Bot Accounts Administration

RustChat supports standard integration Bot Accounts that allow scripts, automation tools, and external services to interact with the API.

Unlike AI Agents, standard Bot Accounts do not run an LLM prompt loop or vector-based RAG checks. They are intended for programmatic access (e.g. CI/CD notifications, ChatOps, custom alerts, or database syncing).

Creating a Bot Account

To create a standard bot account, you must have administrative permissions:

1. Log in to the Admin Console or click on Integrations in the user menu.
2. Select Bot Accounts from the menu.
3. Click Add Bot Account.
4. Configure the bot details:
   • Username: Must follow standard username conventions (alphanumeric lowercase plus hyphens or underscores).
   • Display Name: Friendly name displayed on messages sent by the bot.
   • Description: Summary of the bot's purpose.
5. Save the Bot Account.

IMPORTANT

The generated API access token is only shown once at creation time. Ensure you copy the token and store it securely.

Authenticating API Calls as a Bot

Once you have the bot's access token, you can authenticate API requests by passing the token in the Authorization header as a Bearer token.

Example curl request

To send a message to a channel as a bot:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/v4/posts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer BOT_ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "channel_id": "CHANNEL_UUID",
    "message": "Hello from the deployment bot! 🚀"
  }'

Bot Scopes & Permissions

Standard bots inherit roles and permissions appropriate for their owner, or standard bot access roles:

• Bots can join public channels and read/write messages there.
• Bots must be invited to private channels before they can read or write in them.
• Standard bots cannot access the main system Admin Console settings or modify server configurations.

Troubleshooting

"Token is invalid or expired"

• Ensure the header uses the exact format: Authorization: Bearer <token>.
• Verify the bot is active and has not been disabled in the Integrations console.
• If a token is compromised or lost, you can revoke the token and create a new one under the bot's detail view in the Integrations console.