Migrating to Conversations from Programmable Chat

Twilio Conversations and Programmable Chat share many of the same concepts and even method calls, but in order to support cross-channel messaging, there are a handful of key differences to keep in mind as you build.

In Conversations, chat becomes one of many "channels" for communication. A channel in Conversations is not a resource; it is the method by which a Participant joins a Conversation, such as SMS, WhatsApp, or chat.

Unlike in Programmable Chat, in Conversations, you can build messaging experiences that connect users from multiple channels. For example, a customer on their phone can send SMS messages that a customer service agent receives through a web chat interface on their computer. On the other hand, you can build single-channel Conversations, such as Conversations between only chat Participants or SMS Participants.

To add SMS or WhatsApp Participants to a Conversation that was previously a Chat Channel, you will need to update the Conversation with a Messaging Service SID. A Messaging Service is a Messaging Resource that is required to enable the usage of Conversations Webhooks and bundle multiple sender types together.

As part of this migration, Programmable Chat Services become "Conversation Services." You can fetch these Services through the REST API with the same Service SIDs (ISXXX…) and Conversations (CHXXX…), just like before.

As with Programmable Chat, you can use any number of Services in Conversations. The same rules apply: the data is not shared between Services.

For convenience, Twilio Conversations introduces a single "default" Service that appears in the REST API at the account level, linked to your Account SID (ACXXX…) If your app only relies on a single Conversation Service instance, you could choose that Service as the default. In order to set your migrated service as the default, accessible via the REST API at the account level, select it from the "Default Conversations Service" list in Developer Console, or switch the DefaultChatServiceSid parameter using the Configuration API resource. To separate your Conversations by use case, you can also create sub-accounts.

You can read more about Conversations Services in our guide to Conversations Fundamentals.

All Conversations are private; this is a change from the concept of public vs. private Channels in Twilio Chat.

Public Chat Channels do not exist in the Conversations API. This means that existing public Chat Channels are not visible in Conversations. Please plan accordingly. If there are any public Chat Channels that you wish to use in Conversations, you can migrate them to Conversations using this API.

If you no longer need public Channels in Conversations, you can leave them; public Channels won't be visible in Conversations.

Roles in Conversations do not have the inviteMember permission from a Chat Role. However, a Conversation Participant with sufficient permissions can add another Participant to a Conversation.

Please be aware of the following vocabulary changes in your migration from Programmable Chat to Conversations:

Most customer data from Programmable Chat (such as Services, Channels, Users, and Roles) are available in Conversations automatically.

For example, Programmable Chat Channels become Conversations. You can retrieve them by making a GET request to the Conversations resource or fetching a single Conversation by its SID. Conveniently, the Conversation SID is the same as the Chat Channel SID; it will look like CHXXX...

If you are building a chat-only Conversations (not connecting SMS Participants, for example), all of your data is already available in Conversations. There is no migration required.

To learn more about migrating from Twilio Programmable Messaging to Conversations, please see our guide about Inbound Message Handling and Autocreation.

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// Download the helper library from https://www.twilio.com/docs/node/install
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const twilio = require("twilio"); // Or, for ESM: import twilio from "twilio";
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// Find your Account SID and Auth Token at twilio.com/console
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// and set the environment variables. See http://twil.io/secure
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const accountSid = process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID;
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const authToken = process.env.TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN;
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const client = twilio(accountSid, authToken);
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async function listConversation() {
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  const conversations = await client.conversations.v1.conversations.list({
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    limit: 20,
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  });
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  conversations.forEach((c) => console.log(c.accountSid));
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}
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listConversation();

