

### Search Articles
```
Search for Intercom articles about "subscription"
```

or

```
Search published articles containing "播客" with highlighted matches
```

or

```
Find articles with keyword "訂閱" in Chinese
```

### Create Article
```
Create a new Intercom article titled "Getting Started Guide" with content "Welcome to our platform" by author ID 123456, save as draft
```

### Update Article
```
Update article 9876543 and change its state to published
```

### List Collections
```
List all Intercom Help Center collections
```

### Get Collection
```
Get collection with ID 14608214
```

### Update Collection
```
Update collection 14608214 and add Japanese translation
```

### Delete Collection
```
Delete collection 16036040
```

## Use Case: Translation Management

One of the key features of v0.4.0 is the ability to manage multilingual collections efficiently.

### Add Missing Translations

You can easily add translations to collections that are missing certain languages:

```
Update collection 14608214 and add the missing Japanese translation: name "アカウント管理", description "アカウント設定を管理する"
```

### Bulk Translation Updates

Check which collections are missing translations:

```
List all collections and show me which ones are missing Japanese translations
```

Then update them one by one or create a plan to update multiple collections.

### Verify Translations

After updating, verify the changes:

```
Get collection 14608214 and show me all available translations
```

## Tools Reference

### `get_article`

Get a single article by ID.

**Parameters:**
- `id` (string, required): Article ID

**Example:**
```json
{
  "id": "9876543"
}
```

### `list_articles`

List articles with pagination.

**Parameters:**
- `page` (number, optional): Page number (default: 1)
- `per_page` (number, optional): Articles per page (default: 10, max: 50)

**Example:**
```json
{
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 20
}
```

### `search_articles`

Search for articles using keywords. Supports full-text search across article content with multilingual support (English, Chinese, Japanese, etc.).

**Parameters:**
- `phrase` (string, optional): Search keywords/phrase to find in articles
- `state` (string, optional): Filter by article state - "published", "draft", or "all" (default: "all")
- `help_center_id` (string, optional): Filter by specific Help Center ID

**Example (Search by keyword):**
```json
{
  "phrase": "subscription"
}
```

**Example (List all drafts, no keyword needed):**
```json
{
  "state": "draft"
}
```

**Example (Chinese keyword search):**
```json
{
  "phrase": "訂閱制",
  "state": "all"
}
```

**Response includes:**
- `total_count`: Total number of matching articles
- `articles`: Array of summary fields per article (id, title, description, state, url, author_id, created_at, updated_at, parent_id, parent_type)

Use `get_article` to fetch the full content of a specific article.

**Use Cases:**
- Find all articles about a specific topic
- Search for Chinese/Japanese content in multilingual help centers
- Locate articles that need updating
- Discover related content for cross-linking

### `create_article`

Create a new article with multilingual support.

**Parameters:**
- `title` (string, required): Article title
- `body` (string, required): Article content in HTML format
- `author_id` (number, required): Author ID (must be a valid Intercom team member)
- `description` (string, optional): Article description
- `state` (string, optional): "draft" or "published" (default: "draft")
- `parent_id` (string, optional): Collection or section ID
- `parent_type` (string, optional): "collection" (default)
- `translated_content` (object, optional): Multilingual content

**Example (Simple):**
```json
{
  "title": "Getting Started Guide",
  "body": "<p>Welcome to our platform</p>",
  "author_id": 123456,
  "state": "draft"
}
```

**Example (Multilingual):**
```json
{
  "title": "Getting Started Guide",
  "body": "<p>Welcome to our platform</p>",
  "author_id": 123456,
  "state": "published",
  "translated_content": {
    "zh-TW": {
      "title": "入門指南",
      "body": "<p>歡迎使用我們的平台</p>",
      "author_id": 123456,
      "state": "published"
    },
    "ja": {
      "title": "スタートガイド",
      "body": "<p>プラットフォームへようこそ</p>",
      "author_id": 123456,
      "state": "published"
    }
  }
}
```

### `update_article`

Update an existing article. Only provided fields will be updated.

