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Intercom API Authentication

How to authenticate Intercom API requests: one Bearer API key plus a connectionId. MindCloud runs the OAuth flow and refreshes Intercom tokens for you.

Every Intercom API request through MindCloud needs two things: a MindCloud API Key and a connectionId for your Intercom account. This page covers both, plus exactly how to send them, so you do not need to visit any other page to get authenticated.

Steps to authenticate

  1. Create a MindCloud account at app.mindcloud.co if you do not already have one.
  2. Generate a MindCloud API Key in API Keys. This is the Bearer token you send on every request. Keep it on your server.
  3. Create a Intercom connection in Connections. Intercom uses OAuth. When you create the connection, you are redirected to sign in to Intercom and approve access — MindCloud stores the resulting tokens and refreshes them automatically, so your integration never has to.
  4. Copy the connection’s connectionId — you will send it on every request alongside your MindCloud API Key.

How requests are authenticated

Authentication has two layers. Your MindCloud API Key authenticates the request to MindCloud, sent as a Bearer token in the Authorization header. The connectionId selects the connected Intercom account that should run the action. MindCloud stores and refreshes the Intercom credentials behind that connection, so you never send provider tokens with your requests.

Pass connectionId in the query string for GET and DELETE actions, and in the JSON body for POST, PUT, and PATCH actions.

For example, calling Get Contact with an Intercom connection looks like this:

curl --request GET \
  --url "https://connect.mindcloud.co/v1/universal/intercom/latest/actions/get-contact" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $MINDCLOUD_API_KEY" \
  --get \
  --data-urlencode "connectionId=$CONNECTION_ID"

The Authorization: Bearer <your MindCloud API Key> header authenticates you to MindCloud; the connectionId tells MindCloud which Intercom account to run the action against. Missing or invalid Authorization returns 401, and a missing or mismatched connectionId returns 400.

How to set up your connection?

Use this connection only for your own Intercom workspace. If you need to access another company’s Intercom data, use OAuth instead.

  1. Open the Intercom Developer Hub

    Sign in to the Intercom workspace you want to connect, then open the Developer Hub for that workspace.

    Developer Hub

  2. Open your Intercom app

    Go to Your Apps and select the app you want to use for this private connection.

    Developer Hub → Settings → Your Apps

  3. Find the Access Token

    Open the Authentication section of the app and copy the Access Token shown there. Intercom provides this token when you create an app on your workspace.

    Your App → Configure → Authentication

  4. Paste the token into the connection form

    Return to the connection form and paste the value into the Access Token field.

Keep your key safe

Keep your MindCloud API Key on your server; do not ship it in browser code, mobile apps, public repositories, or logs. Anyone with the key can call the Universal API as your MindCloud account, across every connection you have created.