Channel Configuration - Copilotkit

createChannel(options) takes more than an agent and adapters. This page covers the configuration you reach for most. For the full option list, see the Channel API.

<Callout type="info"> Every channel runs through the Intelligence runtime, so running one requires a CopilotKit Intelligence key (free tier available) — for both managed and direct channels. See the [Quickstart](/channels/quickstart) for the run pattern. </Callout>

Identity and connection

Option	What it does
`name`	Project-unique name. Required — the runtime keys the channel's lifecycle by it (and, for a managed channel, ties it to the dashboard setup).
`agent`	The agent, or a `(threadId) => agent` factory. See the Quickstart.
`adapters`	Direct platform adapters. Attach several to run one bot on many platforms.
`provider`	For a no-adapter managed channel: the platform to declare to Intelligence. Defaults to `"slack"`; `"teams"` is gated.

// A managed channel: Intelligence hosts the transport, so no adapter.
const channel = createChannel({
  name: "support-bot",
  agent,
});

Per-thread state

Give store.state a schema and thread.state() / thread.setState() become typed to it and validated on write. Good for tracking where a conversation is in a flow.

import { z } from "zod";

const channel = createChannel({
  name: "support-bot",
  agent,
  store: {
    state: z.object({ step: z.enum(["idle", "awaiting_approval"]) }),
  },
});

channel.onMessage(async ({ thread }) => {
  await thread.setState({ step: "awaiting_approval" }); // validated
  const state = await thread.state(); // { step: "idle" | "awaiting_approval" } | undefined
});

The rest

Option	See
`tools`, `context`	Tools and context
`components`	UI library
`commands`	Commands and reactions
`store.adapter` (durable backend)	Persistence
`store.identity` + `store.transcripts`	Transcripts