Help Scout API PHP Client

This is the official Help Scout PHP client. This client contains methods for easily interacting with the Help Scout Mailbox API.

SDK Version	PHP Version	Branch	Documentation
`3.*`	>= 7.3	`master`	This page
`2.*`	>= 7.1	`v2`	`v2` branch

Installation
Usage
- Examples
- Authentication
- Customers
  - Email
  - Address
  - Phone Number
  - Social Profile
  - Chat Handles
  - Website
  - Properties
- Mailboxes
- Conversations
  - Threads
    - Attachments
- Chats
- Tags
- Teams
- Users
- Reports
- Webhooks
- Workflows
Error Handling
- Validation
Pagination
Testing
Getting Support

Installation

The recommended way to install the client is by using Composer.

composer require helpscout/api "^3.0"

For Laravel projects, check out helpscout/api-laravel

Usage

You should always use Composer's autoloader in your application to autoload classes. All examples below assume you've already included this in your code:

require_once 'vendor/autoload.php';

Authentication

Use the factory to create a client. Once created, you can set the various credentials to make requests.

use HelpScout\Api\ApiClientFactory;

$client = ApiClientFactory::createClient();

// Set Client credentials if using that grant type.  Using this approach will lazily fetch an access token on-demand
// when needed.
$client->useClientCredentials($appId, $appSecret);

// Set Access token directly if you have it
$client->setAccessToken('abc123');

// Use a refresh token to get a new access token
$client->useRefreshToken($appId, $appSecret, $refreshToken);

Note

All credential types will trigger a pre-flight request to get an access token (HTTP 'POST' request). To avoid this, set the access token on the client before making a request using the setAccessToken method on the client.

$client = ApiClientFactory::createClient();
$client->setAccessToken('asdfasdf');

The access token will always be used if available, regardless of whether you have other credentials set or not.

Automatically Refreshing Expired Tokens

When a request fails due to an authentication error, the SDK can automatically try to obtain a new refresh token and then retry the given request automatically. To enable this, you can provide a callback when creating the ApiClient which can be used to persist the token for other processes to use depending on your needs:

$client = ApiClientFactory::createClient([], function (Authenticator $authenticator) {
    // This $authenticator contains the refreshed token
    echo 'New token: '.$authenticator->accessToken().PHP_EOL;
});

The callback can also be any class instance that implements HelpScout\Api\Http\Auth\HandlesTokenRefreshes:

use HelpScout\Api\Http\Auth\HandlesTokenRefreshes;
use HelpScout\Api\Http\Authenticator;

$callback = new class implements HandlesTokenRefreshes {
    public function whenTokenRefreshed(Authenticator $authenticator)
    {
        // @todo Persist the token
    }
};
$client = ApiClientFactory::createClient([], $callback);

Authorization Code Flow

Because the authorization code is only good for a single use, you'll need to exchange the code for an access token and refresh token prior to making additional api calls. You'll also need to persist the tokens for reuse later.

$client = ApiClientFactory::createClient();
$client = $client->swapAuthorizationCodeForReusableTokens(
    $appId,
    $appSecret,
    $authorizationCode
);

$credentials = $client->getAuthenticator()->getTokens();

echo $credentials['access_token'].PHP_EOL;
echo $credentials['refresh_token'].PHP_EOL;
echo $credentials['expires_in'].PHP_EOL;

In addition to providing the access/refresh tokens this will set the current auth to use those tokens, so you can freely make subsequent requests without reinitializing the client.

// uses the one-time authorization code for auth
$client = $client->swapAuthorizationCodeForReusableTokens(
    $appId,
    $appSecret,
    $authorizationCode
);

// uses access/refresh tokens for auth
$client->users()->list();

Examples

This README contains a lot of examples, but there are more examples for you to experiment with in ./examples.

Customers

Get a customer. Whenever getting a customer, all it's entities (email addresses, phone numbers, social profiles, etc.) come preloaded in the same request.

$customer = $client->customers()->get($customerId);

Get customers.

