Skip to main content

๐ŸŽฏ First Steps After Installation

Once you can log in, follow this checklist to get PulseHub production-ready.

1. Add Your First Channelโ€‹

Go to Channels โ†’ Add Channel and select the type that matches your use case. Each channel type requires different credentials from its provider:

After adding a channel, its webhook URL is shown on the card. You will paste this into your provider's developer dashboard.

2. Configure the Webhook on the Provider Sideโ€‹

Every channel provider needs to know where to send inbound messages. The format is always:

https://yourdomain.com/webhooks/{channel_type}/{channel_id}

See the channel-specific guides for exact steps on where to paste this URL.

3. Set Up Cron Jobsโ€‹

Several features only work when the cron runner is active:

FeatureWithout CronWith Cron
Inbound email (IMAP)Never polledChecked every minute
Automation rulesFire synchronously on web requestsRun reliably every minute
Failed webhook retriesStuck foreverRetried up to 5 times
Database cleanupTables grow indefinitelyPruned hourly

Shared hosting (cPanel / Plesk / DirectAdmin)โ€‹

  1. Go to Settings โ†’ Cron Job URL in PulseHub and copy the full URL
  2. In your hosting panel, go to Cron Jobs
  3. Set the schedule to Every Minute (* * * * *)
  4. Paste this as the command:
wget -q -O /dev/null "https://yourdomain.com/cron.php?token=YOUR_CRON_SECRET&job=all"

No command-line knowledge needed โ€” just copy the URL from Settings and paste it in your hosting panel.

VPS / Dedicated serverโ€‹

* * * * * php /var/www/pulsehub/cron.php all >> /var/log/pulsehub_cron.log 2>&1

See the full Cron Jobs reference.

4. Invite Your Teamโ€‹

Go to Agents โ†’ Invite Agent and create accounts for your support team members:

  • Admin โ€” full access to all settings, channels, automations, and agent management
  • Agent โ€” can view conversations, send messages, assign status and tags. Cannot change system configuration.

5. (Optional) Enable AI Reply Suggestionsโ€‹

Go to Settings โ†’ Workspace and paste your OpenAI API key. With this configured, a โœจ AI Suggest button appears in every conversation thread.

6. Create Your First Automation Ruleโ€‹

Go to Automations โ†’ New Rule and create a simple test rule:

  • Name: Tag urgent messages
  • Trigger: Message Received
  • Action: Add Tag โ†’ new

See the full Automations guide.

7. Embed the Web Chat Widget (Optional)โ€‹

If you added a Web Chat channel, add this snippet to your website before </body>:

<script
  src="https://yourdomain.com/public/js/webchat-widget.js"
  data-channel="YOUR_CHANNEL_ID"
  data-greeting="Hi! How can we help you today?"
  data-color="#10b981">
</script>

Quick Health Checkโ€‹

  1. Send a test WhatsApp/SMS message to your connected number โ†’ appears in inbox within seconds
  2. Send a test email to your connected inbox โ†’ appears after next cron run (up to 1 minute)
  3. Reply to the test message from the inbox โ†’ arrives on the sender's device
  4. Check the Analytics page โ†’ shows at least 1 conversation and 2 messages
  5. Test the cron job โ€” visit your cron URL in the browser to confirm it runs without errors