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{
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  "conversations": [
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    {
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      "sid": "CHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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      "account_sid": "ACaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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      "chat_service_sid": "ISaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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      "messaging_service_sid": "MGaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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      "friendly_name": "Home Repair Visit",
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      "unique_name": null,
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      "attributes": "{ \"topic\": \"feedback\" }",
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      "date_created": "2015-12-16T22:18:37Z",
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      "date_updated": "2015-12-16T22:18:38Z",
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      "state": "active",
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      "timers": {
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        "date_inactive": "2015-12-16T22:19:38Z",
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        "date_closed": "2015-12-16T22:28:38Z"
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      },
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      "bindings": {},
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      "url": "https://conversations.twilio.com/v1/Conversations/CHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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      "links": {
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        "participants": "https://conversations.twilio.com/v1/Conversations/CHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Participants",
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        "messages": "https://conversations.twilio.com/v1/Conversations/CHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Messages",
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        "webhooks": "https://conversations.twilio.com/v1/Conversations/CHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Webhooks"
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      }
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    }
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  ],
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  "meta": {
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    "page": 0,
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    "page_size": 50,
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    "first_page_url": "https://conversations.twilio.com/v1/Conversations?PageSize=50&Page=0",
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    "previous_page_url": null,
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    "url": "https://conversations.twilio.com/v1/Conversations?PageSize=50&Page=0",
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    "next_page_url": null,
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    "key": "conversations"
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  }
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}

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// Download the helper library from https://www.twilio.com/docs/node/install
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const twilio = require("twilio"); // Or, for ESM: import twilio from "twilio";
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// Find your Account SID and Auth Token at twilio.com/console
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// and set the environment variables. See http://twil.io/secure
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const accountSid = process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID;
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const authToken = process.env.TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN;
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const client = twilio(accountSid, authToken);
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async function fetchConversation() {
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  const conversation = await client.conversations.v1
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    .conversations("CHXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX")
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    .fetch();
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  console.log(conversation.accountSid);
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}
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fetchConversation();

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{
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  "sid": "CHXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
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  "account_sid": "ACaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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  "chat_service_sid": "ISaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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  "messaging_service_sid": "MGaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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  "friendly_name": "My First Conversation",
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  "unique_name": "first_conversation",
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  "attributes": "{ \"topic\": \"feedback\" }",
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  "date_created": "2015-12-16T22:18:37Z",
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  "date_updated": "2015-12-16T22:18:38Z",
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  "state": "active",
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  "timers": {
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    "date_inactive": "2015-12-16T22:19:38Z",
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    "date_closed": "2015-12-16T22:28:38Z"
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  },
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  "bindings": {},
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  "url": "https://conversations.twilio.com/v1/Conversations/CHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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  "links": {
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    "participants": "https://conversations.twilio.com/v1/Conversations/CHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Participants",
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    "messages": "https://conversations.twilio.com/v1/Conversations/CHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Messages",
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    "webhooks": "https://conversations.twilio.com/v1/Conversations/CHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Webhooks"
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  }
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}

Your existing Channels in Programmable Chat will migrate to Twilio Conversations; all Channels are visible in Conversations.

However, there are two things to keep in mind:

• Public Chat Channels will not be visible or available through the Conversations REST API because all Conversations are private.
• Before you can include non-chat Participants (SMS or WhatsApp), you'll need to attach a Messaging Service SID to the newly migrated Conversation.

If you are currently building with one of the Chat SDKs (JavaScript, Android, or iOS), update your dependency file by replacing it with the corresponding version of the Conversations SDK:

• JavaScript SDK
• iOS SDK
• Android SDK

To access the Conversations REST API, make sure that you update our helper libraries ("server-side SDKs") to at least these versions:

• Python 6.45.3
• NodeJS 3.49.3
• Java 7.55.3
• PHP 6.10.3
• Ruby 5.40.3
• C# 5.47.1

As mentioned above, some features in Chat have been renamed in Conversations. For example, rather than referencing a Channel, Conversations calls the equivalent resource a Conversation.

In your application code, we suggest the following adjustments:

• Instead of ChatClient, you should import and refer to a ConversationsClient when you use one of the client-side SDKs (JavaScript, iOS, and Android)
• Wherever you used to refer to Channels, you should refer to Conversations (REST API).
• Where you had a Chat Member object, you will now have a Conversations Participant object (REST API)

With Twilio Conversations, you can still build the Programmable Chat experiences that your end users know and love...but with more features and the ability to connect participants over SMS, WhatsApp, and chat.

After migrating, take a look at the following documentation to build more feature-rich Conversations today:

• Using WhatsApp with Conversations
• Group Texting in Conversations
• The Conversations Quickstart
• Using States & Timers in Conversations