$customers = $client->customers()->list();

Get customers with a filter.

As described in the API docs the customer list can be filtered by a variety of fields. The CustomerFields class provides a simple interface to set filter values. For example:

use HelpScout\Api\Customers\CustomerFilters;

$filter = (new CustomerFilters())
    ->byFirstName('Tom')
    ->byLastName('Graham');

$customers = $client->customers()->list($filter);

Create a customer.

use HelpScout\Api\Customers\Customer;

$customer = new Customer();
$customer->setFirstName('Bob');
// ...

try {
    $customerId = $client->customers()->create($customer);
} catch (\HelpScout\Api\Exception\ValidationErrorException $e) {
    var_dump($e->getError()->getErrors());
}

Update a customer.

// ...
$customer->setFirstName('Bob');

$client->customers()->update($customer);

Email

Create a customer email.

use HelpScout\Api\Customers\Entry\Email;

$email = new Email();
$email->setValue('lucy@helpscout.com');
$email->setType('work');
// ...

$client->customerEntry()->createEmail($customerId, $email);

Update a customer email.

// ...
$email->setType('home');

$client->customerEntry()->updateEmail($customerId, $email);

Delete a customer email.

$client->customerEntry()->deleteEmail($customerId, $emailId);

Address

Create a customer address.

use HelpScout\Api\Customers\Entry\Address;

$address = new Address();
$address->setCity('Boston');
// ...

$client->customerEntry()->createAddress($customerId, $address);

Update a customer address.

// ...
$address->setCity('Boston');

$client->customerEntry()->updateAddress($customerId, $address);

Delete a customer address.

$client->customerEntry()->deleteAddress($customerId);

Phone number

Create a customer phone.

use HelpScout\Api\Customers\Entry\Phone;

$phone = new Phone();
$phone->setValue('123456789');
$phone->setType('work');
// ...

$client->customerEntry()->createPhone($customerId, $phone);

Update a customer phone.

// ...
$phone->setType('home');

$client->customerEntry()->updatePhone($customerId, $phone);

Delete a customer phone.

$client->customerEntry()->deletePhone($customerId, $phoneId);

Chat Handles

Create a customer chat.

use HelpScout\Api\Customers\Entry\ChatHandle;

$chat = new ChatHandle();
$chat->setValue('1239134812348');
$chat->setType('icq');
// ...

$client->customerEntry()->createChat($customerId, $chat);

Update a customer chat.

// ...
$chat->setValue('1230148584583');

$client->customerEntry()->updateChat($customerId, $chat);

Delete a customer chat.

$client->customerEntry()->deleteChat($customerId, $chatId);

Social profile

Create a customer social profile.

use HelpScout\Api\Customers\Entry\SocialProfile;

$socialProfile = new SocialProfile();
$socialProfile->setValue('helpscout');
$socialProfile->setType('twitter');
// ...

$client->customerEntry()->createSocialProfile($customerId, $socialProfile);

Update a customer social profile.

// ...
$socialProfile->setType('facebook');

$client->customerEntry()->updateSocialProfile($customerId, $socialProfile);

Delete a customer social profile.

$client->customerEntry()->deleteSocialProfile($customerId, $socialProfileId);

Website

Create a customer website.

use HelpScout\Api\Customers\Entry\Website;

$website = new Website();
$website->setValue('https://www.helpscout.com');
// ...

$client->customerEntry()->createWebsite($customerId, $website);

Update a customer website.

// ...
$website->setValue('https://www.helpscout.net');

$client->customerEntry()->updateWebsite($customerId, $website);

Delete a customer website.

$client->customerEntry()->deleteWebsite($customerId, $websiteId);

Properties

Get a customer's properties and their values.

$customer = $client->customers()->get(418048101);
// ...

foreach ($customer->getProperties() as $property) {
    echo $property->getName().': '.$property->getValue().PHP_EOL;
}

Update a customer's properties.

use HelpScout\Api\Entity\Collection;
use HelpScout\Api\Entity\Patch;

$operations = new Collection(
    [
        new Patch('remove', 'property-1'),
        new Patch('replace', 'property-2', 'value'),
    ];
);
$client->customerEntry()->updateProperties($customerId, $operations);

Mailboxes

Get a mailbox.

