What is a channel?

In one sentence

A channel is one kind of place where customers can message your business, such as Instagram, WhatsApp, LinkedIn or Facebook. Each channel has its own way of connecting, its own rules and its own limits, so your AI agent answers in the same voice but follows different rules on each.

In more detail

It helps to separate two words that often get mixed up. A channel is the type of place: WhatsApp, for example. An account is your particular presence there: your business WhatsApp number. You can have more than one account on the same channel, such as two WhatsApp numbers for two shops, and each one is connected and counted separately.

Channels differ in who uses them and why. WhatsApp is where many customers send quick, practical questions from their phone. Instagram is where people message after seeing a post or a story. LinkedIn is for business conversations, recruitment and professional services. Messenger is often older Facebook customers and local businesses. X is public first, with direct messages alongside. Email is slower, longer and still where quotes, invoices and formal requests live.

Channels also differ in how they connect. WhatsApp links by scanning a QR code with the phone that has the number, the same way you would link WhatsApp on a computer. Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook connect by signing in through a secure link. Email connects by signing in to Gmail or Outlook, or by entering mail server details for any other mailbox.

Each platform also sets its own rules, and those shape what an AI agent should do. WhatsApp cares a lot about first messages to people who have not written. Instagram puts messages from strangers into message requests. LinkedIn rations connection invitations and InMail. Email has no chats at all, only threads, and is one person at a time in Spaces rather than a mailing tool.

For your customers, none of that should show. They should get the same accurate, friendly answer wherever they write. That is the job of one business brief and one AI agent working across every channel, with the channel-specific rules handled underneath. Here is the same question arriving on two channels. Names and details are examples.

An example

The channels side by side

These are the per-account limits in Spaces once an account has warmed up. Replies to people who wrote in are not held back by the daily figures. The full detail for each channel is on the limits pages.

What changes from one channel to the next

• WhatsApp: a new chat only goes to someone who has messaged the number before or whom you marked as opted in, and the first message to someone new is plain text with no links.
• Instagram: messages from people the account does not follow can land in message requests. New chats, likes, comments and follows share one daily budget.
• LinkedIn: a normal message is for a first-degree connection. Connection invitations have their own weekly limits, and InMail depends on your LinkedIn plan.
• Messenger: the tightest daily message limit of the chat channels, which suits a local business answering customers rather than doing outreach.
• X: direct messages sit next to a very public timeline, so tone matters even more.
• Email: one email to one person at a time, with at most a few people in copy, no blind copy and no tracking. It is not a bulk-email tool.

Which channel to connect first

Start where your customers already write to you most, not where you wish they did. Look at last month: which app had the most unanswered messages? That is your first channel. Add a second only once the first is running smoothly and your brief has settled.

These are typical patterns, not rules. Your own messages are the best guide.

Notes that help your agent on every channel

Your brief covers the facts. A few lines about each channel help the agent pitch its replies. Names and details are examples.

Channels:
- WhatsApp and Instagram: short and friendly, one question at a time.
- Email: full sentences, a greeting and a sign-off from "The Party Barn team".
- LinkedIn: professional, no emojis, offer a call for anything over £1,000.
- On every channel, the facts and prices are the same as in the brief.

Why it matters for your business

• Knowing your channels tells you where customers are waiting for answers right now.
• Each channel's rules explain why your agent may answer freely on one and more carefully on another.
• Separating channel and account helps when you add a second number or a second shop.
• Starting with one channel keeps the first weeks simple and the brief easier to tune.
• One brief across all channels means customers get the same facts wherever they write.

How Spaces handles it

Spaces connects your own Instagram, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts to the AI agent you already use, through one API and MCP server at https://api.spacesos.com/mcp. Each connected account keeps its own limits, warm-up and health, so a busy Instagram account never uses up the room on your WhatsApp number.

Your agent uses the same tools on every chat channel, such as listing conversations, reading messages and replying, and Spaces applies each channel's rules underneath. Email accounts are one-to-one inboxes with threads instead of chats, so the email tools handle them. If you only want an agent to see one channel, there is also a separate server address for each channel, such as one for WhatsApp only.

There is one business brief per workspace, read on every channel. You can tell your agent in its notes how to adjust tone per channel while keeping every fact the same.

In short

A channel is a kind of place customers message you, and an account is your presence there. Connect the channel where your customers already write most, let one brief keep the facts the same everywhere, and let each channel's rules and limits run underneath.

What is the difference between a channel and an account?

A channel is the type of place, such as WhatsApp. An account is your particular presence there, such as your business WhatsApp number. You can connect more than one account on the same channel, and each is counted separately.

Can I connect two WhatsApp numbers?

Yes. A workspace can connect more than one number, and each number is its own account with its own limits and warm-up.

Do all channels have the same limits?

No. Each channel has its own gap between messages, daily messages and new-chat limits, because each platform behaves differently. The limits pages list them channel by channel.

Can my AI agent send newsletters by email?

No. Email in Spaces is one email to one person at a time, with at most a few people in copy, no blind copy and no tracking. It is for answering customers and sending individual emails, not mailing lists.

Should I connect every channel at once?

It is usually better to start with the one where customers write most, run it for a week or two, then add the next. That keeps your brief settled and makes any problems easier to spot.

Will customers know they are talking to the same business on each channel?

Yes, if your brief and notes are the same everywhere. The agent can adjust tone per channel, such as shorter on WhatsApp and fuller on email, while giving the same facts.

Does a problem on one channel affect the others?

Each account is connected and counted separately, so a sign-out or a limit on one account does not stop the others. It is still worth having a backup way to reach customers if your main channel goes down.