Read-first Help Scout Inbox API surface for support operations and agent workflows.
Created by @debgotwired (Deb Mukherjee).
Quick Start
1. Install
See Install above.
2. Set Up Credentials
Get your access token from your API provider's developer portal, then store it:
help-scout-pp-cli auth set-token YOUR_TOKEN_HERE
Or set it via environment variable:
export HELP_SCOUT_BEARER_AUTH="your-token-here"
3. Verify Setup
help-scout-pp-cli doctor
This checks your configuration and credentials.
4. Try Your First Command
help-scout-pp-cli conversations list
Usage
Run help-scout-pp-cli --help for the full command reference and flag list.
Commands
conversations
Manage conversations
help-scout-pp-cli conversations get - Get a conversation by ID.help-scout-pp-cli conversations get-v3 - Get a conversation by ID using the v3 conversation representation.help-scout-pp-cli conversations list - List conversations.
customers
Manage customers
help-scout-pp-cli customers get - Get a customer by ID.help-scout-pp-cli customers list - List customers.
mailboxes
Manage mailboxes
help-scout-pp-cli mailboxes get-mailbox - Get a Help Scout mailbox by ID.help-scout-pp-cli mailboxes list - List Help Scout mailboxes.
reports
Manage reports
help-scout-pp-cli reports get-conversation - Get conversation reporting metrics.help-scout-pp-cli reports get-happiness - Get customer happiness reporting metrics.help-scout-pp-cli reports get-productivity - Get productivity reporting metrics.
tags
Manage tags
help-scout-pp-cli tags - List Help Scout tags.
teams
Manage teams
help-scout-pp-cli teams - List Help Scout teams.
users
Manage users
help-scout-pp-cli users get - Get a Help Scout user by ID.help-scout-pp-cli users get-current - Get the authenticated Help Scout user.help-scout-pp-cli users list - List Help Scout users.
webhooks
Manage webhooks
help-scout-pp-cli webhooks - List webhook subscriptions.
workflows
Manage workflows
help-scout-pp-cli workflows - List Help Scout workflows.
Output Formats
# Human-readable table (default in terminal, JSON when piped)
help-scout-pp-cli conversations list
# JSON for scripting and agents
help-scout-pp-cli conversations list --json
# Filter to specific fields
help-scout-pp-cli conversations list --json --select id,name,status
# Dry run — show the request without sending
help-scout-pp-cli conversations list --dry-run
# Agent mode — JSON + compact + no prompts in one flag
help-scout-pp-cli conversations list --agent
Agent Usage
This CLI is designed for AI agent consumption:
- Non-interactive - never prompts, every input is a flag
- Pipeable -
--json output to stdout, errors to stderr
- Filterable -
--select id,name returns only fields you need
- Previewable -
--dry-run shows the request without sending
- Read-only by default - this CLI does not create, update, delete, publish, send, or mutate remote resources
- Offline-friendly - sync/search commands can use the local SQLite store when available
- Agent-safe by default - no colors or formatting unless
--human-friendly is set
Exit codes: 0 success, 2 usage error, 3 not found, 4 auth error, 5 API error, 7 rate limited, 10 config error.
Health Check
help-scout-pp-cli doctor
Verifies configuration, credentials, and connectivity to the API.
Configuration
Config file: ~/.config/help-scout-inbox-pp-cli/config.toml
Static request headers can be configured under headers; per-command header overrides take precedence.
Environment variables:
| Name | Kind | Required | Description |
|---|
HELP_SCOUT_BEARER_AUTH | per_call | Yes | Set to your API credential. |
agentcookie (optional)
If you use agentcookie to sync secrets across machines, this CLI auto-adopts agentcookie-managed credentials with no extra setup. When the daemon writes to this CLI's config, help-scout-pp-cli doctor reports agentcookie: detected and auth-status labels the source as agentcookie. Skip this section if you don't use agentcookie - the CLI works the same as any other.
Troubleshooting
Authentication errors (exit code 4)
- Run
help-scout-pp-cli doctor to check credentials
- Verify the environment variable is set:
echo $HELP_SCOUT_BEARER_AUTH
Not found errors (exit code 3)
- Check the resource ID is correct
- Run the
list command to see available items
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