$mailbox = $client->mailboxes()->get($mailboxId);

Get a mailbox with pre-loaded sub-entities.

A mailbox entity has two related sub-entities:

Fields
Folders

Each of these sub-entities can be pre-loaded when fetching a mailbox to remove the need for multiple method calls. The MailboxRequest class is used to describe which sub-entities should be pre-loaded. For example:

use HelpScout\Api\Mailboxes\MailboxRequest;

$request = (new MailboxRequest)
    ->withFields()
    ->withFolders();

$mailbox = $client->mailboxes()->get($mailboxId, $request);

$fields = $mailbox->getFields();
$folders = $mailbox->getFolders();

Get mailboxes.

$mailboxes = $client->mailboxes()->list();

Get mailboxes with pre-loaded sub-entities.

use HelpScout\Api\Mailboxes\MailboxRequest;

$request = (new MailboxRequest)
    ->withFields()
    ->withFolders();

$mailboxes = $client->mailboxes()->list($request);

Conversations

Get a conversation.

$conversation = $client->conversations()->get($conversationId);

You can easily eager load additional information/relationships for a conversation. For example:

use HelpScout\Api\Conversations\ConversationRequest;

$request = (new ConversationRequest)
    ->withMailbox()
    ->withPrimaryCustomer()
    ->withCreatedByCustomer()
    ->withCreatedByUser()
    ->withClosedBy()
    ->withThreads()
    ->withAssignee();

$conversation = $client->conversations()->get($conversationId, $request);

$mailbox = $conversation->getMailbox();
$primaryCustomer = $conversation->getCustomer();

Get conversations.

$conversations = $client->conversations()->list();

Get conversations with pre-loaded sub-entities.

use HelpScout\Api\Conversations\ConversationRequest;

$request = (new ConversationRequest)
    ->withMailbox()
    ->withPrimaryCustomer()
    ->withCreatedByCustomer()
    ->withCreatedByUser()
    ->withClosedBy()
    ->withThreads()
    ->withAssignee();

$conversations = $client->conversations()->list(null, $request);

Narrow down the list of Conversations based on a set of filters.

use HelpScout\Api\Conversations\ConversationFilters;

$filters = (new ConversationFilters())
    ->inMailbox(1)
    ->inFolder(13)
    ->inStatus('all')
    ->hasTag('testing')
    ->assignedTo(1771)
    ->modifiedSince(new DateTime('2017-05-06T09:04:23+05:00'))
    ->byNumber(42)
    ->sortField('createdAt')
    ->sortOrder('asc')
    ->withQuery('query')
    ->byCustomField(123, 'blue');

$conversations = $client->conversations()->list($filters);

You can even combine the filters with the pre-loaded sub-entities in one request

use HelpScout\Api\Conversations\ConversationRequest;
use HelpScout\Api\Conversations\ConversationFilters;

$request = (new ConversationRequest)
    ->withMailbox()
    ->withThreads();

$filters = (new ConversationFilters())
    ->inMailbox(1)
    ->inFolder(13)
    ->byCustomField(123, 'blue');

$conversations = $client->conversations()->list($filters, $request);

Update the custom fields on a conversation:

$customField = new CustomField();
$customField->setId(10524);
$customField->setValue(new DateTime('today'));
$client->conversations()->updateCustomFields($conversationId, [$customField]);

Create a new conversation, as if the customer sent an email to your mailbox.

