Manage channels

A channel is the recipe Rational AI follows when it drafts a response: which provider generates the text, and how many drafts you get to choose from. This guide walks through creating a channel, the fields in the create and edit dialog, and what changes once a channel exists.

The Channels list: each channel, who provides it, a description, and its mode.

📖WHAT IS A CHANNEL?

A channel bundles the settings used to generate draft responses, mainly its provider and the number of drafts to produce. Other parts of the product refer to channels by name (for example, when configuring touchpoints), so a clear, unique name keeps them easy to tell apart at a glance.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have:

• Administrative access: an account with channel management privileges.
• A provider in mind: the provider is an extension that does the actual drafting. You pick it when you create the channel, and it is locked from that point on, so decide which one you want before you begin.

Create a channel

Create a channel whenever you need a new way to draft responses, for instance a dedicated channel for support replies or one tied to a specific provider.

1. Go to Settings → Channels and select New channel.
2. Enter a name. It must be unique across all channels (see the note below).
3. Select the channel Extension. This is the provider that generates the drafts, and it can only be set here, while creating the channel.
4. Set the Number of drafts. The field defaults to 2 and shows the placeholder Number of drafts.... Increase it if you want more options to choose from per response, or lower it for fewer.
5. Save the channel.

📝CHANNEL NAMES MUST BE UNIQUE

If you enter a name another channel already uses, the channel is not saved and an error appears under the name field. Matching is case-sensitive and exact, so Support and support count as two different names.

Edit a channel

Edit a channel to rename it or change how many drafts it produces. The provider is the one thing you cannot touch.

1. Go to Settings → Channels and open the channel you want to change.
2. Update the name or Number of drafts as needed.
3. Save your changes.

What you can change

Both the name and the Number of drafts are editable at any time. The same uniqueness rule applies as when creating: renaming a channel to a name already in use is rejected with a field-level error under the name field.

What you cannot change

The provider field does not appear when editing. A channel's provider is fixed at creation, so if you need a different provider, create a new channel instead.

Result

Your channel is saved with a unique name, a provider locked in at creation, and a set number of drafts (defaulting to 2). Because every name is guaranteed unique, your channels stay easy to identify wherever they're referenced across the product.