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Help Scout + MailKite

Help Scout is a customer support platform. Use MailKite to receive inbound email as Help Scout conversations — every email becomes a trackable conversation.

What you need

A verified domain with SPF + DKIM published
Your API key (mk_live_…)
Help Scout account with API access

Send email

Use MailKite SMTP for transactional outbound. Help Scout handles replies within its conversation system.

smtp-config

SMTP Host: smtp.mailkite.dev
SMTP Port: 587
SMTP Username: mailkite
SMTP Password: mk_live_...
From: hello@yourdomain.com

Receive inbound email (optional)

Point your domain's webhook to this handler. Each inbound email becomes a Help Scout conversation.

handle-inbound.ts

// Receive inbound email → create Help Scout conversation
const HELPSCOUT_API = 'https://api.helpscout.net/v2';

async function handleInbound(email) {
  // Create or get customer
  const customerRes = await fetch(`${HELPSCOUT_API}/customers`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.HELPSCOUT_API_KEY}`,
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ email: email.from }),
  });
  const customer = await customerRes.json();

  // Create conversation
  const convRes = await fetch(`${HELPSCOUT_API}/conversations`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.HELPSCOUT_API_KEY}`,
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      mailboxId: parseInt(process.env.HELPSCOUT_MAILBOX_ID),
      subject: email.subject || 'Inbound email',
      type: 'customer',
      customer: { id: customer.id },
      text: email.text,
    }),
  });
  return convRes.json();
}

Test it

terminal

curl -X POST https://your-worker.example.com/mailkite-inbound \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"from":"customer@example.com","to":"support@yourdomain.com","subject":"Question","text":"How do I upgrade?"}'

Troubleshooting

Help Scout requires a mailboxId. Get it from Help Scout → Mailboxes → Settings.
Create a Help Scout API key under Manage → Apps → API Keys.
Ensure the mailbox is active and configured for inbound email.

See the SMTP relay docs for the full connection reference, or all integrations for other platforms.