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Intercom Data Source

The Intercom connector enables you to ingest contacts, conversations, events, companies, and other customer engagement data from your Intercom workspace. This connector is particularly useful for applications that need to analyze customer support metrics, track user lifecycle events, sync contact data to downstream systems, or build unified customer data pipelines. Follow the instructions below to create a new data flow that ingests data from an Intercom source in Nexla.
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Intercom

Create a New Data Flow​

  1. To create a new data flow, navigate to the Integrate section, and click the New Data Flow button. Then, select the desired flow type from the list, and click the Create button.

  2. Select the Intercom connector tile from the list of available connectors. Then, select the credential that will be used to connect to the Intercom instance, and click Next; or, create a new Intercom credential for use in this flow.

  3. In Nexla, Intercom data sources can be created using pre-built endpoint templates, which expedite source setup for common Intercom endpoints. Each template is designed specifically for the corresponding Intercom endpoint, making data source setup easy and efficient.
    • To configure this source using a template, follow the instructions in Configure Using a Template.

    Intercom sources can also be configured manually, allowing you to ingest data from Intercom endpoints not included in the pre-built templates or apply further customizations to exactly suit your needs.
    • To configure this source manually, follow the instructions in Configure Manually.

Configure Using a Template​

Nexla provides pre-built templates that can be used to rapidly configure data sources to ingest data from common Intercom endpoints. Each template is designed specifically for the corresponding Intercom endpoint, making data source setup easy and efficient.

Endpoint Settings​

  • Select the endpoint from which this source will fetch data from the Endpoint pulldown menu. Available endpoint templates are listed in the expandable boxes below. Click on an endpoint to see more information about it and how to configure your data source for this endpoint.

    Conversations

    Retrieves all conversations from the Intercom workspace. Use this endpoint to ingest customer support conversation data for analysis, SLA reporting, or integration with BI and analytics tools.

    • Issues a GET request to https://api.intercom.io/conversations. Returns a JSON object with a conversations array containing conversation records.
    • Response data path: $.conversations[*] — each element of the conversations array is one conversation record. The Intercom API paginates results automatically.

    For EU-hosted workspaces, replace api.intercom.io with api.eu.intercom.io. For Australia-hosted workspaces, use api.au.intercom.io. The Intercom API enforces a rate limit of 10,000 requests per minute per app.

    Contacts

    Retrieves all contacts from the Intercom workspace. Use this endpoint to ingest user and lead records for CRM integration, marketing segmentation, or user lifecycle analysis.

    • Issues a GET request to https://api.intercom.io/contacts. Returns a JSON object with a data array containing contact records.
    • Response data path: $.data[*] — each element of the data array is one contact record.

    Contacts in Intercom include both users (authenticated) and leads (anonymous). Use the Intercom Search API (POST to /contacts/search) via manual configuration if you need to filter contacts by specific attributes before ingestion.

    Companies

    Retrieves all companies from the Intercom workspace. Use this endpoint to ingest account-level data for B2B analysis, customer health scoring, or CRM synchronization.

    • Issues a GET request to https://api.intercom.io/companies. Returns a JSON object with a data array containing company records.
    • Response data path: $.data[*] — each element of the data array is one company record.

    Companies in Intercom represent B2B accounts. Each company record includes attributes such as company name, plan, monthly spend, and custom attributes defined in your workspace.

    Admins

    Retrieves all admins (teammates) from the Intercom workspace. Use this endpoint to export your support team roster for capacity planning, performance reporting, or access auditing.

    • Issues a GET request to https://api.intercom.io/admins. Returns a JSON object with an admins array containing admin records.
    • Response data path: $.admins[*] — each element of the admins array is one admin record.

    Admins are the human teammates who handle conversations in Intercom. This endpoint is useful for cross-referencing conversation assignment data with team member details in downstream reporting.

    Tags

    Retrieves all tags defined in the Intercom workspace. Use this endpoint to export the tag taxonomy for reporting, to validate tag usage across contacts and conversations, or to maintain a reference list in downstream systems.

    • Issues a GET request to https://api.intercom.io/tags. Returns a JSON object with a data array containing tag records.
    • Response data path: $.data[*] — each element of the data array is one tag record.

    Tags in Intercom are used to categorize contacts, companies, and conversations. This list is account-level reference data — sync it periodically to keep downstream tag lookup tables current.

