How to use Zoom’s inbound webhook chatbot

Incoming Webhooks is an app that allows you to send messages from your external services like Amazon CloudWatch directly to any Zoom chat channel you have in your account. It is possible to create a unique endpoint and verification token in each channel by using the chat app in that channel. With these credentials, you can send messages to your Zoom chat channel via HTTP POST requests in seconds.

The following topics are covered in this article:

• How to add and configure an incoming webhook
  • Add from the Zoom App Marketplace
  • Configure the incoming webhook chatbot
• How to send messages to Zoom Chat
• How to use the inbound webhook chatbot
• How to remove incoming webhook chatbot

Requirements for incoming webhook

• Ownership or administrative rights of the account
• An account that is either a Professional, Business, Education, or Enterprise account
• Working knowledge of sending HTTP POST requests with an endpoint and a token.
• The Zoom App Marketplace has approved the incoming webhook chatbot for inclusion in its store
  Note: Please contact your Zoom administrator if the app is not pre-approved by Zoom before submitting.

How to add and configure an incoming webhook

Add from the Zoom App Marketplace

Note: The incoming webhook chatbot requires you to have admin rights in your Zoom account to be added and configured.

1. Make sure you are logged in as an account admin in the Zoom App Marketplace.
2. To find Incoming Webhook, simply type the app’s name into the search box in the top-right corner of your screen.
3. Search for the Incoming Webhook app in the search results and click on it to access the app.
   Note: Please contact your Zoom administrator if you have not been pre-approved for this app to add it to your account.
4. Add the item to your cart by clicking the Add button.
5. If the app asks for permissions, confirm them and click the Authorize button to grant them.
   An incoming webhook app is now available for download.

Configure the incoming webhook chatbot

1. Open the Zoom desktop client on your computer and sign in.
2. Please click the Chat tab at the top of the page.
3. The incoming webhook can be found in the BOTS section.
   If you want to receive messages in a specific chat channel, you need to go to that specific channel.
4. You can connect by typing /inc connect input.
   After clicking it, you will be sent a 1:1 chat message with details about your connection including:
   • end point
   • confirmation token
   • Examples of cURL requests.
5. If you want to send a POST request with this information, you can use this information.
   Note: There are several steps you need to follow to have the incoming webhook chatbot send messages to any channel you want to use it on.

How to send messages to Zoom chat

The first step in connecting to the integration is to establish the connection and then send POST requests to the integration endpoint. The verification token should be added to the Authorization header of the request if you have configured this option.
Note: There are only POST requests that can be made to the endpoint.

It’s recommended to use an open Git bash (or equivalent that supports cURL commands) to test your connection, but Terminal is also an option. From the initial 1:1 chat message sent by the inbound webhook chatbot, you can copy the sample cURL from the chatbot’s inbound message and send the similar cURL request. After sending the test message, you should be able to see it in the specified channel after sending. A 200 OK response is returned as a result of a successful test.

When using the Incoming Webhook Chatbot, you can choose different types and levels of complexity of your messages:

• Plain Format: This format can be used to send plain text coming from the created connection. To use this format, all you have to do is use the endpoint with no query parameters attached. The content of your message must be sent as a string in the message body.

POST <endpoint>
Authorization: <verificationToken>
Body: "This is a test message."

• Field format: In this format, you can add simple formatting to fields. For example, if you want, you can format your message in the form of fields. Add fields to the query parameter so that formatting (?format=fields) can be used to retrieve the data in that format.

POST <endpoint>?format=fields
Authorization: <verificationToken>
Content-Type: application/json
Body:
{
    "Field 1": "bar",
    "Field 2": "qux"
}

• List format: In this format, simple formatting can be sent as a list in a message. For example, if you prefer, your message can be formatted in a list format. As a query parameter, you must add list as a format (?format=list) to use this formatting.

POST <endpoint>?format=list
Authorization: <verificationToken>
Content-Type: application/json
Body:
{
    "Item 1": "Item 1",
    "Item 2": "Item 2"
}

• Full Format: With the help of this format, Zoom chat messages can be richly formatted and sent as rich messages. As a result of this format, you can include headings, subheadings, links, buttons, dropdown menus, attachments, and more in your chatbot messages. To use this format, you must append the full format to your query parameters (?format=full) before running the query. For more information about the supported types of JSON objects, see this reference.

How to use the inbound webhook chatbot

Available Commands

• Connect: To start sending messages to your current chat channel, you must first create an endpoint (URL) and token by typing /inc connect *connectionName>. Besides 1:1 direct messages, this chatbot also supports channels.
• Regenerate token: If the connection name you specified is the name you want to regenerate, type /inc regenerate *connectionName>.
• Disconnect: To disconnect the connection indicated by the connection name, please type /inc disconnect *connectionName>.
• Disconnect All: The incoming webhook chatbot can be disconnected by entering the /inc disconnect all command to remove all connections.
• Configure: For a list of connections associated with the current chat channel, type /inc configure.
• Configure All: Connections for all channels can be viewed by typing /inc configure all.

How to remove incoming webhook chatbot

1. Please log in as an account admin of your Zoom account to access the Zoom App Marketplace.
2. On the left side of the page, you will see a Manage button at the top right.
3. Click the Added apps link in the navigation menu on the left side of the page.
4. Click the Remove button next to the incoming WebHook app so it can be removed.
5. Please confirm the dialog box by clicking the Remove button.
   Note: You should complete this step as soon as possible to also remove any active Zoom chat connections.