**Parameters:**
- `id` (string, required): Article ID
- `title` (string, optional): Updated title
- `body` (string, optional): Updated content
- `description` (string, optional): Updated description
- `state` (string, optional): "draft" or "published"
- `author_id` (number, optional): Updated author ID
- `translated_content` (object, optional): Updated translations

**Example (Change state):**
```json
{
  "id": "9876543",
  "state": "published"
}
```

**Example (Update content):**
```json
{
  "id": "9876543",
  "title": "Updated Title",
  "body": "<p>Updated content</p>"
}
```

**Example (Add translation):**
```json
{
  "id": "9876543",
  "translated_content": {
    "zh-TW": {
      "title": "更新的標題",
      "body": "<p>更新的內容</p>"
    }
  }
}
```

### `list_collections`

List all Help Center collections (top-level categories).

**Parameters:**
- `page` (number, optional): Page number (default: 1)
- `per_page` (number, optional): Collections per page (default: 50, max: 150)

**Example:**
```json
{
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 50
}
```

### `get_collection`

Get a single collection by ID.

**Parameters:**
- `id` (string, required): Collection ID

**Example:**
```json
{
  "id": "14608214"
}
```

### `update_collection`

Update an existing collection. Only provided fields will be updated. Perfect for adding missing translations!

**Parameters:**
- `id` (string, required): Collection ID
- `name` (string, optional): Updated collection name (updates default language)
- `description` (string, optional): Updated description (updates default language)
- `parent_id` (string, optional): Parent collection ID (null for top-level)
- `translated_content` (object, optional): Updated translations

**Example (Update name and description):**
```json
{
  "id": "14608214",
  "name": "Account Management",
  "description": "Manage your account settings"
}
```

**Example (Add missing Japanese translation):**
```json
{
  "id": "14608214",
  "translated_content": {
    "ja": {
      "name": "アカウント管理",
      "description": "アカウント設定を管理"
    }
  }
}
```

**Example (Update multiple language translations):**
```json
{
  "id": "14608214",
  "translated_content": {
    "ja": {
      "name": "アカウント管理",
      "description": "アカウント設定を管理する"
    },
    "id": {
      "name": "Manajemen Akun",
      "description": "Kelola pengaturan akun Anda"
    }
  }
}
```

### `delete_collection`

Delete a collection permanently. **WARNING: This action cannot be undone!**

**Parameters:**
- `id` (string, required): Collection ID to delete

**Example:**
```json
{
  "id": "16036040"
}
```

**⚠️ Important Notes:**
- Deleted collections cannot be restored
- All content within the collection may be affected
- Always backup important data before deletion

### `delete_article`

Delete an article permanently. **WARNING: This action cannot be undone!**

**Parameters:**
- `id` (string, required): Article ID to delete

**Example:**
```json
{
  "id": "9876543"
}
```

### `create_collection`

Create a new Help Center collection.

**Parameters:**
- `name` (string, required): Collection name
- `description` (string, optional): Collection description
- `parent_id` (string, optional): Parent collection ID for nesting (omit for top-level)
- `translated_content` (object, optional): Multilingual content by locale code

**Example (Simple):**
```json
{
  "name": "Getting Started"
}
```

**Example (With translation):**
```json
{
  "name": "Getting Started",
  "translated_content": {
    "zh-TW": {
      "name": "入門指南",
      "description": "開始使用我們的平台"
    }
  }
}
```

### `list_admins`

List all workspace admins. Useful for finding valid `author_id` values when creating or updating articles.

**Parameters:** None

**Response includes:**
- `id`: Admin ID (use this as `author_id`)
- `name`: Display name
- `email`: Email address
- `has_inbox_seat`: Whether the admin has an inbox seat

### `search_conversations`

Search conversations with an Intercom query object. Returns a **slim** list (no conversation parts) — call `get_conversation` for full content.