Endpoint Testing​

Once the selected endpoint template has been configured, Nexla can retrieve a sample of the data that will be fetched according to the current settings. This allows users to verify that the source is configured correctly before saving.

  • To test the current endpoint configuration, click the Test button to the right of the endpoint selection menu. Sample data will be fetched & displayed in the Endpoint Test Result panel on the right.

  • If the sample data is not as expected, review the selected endpoint and associated settings, and make any necessary adjustments. Then, click the Test button again, and check the sample data to ensure that the correct information is displayed.

Configure Manually​

Intercom sources can also be configured manually, allowing you to ingest data from Intercom endpoints not included in the pre-built templates or apply further customizations to exactly suit your needs.

First, select the method that will be used for calls to the Intercom API from the Method pulldown menu. The most common methods are:

  • GET: For retrieving data from the API (contacts, conversations, events, companies, etc.)
  • POST: For sending data to the API or triggering search and filter operations (e.g., the Intercom Search API uses POST requests to query contacts and conversations)
  • PUT: For updating existing records
  • PATCH: For partial updates to existing records
  • DELETE: For removing records

The Intercom Search API (for contacts and conversations) uses POST requests with a JSON body containing filter conditions. When ingesting filtered datasets, select POST as the method and provide the filter JSON in the request body configuration.

API Endpoint URL​

  1. Enter the URL of the Intercom API endpoint from which this source will fetch data in the Set API URL field. This should be the complete URL including the protocol (https://) and any required path parameters.

    Common Intercom API endpoint URLs include:

    • Contacts: https://api.intercom.io/contacts
    • Conversations: https://api.intercom.io/conversations
    • Companies: https://api.intercom.io/companies
    • Data Attributes: https://api.intercom.io/data_attributes
    • Events (User Events): https://api.intercom.io/events
    • Segments: https://api.intercom.io/segments
    • Tags: https://api.intercom.io/tags
    • Teams: https://api.intercom.io/teams
    • Help Center Articles: https://api.intercom.io/articles
    • Tickets: https://api.intercom.io/tickets

    For EU-hosted workspaces, replace api.intercom.io with api.eu.intercom.io. For Australia-hosted workspaces, use api.au.intercom.io.

Ensure the API endpoint URL is correct and accessible with your current credentials. You can test the endpoint using the Test button after configuring the URL. For the full Intercom API reference including all available endpoints, see the Intercom REST API documentation.

Date/Time Macros (API URL)​

Optional

Optionally, the API URL can be customized using macros—all macros added to the API URL will be converted into values when Nexla executes the API call. Macros are dynamic placeholders that allow you to create flexible API endpoints that can adapt to different time periods or data requirements.

Date/Time macros are particularly useful when calling Intercom endpoints that support time-based filtering via query parameters, such as filtering conversations or events by a specific time range. For example, you can append a created_since query parameter with a macro value to incrementally ingest only new records.

  1. To add a macro, type { at the appropriate position in the API URL (within the Set API URL field), and select the desired macro from the dropdown list.

    • {now} – The current datetime
    • {now-1} – The datetime one time unit before the current datetime
    • {now+1} – The datetime one time unit after the current datetime
    • custom – Datetime macros can reference any number of time units before or after the current datetime—for example, enter (now-4) to indicate the datetime four time units before the current datetime

  2. Select the format that will be applied to datetime macros from the Date Format for Date/Time Macro pulldown menu. This format will be applied to the base datetime value of the macro—i.e., the value of {now} in {now-1}.

  3. Select the datetime unit that will be used to perform mathematical operations in the included macro(s) from the Time Unit for Operations pulldown menu—for example, for the macro {now-1}, when Day is selected, {now-1} will be converted to the datetime one day before the current datetime.

Lookup-Based Macros (API URL)​

Optional

Column values from existing lookups can also be included as macros in the API URL. Lookup-based macros allow you to reference data from previously configured data sources or lookups, enabling dynamic API endpoints that can adapt based on existing data.

Lookup-based macros are useful when you need to create Intercom API endpoints that reference specific contact IDs, company IDs, or conversation IDs retrieved from another Nexla data source. For example, you can use a contact ID from a previous source to dynamically fetch that contact's conversation history.

  1. To include a lookup column value macro, select the relevant lookup from the Add Lookups to Supported Macros pulldown menu.