// We can specify either the id or email for the Customer
$customer = new Customer();
$customer->addEmail('my-customer@company.com');

$thread = new CustomerThread();
$thread->setCustomer($customer);
$thread->setText('Test');

$conversation = new Conversation();
$conversation->setSubject('Testing the PHP SDK v2: Phone Thread');
$conversation->setStatus('active');
$conversation->setType('email');
$conversation->setMailboxId(80261);
$conversation->setCustomer($customer);
$conversation->setThreads(new Collection([
    $thread,
]));

// You can optionally add tags
$tag = new Tag();
$tag->setName('testing');
$conversation->addTag($tag);

try {
    $conversationId = $client->conversations()->create($conversation);
} catch (ValidationErrorException $e) {
    var_dump($e->getError()->getErrors());
}

Here's some other example scenarios where you might create conversations:

Phone conversation, initiated by a Help Scout user

$user = $client->users()->get(31231);

$customer = new Customer();
$customer->setId(193338443);

$thread = new PhoneThread();
$thread->setCustomer($customer);
$thread->setCreatedByUser($user);
$thread->setText('Test');

$conversation = new Conversation();
$conversation->setSubject('Testing the PHP SDK v2: Phone Thread');
$conversation->setStatus('active');
$conversation->setType('phone');
$conversation->setMailboxId(80261);
$conversation->setCustomer($noteCustomer);
$conversation->setCreatedByUser($user);
$conversation->setThreads(new Collection([
    $thread,
]));

Chat conversation, initiated by the Customer

$noteCustomer = new Customer();
$noteCustomer->setId(163315601);
$thread = new ChatThread();
$thread->setCustomer($noteCustomer);
$thread->setText('Test');
$conversation = new Conversation();
$conversation->setSubject('Testing the PHP SDK v2: Chat Thread');
$conversation->setStatus('active');
$conversation->setType('chat');
$conversation->setAssignTo(271315);
$conversation->setMailboxId(138367);
$conversation->setCustomer($noteCustomer);
$conversation->setThreads(new Collection([
    $thread,
]));

// Also adding a tag to this conversation
$tag = new Tag();
$tag->setName('testing');
$conversation->addTag($tag);

$conversationId = $client->conversations()->create($conversation);

Delete a conversation:

$client->conversations()->delete($conversationId);

Update an existing conversation:

$client->conversations()->move($conversationId, 18);
$client->conversations()->updateSubject($conversationId, 'Need more help please');
$client->conversations()->updateCustomer($conversationId, 6854);
$client->conversations()->publishDraft($conversationId);
$client->conversations()->updateStatus($conversationId, 'closed');
$client->conversations()->assign($conversationId, 127);
$client->conversations()->unassign($conversationId);

Threads

Chat Threads

Create new Chat threads for a conversation.

use HelpScout\Api\Customers\Customer;
use HelpScout\Api\Conversations\Threads\ChatThread;

$thread = new ChatThread();
$customer = new Customer();
$customer->setId(163487350);

$thread->setCustomer($customer);
$thread->setText('Thanks for reaching out to us!');

$client->threads()->create($conversationId, $thread);

Customer Threads

Create new Customer threads for a conversation.

use HelpScout\Api\Customers\Customer;
use HelpScout\Api\Conversations\Threads\CustomerThread;

$thread = new CustomerThread();
$customer = new Customer();
$customer->setId(163487350);

$thread->setCustomer($customer);
$thread->setText('Please help me figure this out');

$client->threads()->create($conversationId, $thread);

Note Threads

Create new Note threads for a conversation.

use HelpScout\Api\Conversations\Threads\NoteThread;

$thread->setText('We are still looking into this');

$client->threads()->create($conversationId, $thread);

Phone Threads

Create new Phone threads for a conversation.

use HelpScout\Api\Customers\Customer;
use HelpScout\Api\Conversations\Threads\PhoneThread;

$thread = new PhoneThread();
$customer = new Customer();
$customer->setId(163487350);

$thread->setCustomer($customer);
$thread->setText('This customer called and spoke with us directly about the delay on their order');

$client->threads()->create($conversationId, $thread);

Reply Threads

Create new Reply threads for a conversation.

use HelpScout\Api\Customers\Customer;
use HelpScout\Api\Conversations\Threads\ReplyThread;

$thread = new ReplyThread();
$customer = new Customer();
$customer->setId(163487350);

$thread->setCustomer($customer);
$thread->setText("Thanks, we'll be with you shortly!");

$client->threads()->create($conversationId, $thread);

Get threads for a conversation.

