> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.armin.cx/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Help Scout

> Import historical Help Scout conversations and attachments into Chatarmin CX.

Bring your Help Scout conversation history into Chatarmin CX by connecting your Help Scout account. Your team sees past conversations, notes, and attachments next to new tickets, so nobody has to switch back to Help Scout to look up what a customer asked before.

## When to use it

Use the Help Scout import when you are moving from Help Scout to Chatarmin CX and want past conversations in the inbox before you cut over. It is a historical import, not a live sync: conversations that arrive in Help Scout later only reach Chatarmin CX when you run the import again.

## Before you start

* You need access to **Settings** → **Integrations** in Chatarmin CX. Admins always have it; for other roles, see [Roles and permissions](/settings/roles-and-permissions).
* You need a Help Scout login with access to the mailboxes you want to import. The import covers every mailbox and every status that login can see; you can't pick individual mailboxes.
* Set up your email channels in Chatarmin CX first. Each Help Scout mailbox is matched to the Chatarmin CX channel with the same email address. Conversations from mailboxes without a match go to your default email channel. See [Email](/channels/email/intro).

## Connect Help Scout

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Help Scout integration">
    Go to **Settings** → **Integrations** and choose **Help Scout**, or [open integrations](https://armin.cx/app/_/settings/integrations).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start the connection">
    Click **Connect**. In the **Connect Help Scout** dialog, click **Connect**. Help Scout opens in a new tab.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Authorize in Help Scout">
    Sign in to Help Scout if prompted and click **Authorize**. You return to Chatarmin CX.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm the connection">
    Under **Connected accounts**, the Help Scout account shows a **Connected** status.
  </Step>
</Steps>

You don't need an API key or your own Help Scout app for the conversation import.

## Run a small test import

Start with a short date range so you can check the result before importing everything.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the import card">
    On the Help Scout integration page, find the **Import from Help Scout** card below your connected accounts.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose a short range">
    Under **Import range**, pick **Last month**. The card shows how many tickets are in that range.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose attachments">
    Keep **Include file attachments** checked to copy files from Help Scout. Uncheck it for a faster, text-only test.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start the import">
    Click **Start import**. The card shows the status, a progress bar, and counts for **Succeeded**, **Failed tickets**, and **Failed batches**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check a few tickets">
    When the status shows **Completed**, open a few imported tickets in the inbox. Check the channel, the customer, the messages, and the attachments.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Run the full import

When the test looks right, choose a longer range under **Import range** (up to **All time**) and click **Start new import**. Conversations you already imported are not duplicated, so overlapping ranges are safe.

The range is based on when a conversation was last updated in Help Scout, not when it was created.

<Note>
  Imports only run off-peak, between 11 PM and 10 AM. If you start during the day, the import waits, and the card shows when it resumes. Plan a large import over one or more nights.
</Note>

## What gets imported

| In Help Scout | In Chatarmin CX |
| - | - |
| Conversation | A ticket with the original subject and creation date |
| Customer emails, agent replies, chats, and phone threads | Messages in the ticket, in their original order |
| Notes and forwards | Internal notes |
| Attachments | Files on the matching message, if **Include file attachments** is checked. They keep syncing in the background after the ticket appears. |
| Tags | Tags on the ticket. Tags that don't exist yet are created in your workspace. |
| Customer | A contact matched by email address. Customers without an email get a new contact with a placeholder address. |
| Mailbox | The Chatarmin CX channel with the same email address, otherwise your default email channel |

Status is mapped like this:

| Help Scout status | Chatarmin CX status |
| - | - |
| Active | Open |
| Pending | On Hold |
| Closed | Resolved |
| Spam | Closed |

Some things are not imported:

* Assignees. Imported tickets have no assignee in Chatarmin CX.
* Drafts and Help Scout activity entries, such as status changes.
* Saved replies, Help Scout Docs articles, users, and workflows.
* Priority. Imported tickets get **Low** priority.

<Note>
  A guided Help Scout migration with more options, such as choosing mailboxes, mapping agents and channels, and importing saved replies and Docs articles, is in beta for some workspaces. Contact Chatarmin CX support if you need it.
</Note>

## What happens to your customers and automations

* Nothing is sent to customers. Imported messages are stored as already delivered.
* Imported tickets and messages don't start AI Agents, Classic AI, or other automations that react to new tickets or messages.
* Nothing changes in Help Scout. The import only reads data.

## Pause, cancel, and continue

* **Pause** holds a running import. **Resume** continues it from the same place.
* **Cancel** stops the import. Tickets imported before you cancel stay in Chatarmin CX.
* If an import fails, the card shows the error and where it stopped. **Continue import** picks up from the batch that failed.
* Only one Help Scout import can run per Chatarmin CX workspace at a time.

## Run the import again

You can start a new import after the previous one is completed or cancelled. Re-running is safe:

* Conversations that were already imported are not created again.
* If a conversation in the chosen range got new messages in Help Scout since the last run, they are added to the existing ticket.
* The existing ticket's status and subject are not updated.

To undo an import, there is no one-click rollback. Imported tickets stay in the inbox until you delete them.

## Disconnect Help Scout

On the Help Scout integration page, click **Connected** next to the account, choose **Disconnect**, and confirm with **Delete**. Imported tickets stay in Chatarmin CX, but the import history on the card is removed. Disconnecting removes the connection in Chatarmin CX only, so also revoke the Chatarmin app's access in Help Scout if you want to cut it off there.

## Troubleshooting

### The import doesn't start

Check whether you started outside the off-peak window. The card shows **Off-peak only (11 PM – 10 AM)** and when the import resumes.

### The import fails right away

The import needs at least one email channel in Chatarmin CX to hold conversations from mailboxes it can't match. If the error mentions a missing default email channel, set up an email channel, then click **Continue import**.

### Tickets landed in the wrong channel

Mailboxes are matched to channels by email address. Add an email channel in Chatarmin CX with the mailbox's exact address before you import. Already imported tickets are not moved when you run the import again.

### Some tickets failed

While an import runs, the **Recent batches** list on the card shows which batches failed and why. If the import stops, the card shows the error and the batch it stopped at; click **Continue import** to pick up from there. If the same tickets keep failing, contact Chatarmin CX support and include the Help Scout conversation numbers and the error shown on the card.


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