---
title: "Helpscout Knowledge Sync"
description: "Integrate your team's knowledge directly from HelpScout into Brainfish. By syncing your HelpScout help center articles, you can keep your AI agent's knowledge up-to-date automatically, ensuring it always provides the most accurate and relevant answers based on your customer support documentation."
canonical_url: "https://help.brainfi.sh/articles/helpscout-knowledge-sync-7LJmEoFz9o"
md_url: "https://help.brainfi.sh/articles/helpscout-knowledge-sync-7LJmEoFz9o.md"
---
# Helpscout Knowledge Sync

Integrate your team's knowledge directly from HelpScout into Brainfish. By syncing your HelpScout help center articles, you can keep your AI agent's knowledge up-to-date automatically, ensuring it always provides the most accurate and relevant answers based on your customer support documentation.

This guide will walk you through the process of connecting and syncing your HelpScout help center as a knowledge source.

## Step 1: Navigate to External Data and Add a New Source

1. From your Brainfish Dashboard, click on **External Data** in the left-hand navigation menu.
2. Click the **+ Source** button.
3. From the list of external data sources, select **HelpScout**.

## Step 2: Configure Your HelpScout Connection

You will now see the "Configure HelpScout" form. You'll need to provide a name for this source and your HelpScout credentials.

**Source Name**: Enter a descriptive name for your connection, such as "Customer Support Docs" or "Help Center Articles".

**HelpScout API Key**: To get your API key, you'll need to generate one in your HelpScout account.

### How to Get Your HelpScout API Key

1. **Log into your HelpScout account**
   * Go to <https://secure.helpscout.net>
   * Sign in with your admin credentials
2. **Navigate to API Settings**
   * Click on your profile picture in the top-right corner
   * Select **"My Profile"** from the dropdown menu
   * In the left sidebar, click on **"API Keys"**
3. **Generate API Key**
   * Click **"Generate API Key"**
   * Give your key a descriptive name (e.g., "Brainfish Integration")
   * Click **"Generate"**
   * **Copy the API key immediately** — you won't be able to see it again

### Alternative Method: From HelpScout Admin Panel

1. **Access Admin Settings**
   * Go to **Admin** → **Integrations** → **API Keys**
   * Click **"Generate New API Key"**
2. **Follow the same steps** as above to generate your API key

**Paste the API Key**: Return to Brainfish and paste the copied token into the HelpScout API Key field.

**Select HelpScout Collection**: Once a valid API key is entered, the HelpScout Collection dropdown will populate with all the collections your account has access to. Select the collection you want to sync.

**Select Categories** (Optional): After selecting a collection, you can choose specific categories within that collection to sync, or leave it as "All Categories" to sync everything.

Click the **+ Add Source** button to finalize the connection.

## Step 3: Sync and Verify Your Content

After adding the source, Brainfish will begin importing content from your HelpScout help center.

1. On the External Data page, you will see your new HelpScout source with a "Syncing" status. This process may take a few minutes, depending on the amount of content.
2. Once the sync is complete, the status will update to show the number of articles imported.
3. Click on the newly created HelpScout catalog to view the list of imported articles. You can click the eye icon (👁️) next to any article to preview its content and ensure it was imported correctly.

## Step 4: Enable the Source for Your Agent

To start using this knowledge, you must enable the source and ensure your agent has access to it.

1. On the External Data page, find your new HelpScout source card. Click the three-dots menu (...) and ensure the source is **Enabled**.
2. Navigate to the **Agents** page from the left-hand menu.
3. Select the agent you want to train with this new knowledge.
4. In the agent configuration panel, go to **Knowledge Settings**.
5. Ensure that **All sources** is selected, or specifically add your new HelpScout source from the dropdown menu.

## Step 5: Test Your Integration

Finally, test that your agent can find and use information from the new source.

1. Open the **Agent Playground** or your website where the agent is deployed.
2. Ask a question related to the content in your synced HelpScout help center.
3. The agent should provide a detailed answer based on the information from your HelpScout articles. You can also expand the **Sources** to see the specific HelpScout article that was used to generate the answer.

You have now successfully synced your HelpScout help center with Brainfish! Your agent will now be able to answer questions using the knowledge stored in your HelpScout documentation.

## Troubleshooting

### Common Issues

**"Invalid Help Scout API Key" error**

* Verify your API key is correct and hasn't expired
* Ensure the API key has the correct permissions
* Check that you copied the entire key without extra spaces

**"Unauthorized" error**

* Confirm your API key is valid and active
* Ensure your HelpScout account is active and accessible
* Check that you have admin access to generate API keys

**"No collections available" error**

* Verify your HelpScout account has help center collections
* Check that your API key has access to the help center
* Ensure your HelpScout account has help center enabled

**"Collection not found" error**

* Confirm the collection ID is correct
* Check that the collection exists in your HelpScout account
* Ensure your API key has access to the specific collection

**"Request timeout" error**

* The sync process may take longer for large help centers
* Check your internet connection
* Try again during off-peak hours

### Best Practices

1. **Regular Syncs**: Set up regular sync schedules to keep your knowledge base current
2. **Content Organization**: Organize your HelpScout articles into clear categories for better organization in Brainfish
3. **API Key Security**: Keep your API keys secure and rotate them periodically
4. **Monitor Usage**: Check your HelpScout API usage to ensure you stay within rate limits

### Support

If you encounter any issues during setup, please contact our support team with:

* Your HelpScout account email
* The specific error message you're seeing