$threads = $client->threads()->list($conversationId);

Attachments

Get an attachment.

$attachment = $client->attachments()->get($conversationId, $attachmentId);
$attachment->getData(); // attached file's contents

Create an attachment:

use HelpScout\Api\Conversations\Threads\Attachments\AttachmentFactory;
use HelpScout\Api\Support\Filesystem;

$attachmentFactory = new AttachmentFactory(new Filesystem());
$attachment = $attachmentFactory->make('path/to/profile.jpg');

$attachment->getMimeType(); // image/jpeg
$attachment->getFilename(); // profile.jpg
$attachment->getData(); // base64 encoded contents of the file

$client->attachments()->create($conversationId, $threadId, $attachment);

Delete an attachment:

$client->attachments()->delete($conversationId, $attachmentId);

Chats

Get a chat

$chat = $client->chats()->get($chatId);

List the chat events

$events = $client->chats()->events($chatId);

Teams

List the teams

$teams = $client->teams()->list();

List the members of a team

$users = $client->teams()->members($teamId);

Users

Get a user.

$user = $client->users()->get($userId);

Get users.

$users = $client->users()->list();

Narrow down the list of Users based on a set of filters.

use HelpScout\Api\Users\UserFilters;

$filters = (new UserFilters())
    ->inMailbox(1)
    ->byEmail('tester@test.com');

$users = $client->users()->list($filters);

Reports

When running reports using the SDK, refer to the developer docs for the exact endpoint, parameters, and response formats. While most of the endpoints in this SDK are little more than pass-through methods to call the API, there are a few conveniences.

First, for the start, end, previousStart, and previousEnd parameters, you may pass a formatted date-time string or any object implementing the \DateTimeInterface as the parameter. The client will automatically convert these objects to the proper format.

For those parameters that accept multiple values (mailboxes, tags, types, and folders), you may pass an array of values and let the client convert them to the proper format. You may also pass a single value (or a comma-separated list of values) if you like.

To run the report, use the runReport method available on the ApiClient instance. Pass the class path of the report class you'd like to use as the first argument and the array of report parameters as the second argument. Be sure the keys in the parameter array match the URL params specified in the docs. The client will convert the JSON response returned by the API into an array.

// Example of running the Company Overall Report
// https://developer.helpscout.com/mailbox-api/endpoints/reports/company/reports-company-overall/

use HelpScout\Api\Reports\Company;

$params = [
    // Date interval fields can be passed as an object implementing the \DateTimeInterface
    // or as a string in the 'Y-m-d\Th:m:s\Z' format. All times should be in UTC.
    'start' => new \DateTime('-7 days'),
    'end' => new \DateTimeImmutable(),
    'previousStart' => '2015-01-01T00:00:00Z',
    'previousEnd' => '2015-01-31T23:59:59Z',

    // Fields accepting multiple values can be passed as an array or a comma-separated string
    'mailboxes' => [123, 321],
    'tags' => '987,789',
    'types' => ['chat', 'email'],
    'folders' => [111, 222]
];

$report = $client->runReport(Company\Overall::class, $params);

Webhooks

Get a webhook.

$webhook = $client->webhooks()->get($webhookId);

List webhooks.

$webhooks = $client->webhooks()->list();

Create a webhook.

The default state for a newly-created webhook is enabled.

use HelpScout\Api\Webhooks\Webhook;

$data = [
    'url' => 'http://bad-url.com',
    'events' => ['convo.assigned', 'convo.moved'],
    'secret' => 'notARealSecret'
];
$webhook = new Webhook();
$webhook->hydrate($data);
// ...

$client->webhooks()->create($webhook);

Update a webhook

This operation replaces the entire webhook entity, so you must provide the secret again. Once updated, the webhook will be in the enabled state again.

