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

# Channels Overview

> Bring the Bag of words analyst to where your team works — Slack, Teams, Google Chat, WhatsApp, and Email

Channels connect the Bag of words analyst to the messaging tools your team already uses. Once a channel is integrated, users can ask data questions in plain language — from a Slack DM, a Teams channel, a Google Chat space, a WhatsApp message, or an email — and get answers with real data, without opening the BOW app.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Slack" icon="slack" href="/channels/slack">
    Socket Mode by default — no public URL needed. Includes the Slack Agent experience.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Microsoft Teams" icon="comment" href="/channels/teams">
    Azure Bot–based integration for 1:1 chats and channel @mentions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Google Chat" icon="google" href="/channels/google-chat">
    Pub/Sub-based — outbound-only, enterprise-friendly, no public URL needed.
  </Card>

  <Card title="WhatsApp" icon="whatsapp" href="/channels/whatsapp">
    Meta WhatsApp Business Cloud API integration.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Email" icon="envelope" href="/channels/email">
    Give the analyst its own mailbox — send answers and (optionally) receive questions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="MCP" icon="plug" href="/using-bow/mcp">
    Connect Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client to your data via the BOW MCP server.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## How channels work

All chat channels share the same core model:

* **Account linking** — every platform user maps to a BOW account, so all queries run with that user's permissions. On platforms that vouch for the user's email (Slack, Teams, Google Chat), accounts are **auto-linked by email** when it matches an existing BOW user (this can be disabled per integration). Otherwise, the bot sends a one-time verification link on first contact.
* **Thread = conversation** — each thread maps to a single BOW report. Replies in a thread continue the same conversation and context; a new message starts a new one. Every conversation is saved as a report in BOW, with a link posted back into the chat.
* **Permission-aware data access** — in public channels, only public agents (data sources) are queried, since answers are visible to everyone. In DMs, the user's private agents are available too.
* **Status feedback** — the bot signals progress while it works (for example 👀 → ✅ reactions on Slack, or a "Working on it…" message on Google Chat).
* **Per-agent channel availability** — each agent (data source) can be enabled or disabled per channel from its settings, so you control which data is reachable from which surface.

## Connectivity at a glance

Channels differ in how events reach your BOW server — which matters if your deployment sits behind a firewall with no public URL.

| Channel                      | How events arrive                        | Public URL required? |
| ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | -------------------- |
| Slack (Socket Mode, default) | Outbound WebSocket to Slack              | No                   |
| Slack (HTTP webhook)         | Slack posts to your webhook              | Yes                  |
| Google Chat                  | Outbound Pub/Sub pull from Google Cloud  | No                   |
| Microsoft Teams              | Azure Bot posts to your webhook          | Yes                  |
| WhatsApp                     | Meta posts to your webhook               | Yes                  |
| Email                        | Outbound SMTP/IMAP to your mail provider | No                   |

<Note>
  All chat channels are configured by an admin under **Settings → Integrations** in BOW.
</Note>