Migrating from Help Scout to Intercom is a shift from a shared mailbox workflow to a full conversational relationship model. Help Scout organizes support around mailboxes, customers, and conversations, while Intercom centers on contacts, companies, and data-attribute-enriched conversations with integrated automation. The fundamental gap is in data handling: Intercom has no general upload endpoint for conversation attachments, timestamps must be converted from ISO format to UNIX epoch seconds, and the conversation_rating object is read-only — historical CSAT data cannot be programmatically imported. Every migration requires external file hosting for attachments, HTML body sanitization, explicit company-contact relationship linking, and manual recreation of saved replies as Intercom macros.
The runbook
Work top to bottom. Tick steps as you go — your progress is saved in this browser.
01 Discovery Establish why you are moving, what "done" means, and who signs off.
Objective A written scope with agreed success criteria, a named owner per workstream, and a budget approved by finance.
Keep these open
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Pull the real numbers out of Help Scout
Export counts for tickets (open and closed separately), contacts, organisations, attachments, macros, triggers, automations, views and SLA policies. Note the oldest ticket date — history depth drives the whole timeline. Estimating from memory is the single most common cause of a blown migration window.
Data Profiler Get real record counts instead of estimating from memory -
Decide what history actually moves
Agree a cut-off with the support lead: all history, last 24 months, or open tickets plus a read-only archive. Every extra year of closed tickets adds API time and cost without adding much agent value. Get this in writing — it is the decision people relitigate mid-cutover.
A "move everything" default is what turns a two-week migration into a two-month one.
COI & ROI Calculator Build the 36-month business case you will need for sign-off -
Confirm Intercom can hold your support model
Walk your current workflow through Intercom: multi-brand, business hours, SLA targets, CSAT, side conversations, public vs internal notes, and any channel you depend on (voice, chat, WhatsApp, social). List anything with no native equivalent — those are project risks, not configuration details.
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Build the business case
Model licence delta, migration effort, agent retraining, and the cost of staying put (Cost of Inaction). Executives approve a number, not a plan, and you will be asked for it again at the go/no-go.
Helpdesk Migration Planner Turn ticket volume into a dated Help Scout → Intercom timeline -
Name owners and set the go/no-go date
One named owner each for data, configuration, integrations, and agent enablement, plus a decision-maker who can call a rollback. Put the go/no-go meeting in calendars now, 48 hours before the freeze.
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Create data attributes
These act as custom fields for Contacts, Companies, and Conversations. Predefine attributes for every Help Scout property you intend to preserve.
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Configure Teams and Agents
Create teams and assign agents before importing conversations.
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Enable Conversation Ratings
if you plan to migrate historical CSAT data.
Don't move on until
- Record counts confirmed for tickets, contacts, organisations and macros
- Success criteria signed off by the support lead
- Freeze window provisionally booked with the business
02 Data Audit Find out what is actually in the data before you try to move it.
Objective A profiled, cleaned export with every quality defect either fixed at source or explicitly accepted.
Keep these open
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Take a full Help Scout export and profile it
Export to CSV or JSON and profile every file: row counts, null rates per column, distinct values, and type consistency. Compare row counts against the API totals from Discovery — a gap here means your export is silently truncated, usually by pagination.
Data Profiler Profile the Help Scout export for nulls, outliers and type drift -
Validate file structure before anyone writes a transform
Check delimiters, quoting, encoding (expect UTF-8, watch for BOMs and Latin-1), duplicate headers, and embedded newlines in ticket bodies. Ticket descriptions with raw newlines and commas break naive CSV parsers and silently shift columns.
A single unescaped quote in one ticket body can shift every subsequent column without any error.
CSV Validator Catch broken headers and ragged rows in the raw export -
Inventory PII and set retention
Scan for emails, phone numbers, payment card fragments, national IDs and anything else regulated in ticket bodies and custom fields — support tickets are where customers paste things they should not. Decide what gets migrated, masked, or dropped, and record the legal basis.
Ticket bodies and attachments routinely contain card and ID data that never appears in a structured field.
PII & Compliance Scanner Find regulated fields before they land in a new system -
Quantify duplicates, orphans and dead references
Count duplicate contacts (same email, different casing), tickets whose requester no longer exists, organisations with no members, and attachments whose parent ticket is gone. Fix these in Help Scout where you can — migrating them just moves the mess.
Data Cleaner Strip empty rows, stray whitespace and dead columns -
Clean and normalise the export
Trim whitespace, drop empty rows and columns, normalise casing on emails and tags, and standardise every timestamp to UTC ISO 8601. Timezone drift is invisible at load time and shows up weeks later as SLA reports nobody can reconcile.
