Making it easier to integrate with Intercom

Get building and testing right away with instant OAuth approval

Since launching the Intercom platform in 2015, we’ve continued to work with developers to iterate on our processes and make it quicker and easier to build with Intercom.

In that spirit, we’ve made an update to our OAuth application process so that you can now get instant, automatic approval to start building and testing your integration without having to wait for us to review. Read on for more detail 🎉

A bit of background on OAuth

All integrations with Intercom need to use OAuth to let people use the integration or app. This makes the integration process easy and transparent for users, means they can be confident their data is secure and can know how it will be used.

Previously, this required approval for OAuth by us before you could get started building. We wanted to change this to avoid the frustration of waiting for approval when you just want to get on and start developing 😁

Introducing instant OAuth TEST approval

Now, you can get OAuth approval for your TEST app instantly so you can start building and testing without needing to wait 👏

Your TEST app is easy to set up from within Intercom and allows you to work on your integration without impacting your main production app (you can find out more about setting one up here). And with instant approval for OAuth, you can get started developing immediately 🎉

Some key points to note about the TEST app:

1. Same Environment: Your TEST app inherits all the products you have on your main production app, so you can recreate and test any scenario or feature that is possible on your production app
2. Separate Data: Your TEST Intercom version has completely different data to your main production account, so you can develop without the risk of deleting or updating data on your production app.
3. Teammates only: OAuth access on your TEST app is restricted to your teammates, so you won’t be able to signup any users outside your app — to do that, you’ll need to apply for OAuth on your production app when you’re ready (read on for more info on that!)

The full (new and improved!) OAuth process

So, how does this TEST app OAuth fit in to the process of building and publishing your integration?

There’s a full run down of the whole process here, but in short it now looks like this:

1. Create a TEST Intercom app
2. Get OAuth for your TEST app instantly
3. Build your integration in your TEST app
4. When you’re ready to make your integration live, apply for OAuth approval for your main Intercom app with a short demo video (there are some tips here on creating a great demo vid 📽)
5. We’ll review your application, and let you know if OAuth has been approved. This is usually within 5–10 working days.

⚠️ Note that you can’t skip ahead to get OAuth on your production app without getting OAuth and building on your test app first. ⚠️

We hope that this process makes it easier and quicker to get started with building your integration.

Always be …. iterating

…Ok, not quite the same as Alex Baldwins character in the film Glengarry Glen Ross (incidentally, Baldwins’ character in the film was not in the original David Mamet stage play, but I digress 🤓), but we are always iterating to improve your experience developing with Intercom.

So, as always, feel free to let us know you feedback if you think there are other improvements we can make — whether it’s to OAuth, the integration process or any other part of the developer journey. You can comment here, send us a message on our website, or even tweet us @intercomdevs 📣

Happy developing 👍