**Parameters:**
- `query` (object, required): Intercom search query object, e.g. `{"operator":"AND","value":[{"field":"state","operator":"=","value":"open"}]}`. Add `{"field":"admin_assignee_id","operator":"=","value":<id>}` to filter by assignee, or `source.author.email` by contact. Also accepts the object serialized as a JSON string.
- `per_page` (number, optional): Results per page (default: 20, max: 50)
- `starting_after` (string, optional): Pagination cursor from a previous response's `next`

**Example (all open conversations):**
```json
{
  "query": {"operator":"AND","value":[{"field":"state","operator":"=","value":"open"}]},
  "per_page": 50
}
```

**Response includes:**
- `total_count`: Total matching conversations
- `next`: Pagination cursor (present if more pages)
- `conversations`: Array of slim items (id, state, open, title, subject, contact, admin_assignee_id, timestamps) — no parts

### `get_conversation`

Get a single conversation with message history, **slimmed** for triage: pure system-event parts filtered out, but every message-bearing part (including reopen email replies and the first admin reply) and its attachments kept.

**Parameters:**
- `id` (string, required): Conversation ID

**Example:**
```json
{
  "id": "12345678"
}
```

**Response includes:**
- Top level: `id`, `state`, `open`, `title`, timestamps, `waiting_since`
- `source`: incl. `delivered_as` (identifies the real asker), `subject`, `body`, `author`
- `ticket`: ticket-form essentials — `type`, `state`, and `title` / `description` (the real request, pulled out of the internal `_default_title_` / `_default_description_` keys; present only when the ticket has them)
- `ticket_attributes`: all ticket-form custom attributes with non-empty values
- `contacts`: contact references
- `total_parts` / `included_parts`: counts before / after filtering
- `parts`: `comment` / `note` / `quick_reply`, **plus** any `open` / `assignment` part that carries a real body or attachments (reopen email replies, the first admin reply). Each `{ part_type, body, author, from_quick_reply, attachments, created_at }` — `from_quick_reply` distinguishes a typed reply from a tapped quick-reply option; `attachments` (when present) lists `{ name, url, content_type }`

### `reply_conversation`

Reply to a conversation as an admin. The reply is visible to the customer. Returns a slim confirmation object (`id`, `state`, `last_part_id`, timestamps).

**Parameters:**
- `conversation_id` (string, required): The conversation ID to reply to
- `body` (string, required): The reply message body (supports HTML)
- `admin_id` (string, optional): Admin ID to reply as (defaults to `INTERCOM_ADMIN_ID` env var)

**Example:**
```json
{
  "conversation_id": "12345678",
  "body": "<p>Thank you for reaching out. We'll look into this right away.</p>"
}
```

### `send_outbound_email`

Start a **new** outbound email to a contact identified by email address — not a reply to an existing conversation. The tool resolves the email to an Intercom contact (creating a `lead` if none exists), then sends via the Messages API. Because a freshly-created contact can briefly return 404 on send, the call retries with backoff. Returns the new `conversation_id` so you can note/track it.

Use `reply_conversation` instead when responding inside an existing conversation.

**Parameters:**
- `email` (string, required): Recipient's email address
- `subject` (string, required): Email subject
- `body` (string, required): Email body (supports HTML)
- `admin_id` (string, optional): Admin ID to send as (defaults to `INTERCOM_ADMIN_ID` env var). Determines the sender name/address the recipient sees.
- `template` (string, optional): `plain` or `personal` (defaults to `personal` — a 1:1 personal-email look)

**Example:**
```json
{
  "email": "member@example.com",
  "subject": "About your subscription",
  "body": "<p>Hello, ...</p>",
  "admin_id": "8530422"
}
```

**Note:** the Messages API requires `to.id` to be an Intercom contact id, never a raw email — this tool handles the lookup/creation for you.

### `add_conversation_note`

Add an internal note to a conversation. Notes are only visible to team members, not customers.

**Parameters:**
- `conversation_id` (string, required): The conversation ID to add a note to
- `body` (string, required): The note content (supports HTML)
- `admin_id` (string, optional): Admin ID adding the note (defaults to `INTERCOM_ADMIN_ID` env var)

**Example:**
```json
{
  "conversation_id": "12345678",
  "body": "<p>Customer has been refunded. Follow up in 3 days.</p>"
}
```

### `close_conversation`

Close a conversation.