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Produce a masked copy for sandbox work
Generate a realistic but fake version of the export for testing and for any vendor who needs sample data. Loading real customer PII into a sandbox is a breach in most jurisdictions, and sandboxes are rarely covered by your DPA.
PII Masker Generate a safe copy for sandbox and vendor testing
Don't move on until
- Export parses cleanly with no ragged rows or encoding errors
- PII inventory complete and retention decisions recorded
- Duplicate and orphan records quantified and triaged
03 Field Mapping Turn two schemas into one signed-off mapping spec.
Objective A reviewed field-level mapping covering every object, with an explicit decision for every field that has no target.
Keep these open
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Generate the first-pass Help Scout → Intercom field map
Start from an automated match on both schemas, then review every row by hand. Automated matching gets the obvious 70% right and is confidently wrong on the rest — especially anything named "type", "status" or "custom_field_1".
Schema Mapper Opens pre-loaded with the Help Scout → Intercom field pair -
Map status, priority and channel values, not just field names
Enumerate every value in each picklist on both sides and map them explicitly. Value-level mismatches are the defect class that survives all the way to production because the field itself mapped fine — a ticket that should be "Pending" arriving as "Open" reopens SLA clocks.
Statuses with no target equivalent (on-hold, pending-customer) need a policy decision, not a best guess.
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Decide how custom fields land
Create the target custom fields first, matching type exactly (a dropdown mapped to free text can never be mapped back). Where Intercom has no equivalent, decide between a new custom field, a tag, or a note appended to the ticket body — and record which.
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Resolve identity and threading
Decide how source IDs are preserved — most platforms will not let you set the primary key, so keep the original ID in a custom field. Without it, reconciliation becomes fuzzy matching and every future support question about an old ticket is unanswerable.
Losing the original ticket ID makes reconciliation and rollback effectively impossible.
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Plan attachments, inline images and threading order
Confirm size limits, allowed MIME types, and whether inline images survive as attachments or need rehosting. Decide the comment ordering and author attribution rules: comments loaded out of order, or all attributed to the API user, destroy the conversation history agents rely on.
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Freeze and sign off the mapping spec
Version the spec, walk the support lead through it row by row, and get explicit sign-off. Any change after this point goes through change control — mid-flight mapping edits are how partial loads happen.
Don't move on until
- Every source field is mapped, deliberately dropped, or parked in a custom field
- Status, priority and channel value maps agreed with the support lead
- Mapping spec version-controlled and signed off
04 Test Migration Prove the pipeline on a small, representative slice.
Objective A pilot load into a Intercom sandbox that reconciles cleanly and has been reviewed by real agents.
Keep these open
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Stand up a Intercom sandbox that matches production config
Create the custom fields, groups, brands, business hours and SLA policies first. A pilot into a default sandbox tests nothing, because the failures you care about are all configuration mismatches.
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Pick a deliberately nasty pilot sample
Take 500-1000 records chosen for difficulty, not convenience: the longest ticket threads, tickets with the most attachments, non-Latin character sets, merged and split tickets, deleted requesters, and every status value. A clean random sample proves only that easy records are easy.
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Run the load with masked data and instrument everything
Log every API request and response with its source record ID. When 40 records fail out of 10,000 you need to know exactly which ones and why, without re-running the whole batch.
PII Masker Never load real customer PII into a sandbox -
Measure real throughput against the rate limit
Record achieved records-per-hour under Intercom's actual rate limits, including retries and backoff. Extrapolate to the full volume: if the maths says the full load exceeds your freeze window, you fix that now, not on cutover night.
Published rate limits are ceilings, not throughput. Assume real-world rates are meaningfully lower once retries and backoff are counted.
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Reconcile the pilot and triage every failure
Diff source against target on record counts and field-level values. Every discrepancy gets a root cause and a fix — "probably fine" at pilot scale becomes thousands of broken records at full scale.
Migration Validation Tool Diff the pilot batch against source before scaling up -
Put real agents in front of the pilot data
Have two or three agents work sample tickets end to end in the sandbox. They find the things reconciliation cannot see: unreadable threading, missing context, macros that no longer make sense. Fix the mapping, then re-run.
Don't move on until
- Pilot batch reconciles to 100% on record counts
- Agents have reviewed sample tickets and confirmed they are workable
- Measured throughput extrapolates to a viable full-load window
05 Cutover Execute the switch inside a controlled, reversible window.
Objective All in-scope data live in Intercom, agents working in the new system, and a rollback path that stayed available throughout.
