Intercom Destination Config Reference

Intercom is a customer messaging destination. RudderStack sends identify, track, and group events to Intercom’s REST API from its servers, or loads Intercom’s own SDKs in device mode — the Messenger on web, and the mobile SDKs on Android and iOS.

In an Intercom destination spec:

• type: intercom
• definition_version: 1

Sample configuration

version: rudder/v1
kind: destination
metadata:
  name: intercom-prod
spec:
  id: intercom-prod
  display_name: Intercom Production
  type: intercom
  definition_version: 1
  enabled: true
  config:
    app_id: "{{ .INTERCOM_APP_ID }}"
    api_key: "{{ .INTERCOM_ACCESS_TOKEN }}"
    api_version: v2
    api_server: standard
    send_anonymous_id: true

    mobile_api_key_android: "{{ .INTERCOM_ANDROID_API_KEY }}"
    mobile_api_key_ios: "{{ .INTERCOM_IOS_API_KEY }}"

    event_filtering:
      blacklist:
        - Credit Card Added

    connection_mode:
      web: device
      android: device
      ios: device
      cloud: cloud
    consent_management:
      web:
        - provider: oneTrust
          consents:
            - analytics

The above example loads Intercom’s SDKs on web, Android, and iOS in device mode, which use app_id and the mobile API keys, and sends server-side events in cloud mode with api_key — see Key dependencies.

Config keys

config accepts only the keys listed below. The shared config key rules cover unknown keys, defaults, and immutability.

Most Intercom keys affect only one connection mode, or one platform’s SDK, and each key says which. Rudder CLI accepts every key whatever the mode — a key for another mode is stored and ignored.

In cloud mode Intercom accepts identify, track, and group events. In device mode, web sources send identify, track, and page, and Android and iOS sources send identify and track.

Key dependencies

Device mode loads Intercom with app_id, and cloud mode calls Intercom’s API with api_key. Rudder CLI checks for each key twice — once on the destination, and once on each connection:

A connection_mode that mixes modes, or that names cloud, android_kotlin, ios_swift, or warehouse, requires neither key at the destination check, and neither does a spec without connection_mode. A spec that misses a key the destination check requires fails validation. For the connection check, see Connect a source.

Set app_id if any source connects in device mode, and api_key if any source connects in cloud mode. Without api_key, RudderStack fails every cloud-mode event, whatever the source type — including the four source types Rudder CLI doesn’t check.

Android and iOS device mode also need the platform’s mobile API key, which Rudder CLI never requires — see Mobile device mode.

Connection

Cloud mode

These keys configure how RudderStack calls Intercom’s API, so they apply only to events sent in cloud mode. The dashboard shows them only then.

api_version: v2
api_server: eu

api_version: v1
update_last_request_at: false

Mobile device mode

These keys configure Intercom’s mobile SDKs. Each is a plain string, not keyed by source type, though it applies to one platform only.

Rudder CLI doesn’t require these keys, even when android or ios connects in device mode. Without the platform’s key, the SDK doesn’t initialize Intercom, so no device-mode events from that platform reach it.

Event filtering

Client-side event filtering applies only to sources connected in device mode — web, android, or ios. The dashboard shows these controls only then, and the SDK is what applies the filter.

Rudder CLI accepts the block in any mode, but events sent in cloud mode reach Intercom unfiltered.

connection_mode:
  web: device
event_filtering:
  blacklist:
    - Credit Card Added

Per-source keys

Both keys are objects keyed by the local source type — the tokens listed under Source types. A key naming a source type this destination doesn’t support fails validation.

connection_mode:
  web: device
  ios: device
  cloud: cloud

Source types

Intercom accepts events from these source types in the mentioned connection modes:

web, android, and ios offer device mode, which loads Intercom’s own SDK in the browser or app. The Kotlin and Swift SDKs — android_kotlin and ios_swift — are cloud only. See Adding device mode integration and RudderStack Connection Modes.

warehouse is the token a Reverse ETL source resolves to. Rudder CLI manages the destination’s warehouse entry — if the destination is connected to a Reverse ETL source, set connection_mode.warehouse: cloud in its spec, or apply removes it.

Rudder CLI can also declare the Reverse ETL connection itself, for the types listed under Supported destinations — see Manage Reverse ETL Connections using Rudder CLI.

The dashboard additionally offers Intercom to AMP and Shopify sources. Rudder CLI doesn’t manage those connections, so amp and shopify are invalid here.

Connect a source

An event stream connection to this destination is checked against three rules at validate time.

The source’s type must be supported. A source’s type resolves to one of the tokens above before the check — a JavaScript source resolves to web, and webhook and server-side SDK sources resolve to cloud. Every type an event stream source can resolve to is supported here, so this check always passes.

The destination config must carry a connection_mode entry for that source type. This lives on the destination spec, not on the connection spec. Without it:

destination 'intercom-prod' config has no 'connection_mode' entry for source type 'web'

The destination config must carry the credential for the connection’s mode. A web, android, or ios source connecting in device mode needs app_id. Without it:

destination 'intercom-prod' config is missing fields required to connect a 'web' source: app_id

A source connecting in cloud mode needs api_key. Without it:

destination 'intercom-prod' config is missing fields required to connect a 'web' source: api_key

cloud, android_kotlin, and ios_swift sources connect without either check. Set api_key for them anyway — see Key dependencies.

Secrets

api_key, app_id, mobile_api_key_android, and mobile_api_key_ios are the secret keys. Write each one you use as a {{ .VAR }} reference and supply the value at apply time:

config:
  app_id: "{{ .INTERCOM_APP_ID }}"
  api_key: "{{ .INTERCOM_ACCESS_TOKEN }}"
  mobile_api_key_android: "{{ .INTERCOM_ANDROID_API_KEY }}"
  mobile_api_key_ios: "{{ .INTERCOM_IOS_API_KEY }}"

export RUDDER_INTERCOM_APP_ID="..."
export RUDDER_INTERCOM_ACCESS_TOKEN="..."
export RUDDER_INTERCOM_ANDROID_API_KEY="..."
export RUDDER_INTERCOM_IOS_API_KEY="..."
rudder-cli apply

# or
rudder-cli apply --var-file secrets.vars.yaml

Note that:

• rudder-cli import writes only the secrets the API returns, as {{ .VAR }} references, and leaves the others out. Add any secret key it leaves out, then supply the variables before you apply — see Secrets.
• In device mode, app_id and the mobile API keys are embedded in the page or app, so masking them protects your YAML, not the values themselves.

See How to Use Variable Substitution in Rudder CLI.

Changes by release

No changes since this type became available.

For changes across every destination type, see Destination Type Changes by Release.

See more

• Intercom Destination for credentials, device mode setup, and how RudderStack maps each event
• Intercom API v2.10 Migration Guide for the differences between v1 and v2
• Destination Type Reference for Rudder CLI for the rules shared across destination types
• Destination YAML Reference for the spec envelope