**Parameters:**
- `conversation_id` (string, required): The conversation ID to close

**Example:**
```json
{
  "conversation_id": "12345678"
}
```

### `update_ticket_state`

Update the state of a ticket.

**Parameters:**
- `ticket_id` (string, required): The ticket ID to update
- `state` (string, required): The new ticket state — one of `in_progress`, `waiting_on_customer`, `resolved`

**Example:**
```json
{
  "ticket_id": "87654321",
  "state": "resolved"
}
```

## Development

### Build
```bash
npm run build
```

### Watch mode
```bash
npm run watch
```

## Troubleshooting

### Claude Desktop doesn't show the tools

1. Check config file path is correct
2. Verify JSON format (no trailing commas)
3. Completely restart Claude Desktop
4. Check absolute path to `dist/index.js`

### API errors

1. Verify your Access Token is correct
2. Ensure token has Articles and Conversations read/write permissions
3. Check Intercom API status

### Build errors

1. Ensure TypeScript version >= 5.0
2. Delete `node_modules` and `dist`, then:
```bash
npm install && npm run build
```

## Project Structure

```
intercom-mcp/
├── package.json           # Project configuration
├── tsconfig.json          # TypeScript configuration
├── src/
│   └── index.ts           # Main server code
├── dist/                  # Compiled output
└── README.md             # This file
```

## Roadmap

### Completed
- ✅ Get Article (v0.1.0)
- ✅ List Articles (v0.1.0)
- ✅ Create Article (v0.2.0)
- ✅ Update Article (v0.2.0)
- ✅ Multilingual support for Articles (v0.2.0)
- ✅ List Collections (v0.3.1)
- ✅ Get Collection (v0.3.1)
- ✅ Update Collection (v0.4.0)
- ✅ Delete Collection (v0.4.0)
- ✅ Multilingual support for Collections (v0.4.0)
- ✅ Search Articles with keyword matching and highlighting (v0.5.0)
- ✅ Reply to conversations (v0.6.0)
- ✅ Add internal notes to conversations (v0.6.0)
- ✅ Close conversations (v0.6.0)
- ✅ Update ticket state (v0.6.0)
- ✅ Delete Article (v0.7.0)
- ✅ Create Collection (v0.7.0)
- ✅ List Admins (v0.7.0)
- ✅ Optimized search_articles response (v0.7.0)
- ✅ Search conversations — slim list (v0.8.0)
- ✅ Get conversation — slim, triage-aware (system events filtered, `from_quick_reply` flag) (v0.8.0)
- ✅ Slim action-tool responses to protect client context (v0.8.0)
- ✅ Get conversation — keep reopen/assignment message parts + attachments, surface ticket title/description (v0.8.3)

### Planned
- 🔜 Batch operations
- 🔜 Better error handling
- 🔜 Modular file structure

## Resources

- [Intercom Articles API](https://developers.intercom.com/docs/references/rest-api/api.intercom.io/articles)
- [MCP TypeScript SDK](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/typescript-sdk)
- [MCP Documentation](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/)

## License

MIT

TDQS

A3.7/5.0

Scored across 19 tools

Disambiguation5/5

Each tool targets a distinct action and resource combination. Conversation tools (add note, close, reply, get, search) are clearly differentiated from article and collection CRUD, tickets, admins, and email. No ambiguity.

Naming Consistency5/5

All tools follow a consistent verb_noun pattern in snake_case (e.g., create_article, list_collections, search_conversations). No mixed conventions or irregular names.

Tool Count4/5

19 tools cover articles, collections, conversations, tickets, admins, and outbound email. While slightly high for a single server, the scope justifies the count, and each tool has a clear role.

Completeness3/5

Articles and collections have full CRUD, but conversations lack update and delete operations, tickets only have state update, and there is no search for collections. Notable gaps exist in the conversation and ticket lifecycle.

Maintenance

ActivityInactive
ResponsivenessNo issues