  2. Type { at the appropriate position in the API URL, and select the lookup column-based macro from the dropdown list. Lookup-based macros are automatically populated into the macro list when a lookup is selected in the Add Lookups to Supported Macros pulldown menu.

Path to Data​

Optional

If only a subset of the data that will be returned by an API endpoint is needed, you can designate the part(s) of the response that should be included in the Nexset(s) produced from this source by specifying the path to the relevant data within the response. This is particularly useful when API responses contain metadata, pagination information, or other data that you don't need for your analysis.

For example, when fetching contacts from Intercom, the API returns a JSON object with a top-level data array containing the contact records, along with pagination metadata. By specifying the path to the data array, you configure Nexla to treat each element of that array as an individual record.

Path to Data is essential when Intercom API responses have nested structures. Most Intercom list endpoints (contacts, conversations, companies, etc.) return records in a top-level data array. Without specifying the correct path, Nexla might treat the entire response object—including pagination metadata—as a single record rather than individual items.

  • To specify which data should be treated as relevant in responses from this source, enter the path to the relevant data in the Set Path to Data in Response field.

    • For responses in JSON format enter the JSON path that points to the object or array that should be treated as relevant data. JSON paths use dot notation (e.g., $.data[*] to access the data array returned by most Intercom list endpoints).

    • For responses in XML format, enter the XPath that points to the object/array containing relevant data. XPath uses slash notation (e.g., /response/data/item to access item elements within a data element).

    Path to Data Example:

    For most Intercom list endpoints (such as /contacts or /conversations), the response is in JSON format with a top-level data array. Enter $.data[*] as the path to treat each element of the array as an individual record.

Autogenerate Path Suggestions​

Nexla can also autogenerate data path suggestions based on the response from the API endpoint. These suggested paths can be used as-is or modified to exactly suit your needs.

  • To use this feature, click the Test button next to the Set API URL field to fetch a sample response from the API endpoint. Suggested data paths generated based on the content & format of the response will be displayed in the Suggestions box below the Set Path to Data in Response field.

  • Click on a suggestion to automatically populate the Set Path to Data in Response field with the corresponding path. The populated path can be modified directly within the field if further customization is needed.

    PathSuggestions.png

Metadata​

If metadata is included in the response but is located outside of the defined path to relevant data, you can configure Nexla to include this data as common metadata in each record. This is useful when you want to preserve important contextual information that applies to all records but isn't part of the main data array.

For example, when fetching a list of contacts from Intercom, the API response includes a data array of contact records along with pages metadata containing pagination details (total count, current page, etc.). If you have specified the path to the data array but also want to retain the total count or other pagination context, you can specify a path to that metadata to include it with each record in the generated Nexset(s).

Metadata paths are particularly useful for preserving Intercom pagination context, such as total record counts or page information, that can be helpful for auditing or tracking the completeness of a data ingestion run.

  • To specify the location of metadata that should be included with each record, enter the path to the relevant metadata in the Path to Metadata in Response field.

    • For responses in JSON format, enter the JSON path to the object or array that contains the metadata, and for responses in XML format, enter the XPath.

Request Headers​

Optional

  • If Nexla should include any additional request headers in API calls to this source, enter the headers & corresponding values as comma-separated pairs in the Request Headers field (e.g., header1:value1,header2:value2). Additional headers are often required for API versioning, content type specifications, or custom authentication requirements.

    You do not need to include the Authorization header here, as it is automatically handled by Nexla using the Access Token from your configured credential. The Intercom API also requires an Intercom-Version header for versioned requests — if you need to pin your integration to a specific API version (e.g., 2.11), you can add it here as Intercom-Version:2.11.

Endpoint Testing​

After configuring all settings for the selected endpoint, Nexla can retrieve a sample of the data that will be fetched according to the current configuration. This allows users to verify that the source is configured correctly before saving.

  • To test the current endpoint configuration, click the Test button to the right of the endpoint selection menu. Sample data will be fetched & displayed in the Endpoint Test Result panel on the right.

  • If the sample data is not as expected, review the selected endpoint and associated settings, and make any necessary adjustments. Then, click the Test button again, and check the sample data to ensure that the correct information is displayed.

Save & Activate the Source​

  1. Once all of the relevant steps in the above sections have been completed, click the Create button in the upper right corner of the screen to save and create the new Intercom data source. Nexla will now begin ingesting data from the configured endpoint and will organize any data that it finds into one or more Nexsets.