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Web chat and messaging conversations that land in Front — including those from Front Chat, -connected platforms, and custom channels — are processed by OpenCX. The AI picks up the conversation via webhook, generates a reply, and posts it as the AI teammate.

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Pre-requisites

Connect your Front workspace first. The AI has nothing to respond to until the webhook is active — start with Connect Front and come back here.
  • Front connected and webhook active — see Connect Front.
  • Chat or messaging channel configured in Front — your Front workspace must be receiving chat messages through Front Chat, Smooch, or a custom integration.

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How conversations land in Front

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Setting up

1

Confirm chat messages route to Front

Open your website or app where Front Chat (or a connected messaging platform) is installed and send a test message. The conversation should appear in your Front inbox.
2

Confirm the AI processes the message

The AI should reply within a few seconds. Check that the reply appears as a message from the AI teammate.
3

Trigger a test handoff

Send a message like “I want to talk to a human” in the chat. The AI should hand off — you’ll see an internal handoff comment and the conversation unassigned.
4

Verify the rep reply loop

Pick up the handed-off conversation in your Front inbox. Reply as a teammate — the message should land in the customer’s chat window.
If the AI doesn’t reply, check that the conversation is assigned to the AI teammate or that Handle unassigned conversations is enabled in settings.

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What the rep sees

  • The conversation appears in their Front inbox like any other chat thread.
  • The full AI-to-customer transcript is already in the thread — no separate tool to check.
  • An internal handoff comment with summary and sentiment.
  • Replies typed in the Front inbox land back in the customer’s chat window.

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Channel-specific details

Front receives messages from various sources and labels them by type. OpenCX maps these to internal channel types:
Front message typeOpenCX channel
custom (Front Chat)Web
smooch (third-party messaging)Web
intercomWeb
Unknown typesWeb (default)
The AI responds the same way regardless of the underlying messaging platform.
Chat conversations are processed immediately on webhook delivery. The AI typically replies within a few seconds of receiving a customer message.
Images customers send in chat are downloaded from Front’s API and uploaded to OpenCX storage. The AI can reference them in its reasoning. Other attachment types retain their original filename and content type.
If your Front workspace uses custom channels, the customer’s handle (the identifier used to reach them) is extracted from the webhook payload. This is typically a username, user ID, or external reference depending on how your custom channel is configured.

Email channel

Email conversation specifics.

Connect Front

API token, webhook, and teammate selection.

Front overview

What else the Front integration covers.

Troubleshooting

AI not replying, webhook errors, handoff not firing.