$webhook->setUrl('http://bad-url.com/really_really_bad');
$webhook->setSecret('mZ9XbGHodY');
$client->webhooks()->update($webhook);

Delete a webhook.

$client->webhooks()->delete($webhookId);

Processing an incoming webhook

You can also use the SDK to easily process an incoming webhook. Signature validation will happen when creating the new object, so no need to check if it is valid or not. If the signatures do not match, the constructor of the IncomingWebhook object will throw an InvalidSignatureException to let you know something is wrong.

// Build it from globals
$incoming = IncomingWebhook::makeFromGlobals($secret);

// or build using a request object that satisfies the PSR-7 RequestInterface
/** @var RequestInterface $request */
$request = new Request(...);
$secret = 'superSekretKey';
$incoming = new IncomingWebhook($request, $secret);

Once you have the incoming webhook object, you can check the type of payload (customer, conversation, or test) as well as retrieve the data (see example). If a customer or conversation, you can retrieve the model associated. Otherwise, you can get the payload as either an associative array or standard class object.

Workflows

Fetch a paginated list of all workflows.

$workflows = $client->workflows()->list();

Run a manual workflow on a list of conversations.

$convos = [
    123,
    321
];
$client->workflows()->runWorkflow($id, $convos);

Change a workflow status to either "active" or "inactive"

$client->workflows()->updateStatus($id, 'active');

Error handling

Any exception thrown by the client directly will implement HelpScout\Api\Exception and HTTP errors will result in Http\Client\Exception\RequestException being thrown.

If an OAuth2 token is not provided or invalid then a HelpScout\Api\Exception\AuthenticationException is thrown.

Validation

You'll encounter a ValidationErrorException if there are any validation errors with the request you submitted to the API. Here's a quick example on how to use that exception:

try {
    // do something
} catch (\HelpScout\Api\Exception\ValidationErrorException $e) {
    $error = $e->getError();

    var_dump(
        // A reference id for that request.  Including this anytime you contact Help Scout will
        // empower us to dig right to the heart of the issue
        $error->getCorrelationId(),

        // Details about the invalid fields in the request
        $error->getErrors()
    );
    exit;
}

Pagination

When fetching a collection of entities the client will return an instance of HelpScout\Api\Entity\Collection. If the end point supports pagination then it will return an instance of HelpScout\Api\Entity\PagedCollection.

/** @var PagedCollection $users */
$users = $client->users()->list();

// Iterate over the first page of results
foreach ($users as $user) {
    echo $users->getFirstName();
}

// The current page number
$users->getPageNumber();

// The total number of pages
$users->getTotalPageCount();

// Load the next page
$nextUsers = $users->getNextPage();

// Load the previous page
$previousUsers = $users->getPreviousPage();

// Load the first page
$firstUsers = $users->getFirstPage();

// Load the last page
$lastUsers = $users->getLastPage();

// Load a specific page
$otherUsers = $users->getPage(12);

// Paged results are accessible as normal arrays, so you can simply iterate over them
foreach ($otherUsers as $user) {
    echo $user->getFirstName();
}

Testing

The SDK comes with a handy mock method on the ApiClient class. To use this, pass in the name of the endpoint you want to mock. You'll get a \Mockery\MockInterface object back. Once you set the mock, any subsequent calls to that endpoint will return the mocked object.

// From within the tests/ApiClientTest.php file...
public function testMockReturnsProperMock()
{
    $client = ApiClientFactory::createClient();
    $mockedWorkflows = $client->mock('workflows');

    $this->assertInstanceOf(WorkflowsEndpoint::class, $mockedWorkflows);
    $this->assertInstanceOf(MockInterface::class, $mockedWorkflows);

    $this->assertSame(
        $mockedWorkflows,
        $client->workflows()
    );
}

Once you've mocked an endpoint, you may want to clear it later on. To do this, you can use the clearMock($endpoint) method on the ApiClient.

Getting Support

Please open an issue for any SDK related problems or feature requests. For any issues that may involve sensitive customer or account data, please reach out to us via email at help@helpscout.com.