# Connect channels for a requester

> In this tutorial you connect a Slack channel and a Microsoft Teams channel for an employee who asked for it, as a helpdesk tool does. You use an API key that acts as Conclude, so each step runs with the employee’s access.

Canonical HTML page: https://conclude.io/doc/api/connect-channels/
Last updated: 2026-10-27

---

**The API is in beta.** API keys are available to organizations in the beta program. Requests and responses may still change, and we tell beta customers before they do. [Contact us](https://conclude.io/contact/) to get access.

In this tutorial you connect a Slack channel and a Microsoft Teams channel for an employee who asked for it, as a helpdesk tool does. You use an API key that acts as Conclude, so each step runs with the employee's access.

## Before you start

You need:

- An API key that acts as Conclude, with the scopes `org:read` and `connections:readwrite`. See [Issue an API key](https://conclude.io/doc/api/authentication/#issue-a-key).
- The Slack user ID of the employee, such as `U07ABCDEF12`. A helpdesk tool usually gets it from the request.
- Conclude in both channels if they are private. A key that acts as Conclude only reaches private channels that Conclude was added to.

The examples use `curl` and keep values in shell variables.

## Step 1: Get a token for the employee

Ask for a token with the employee as its subject. The token then acts for the employee.

```sh
curl https://api.conclude.io/v1/oauth/token \
  -d grant_type=client_credentials \
  -d client_id="$CLIENT_ID" \
  -d client_secret="$CLIENT_SECRET" \
  -d subject=U07ABCDEF12
```

Keep the `access_token` from the response in `$ACCESS_TOKEN`. It lasts one hour. If the employee has no active account in your organization, the request fails with `invalid_request`.

Check whom the token acts for:

```sh
curl https://api.conclude.io/v1/apiKey -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN"
```

The `actsFor` field names the employee.

## Step 2: Find the workspaces

A channel name can exist in more than one workspace. Get your workspaces, so that you can narrow the search.

```sh
curl https://api.conclude.io/v1/organization -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN"
```

Each workspace has a `sysID`. That is the Slack workspace ID or the Microsoft Teams tenant ID.

## Step 3: Find the two channels

Look up the Slack channel by name in the Slack workspace:

```sh
curl -G https://api.conclude.io/v1/findChannel \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  --data-urlencode "name=it-help" \
  --data-urlencode "sysTeamID=T04ABCDEF12"
```

Then look up the Teams channel. If the request names the Teams channel by its ID, search with `sysChannelID`:

```sh
curl -G https://api.conclude.io/v1/findChannel \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  --data-urlencode "sysChannelID=19:a1b2c3@thread.tacv2"
```

Check each result before you go on:

- An empty list means the employee can't access the channel, or it doesn't exist.
- More than one result means the name exists in several teams. Ask which one, or add `sysTeamID`.
- `connected: true` means the channel is already in a connection. A channel can be in only one.

Keep the two `id` values, such as `C-6e8g0i2k` and `C-9i1k3m5o`.

## Step 4: Create the connection

```sh
curl https://api.conclude.io/v1/connections \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"type": "channel", "endpoints": [{"channelID": "C-6e8g0i2k"}, {"channelID": "C-9i1k3m5o"}]}'
```

The response is the new connection. Keep its `id`, such as `Y-7f9h1j3l`. Messages now sync between the two channels.

Tell the employee what went wrong when the request fails:

| Code | What to tell the employee |
|---|---|
| `channel_access_denied` | They can't access one of the channels. |
| `conclude_not_in_channel` | Conclude isn't in a private channel. Someone needs to add it first. |
| `already_connected` | A channel is already connected. |
| `channel_not_connectable` | A channel is archived or deleted. |
| `connections_disabled` | Your organization has turned channel connections off. |

[Errors and limits](https://conclude.io/doc/api/errors/) lists every code.

## Step 5: Check the connection

```sh
curl https://api.conclude.io/v1/connections/Y-7f9h1j3l -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN"
```

Each endpoint has a `status`. A new endpoint is `ok` until Conclude first checks it. If a status shows a problem later, [Status](https://conclude.io/doc/api/connections/#status) says what to do. After you fix the cause, repair the connection:

```sh
curl -X POST https://api.conclude.io/v1/connections/Y-7f9h1j3l/repair \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN"
```

## Step 6: Change a setting

By default, posts from other apps' bots don't sync. To sync the bot posts from the Slack channel, change the settings of its endpoint:

```sh
curl -X PUT https://api.conclude.io/v1/connections/Y-7f9h1j3l/endpoints/C-6e8g0i2k/settings \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"syncBotMessages": true}'
```

This request replaces all of the endpoint's settings. Send every setting that you want to keep. See [Endpoint settings](https://conclude.io/doc/api/connections/#endpoint-settings).

## Step 7: Remove the connection

When the employee no longer needs the connection, delete it:

```sh
curl -X DELETE https://api.conclude.io/v1/connections/Y-7f9h1j3l \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN"
```

The channels stop syncing. Their messages stay where they are.

## Next steps

- [Connections](https://conclude.io/doc/api/connections/) describes every request for connections.
- [Keys and tokens](https://conclude.io/doc/api/authentication/#acts-as) explains what a key that acts as Conclude can reach.
- [Audit log](https://conclude.io/doc/api/audit-log/) shows how to read the changes your tool made.