Keep these open
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Pre-load history before the freeze
Load closed tickets and contacts days or weeks ahead while Help Scout stays live. Only open tickets and the final delta need to move inside the freeze — this is the single biggest lever on window length.
Helpdesk Migration Planner Size the freeze window from Intercom's real API limits -
Publish the runbook with times, owners and abort criteria
A timed sequence: freeze start, final export, delta load, channel switch, smoke test, go/no-go, agent switch. Name who does each step and the explicit condition that triggers a rollback. Decide the abort criteria before the night, when nobody wants to be the one to call it.
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Freeze Help Scout and take the final delta
Stop new ticket creation, let agents finish in-flight replies, then export everything changed since the pre-load. Announce the freeze to the whole business, not just support — someone always tries to raise a ticket during it.
Tickets created during an unenforced freeze land in the old system and are the most common source of permanently lost data.
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Load the delta and open tickets
Run the delta load, then reconcile counts before touching any channel. Do not repoint email until the delta has verified — an inbound ticket arriving mid-load is far harder to untangle than a few extra minutes of freeze.
Migration Validation Tool Confirm the final delta landed before you reopen -
Repoint channels and verify with live traffic
Switch email forwarding and MX or connector settings, update chat widgets and web forms, and re-authorise integrations. Then send real test tickets through every channel and confirm each lands, routes and triggers the right automation.
Email forwarding changes can take up to a full DNS TTL to propagate — check the TTL days in advance and lower it if needed.
Cron Expression Builder Schedule the delta syncs that run through the freeze -
Run the go/no-go and switch the agents
Walk the exit criteria with the decision-maker, call it explicitly, then move agents over with a named person on hand for the first few hours. Keep Help Scout read-only rather than cancelled — cancelling the old contract on day one removes your only fallback.
Don't move on until
- Full historical load complete and counts matched
- Inbound channels repointed and verified with live test tickets
- Rollback decision point passed explicitly, not by default
06 Validation Prove the migration is complete, then close it out.
Objective Documented evidence that data, workflow and reporting all survived, and a signed acceptance.
Keep these open
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Run the full reconciliation
Compare source and target on every object: total counts, counts by status, counts by group, attachment counts, and field-level spot checks on a random sample. Produce one report you can hand to an auditor.
Migration Validation Tool Reconcile Help Scout and Intercom record-for-record -
Verify field completeness, not just record counts
Re-profile the loaded data and compare null rates per field against the source profile. Matching record counts with a field that silently arrived empty is the failure mode counts alone will never catch.
Data Profiler Prove field completeness held up through the load -
Rebuild reporting and compare against baselines
Recreate your core dashboards — volume, first response time, resolution time, CSAT — and compare to pre-migration figures for the same period. Explain every variance; a changed SLA calculation is a real finding, not a rounding error.
SLA and first-response metrics are usually recalculated from the loaded timestamps, so they will differ if any timestamp mapping was approximate.
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Test the workflow layer end to end
Fire every trigger, automation, SLA escalation, macro and notification with a live ticket. Workflow does not migrate — it gets rebuilt — so it is untested until someone has actually watched it run.
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Confirm compliance and produce the audit trail
Re-scan the loaded data for regulated fields, confirm retention and deletion policies are configured in Intercom, and file the evidence with your PII decisions from the audit phase.
PII & Compliance Scanner Produce the compliance evidence your auditor will ask for -
Sign off, then decommission on a schedule
Get written acceptance against the Discovery success criteria. Keep Help Scout read-only for an agreed period (30-90 days is typical), take a final archive export, and only then cancel. Diarise the decommission date so it does not quietly renew.
Don't move on until
- Full reconciliation report attached to the project record
- Reporting baselines match pre-migration figures within agreed tolerance
- Formal acceptance signed and archive retention scheduled
Field mapping reference
The field-by-field mapping for each object. Use this as the starting point for your mapping spec.
Properties and Cus m Fields
| Help Scout field | Intercom field | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| custom_fields.priority | conversation_data_attributes.priority | Create custom field first |
| customer_property.industry | contact_data_attributes.industry | Define field in Intercom Settings → Data attributes |
| organization_property.plan_tier | company_data_attributes.plan_tier | Store company-level fields |
Organizations Companies
Direct mapping with domain-based auto-linking for contacts.
| Help Scout field | Intercom field | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| id | external_id | Keep stable for idempotent imports |
| name | name | Direct mapping |
| domain | domain | Enables auto-linking for contacts |
| custom fields | company_data_attributes | Define before import |
Cus mers
Phone numbers need E.164 normalization; social profiles must be flattened to custom attributes.
| Help Scout field | Intercom field | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| id | external_id | Use to ensure idempotency |
| first_name / last_name | name | Combine into one |
| Required only if external_id is not provided. Intercom allows creating contacts identified solely by external_id | ||
| phone | phone | Normalize to E.164 format |
| address | location fields | Use Intercom's location.country, region, city |
| chat_handles / social_profiles | custom attributes | Store as text fields or JSON |
| websites [] | custom attributes | Multiple URLs → semicolon-separated string |
| tags [] | tags [] | One-to-one mapping |
Help Scout Intercom
| Help Scout field | Intercom field | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| id | external_id | Critical for reruns |
| subject | title | Use first thread message if empty |
| status (active, closed, pending, spam) | state | Map to Intercom open, closed, or snoozed |
| mailbox_id | team_assignee_id | Map based on team created earlier |
| assignee_id | admin_assignee_id | Link to admin ID |
| created_at | created_at | Timestamps preserved (cannot be backdated) |
| tags [] | tags [] | Direct mapping |
| custom_fields | data_attributes | Pre-create all conversation fields |
Threads Conversation Parts
Chronological order must be maintained; phone logs need special type tagging.
| Help Scout field | Intercom field | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| reply | conversation part (public) | Author = contact or admin |
| note | conversation part (internal note) | Mark as internal |
| phone | conversation part (public or note) | Tag as "phone_call" using source.type |
| chat | conversation part (public) | Include messenger timestamp |
| attachments | uploaded file references | Re-upload and attach to part |
| scheduled thread | external scheduler | Use a background job to post replies at correct time |
Docs Help Center
| Help Scout field | Intercom field | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| id | external_id | Preserve for idempotent imports |
| name | name | Direct mapping |
| slug | custom attribute legacy_slug | Useful for redirects |
| visibility | Help Center visibility | Choose "Public" or "Internal" based on source |
Docs Help Center
| Help Scout field | Intercom field | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| id | external_id | Required for reruns and deltas |
| name | title | Direct mapping |
| text (HTML) | body | Clean inline styles and image URLs |
| author_id | author_id | Map to existing admin |
| tags [] | tags [] | One-to-one mapping |
| attachments [] | attachments [] | Re-upload and update references |
| category_id | collection_id | Flatten if needed |
| visibility | published state | Set to published or draft |
| translations [] | language-specific articles | Create per-locale variants |
Risk matrix
Per-object risk for this pair. Plan extra validation around anything marked high.
| Object | Risk | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Organizations / Companies | low | Direct mapping with domain-based auto-linking for contacts. |
| Customers / Contacts | medium | Phone numbers need E.164 normalization; social profiles must be flattened to custom attributes. |
| Conversations | medium | Status mapping from active/closed/pending to Intercom's open/closed/snoozed states. |
| Threads / Conversation Parts | medium | Chronological order must be maintained; phone logs need special type tagging. |
| Attachments | high | No native upload endpoint; requires external hosting and signed URL insertion. |
| Tags | low | Direct 1:1 mapping across contacts, conversations, and companies. |
| CSAT Ratings | high | Read-only in Intercom; cannot be programmatically imported into conversation_rating. |
| Saved Replies | high | Must be manually recreated as Intercom Inbox Macros; no API migration path. |
| Knowledge Base Articles | medium | HTML must be cleaned, inline images re-uploaded, and internal links revalidated. |
| Custom Fields / Data Attributes | medium | Must be pre-created in Intercom with correct types before any data import. |
The hard parts
What makes this specific migration difficult, beyond the mechanics.
Attachment Hosting
Intercom has no general upload endpoint for conversation attachments. Files must be hosted externally (e.g., S3) and signed URLs inserted into message bodies.
Timestamp Conversion
Help Scout uses ISO format timestamps while Intercom expects UNIX epoch seconds. All dates must be converted before import.
CSAT Data Limitation
Intercom's conversation_rating is read-only and cannot be populated via API. Historical ratings must be stored as custom attributes or notes.
HTML Body Sanitization
Help Scout threads embed signatures, inline images, and broken formatting that must be cleaned before import to Intercom.
Knowledge Base Migration
Help Scout Docs sites, collections, and articles must be mapped to Intercom's Help Center structure with image re-uploads and link rewriting.
Tools used in this playbook
All free, all run entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded.