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Novu Connect is based on the Agent Communication Infrastructure (ACI). It ingests channel webhooks, normalizes events, maintains conversation state, and delivers replies so you can run one agent across Slack, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, Telegram, email, and in-app Agent Chat without rebuilding each integration. ACI separates two layers:
  • Communication infrastructure: Webhook ingestion, message normalization, conversation state, identity resolution, and delivery. Owned by ACI.
  • Agent intelligence: Your LLM, prompts, tools, managed agent config, business logic, or custom runtime. Owned by you.

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Common patterns

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Inbound conversations

Users message the agent on a connected channel (DM, @mention, email, or in-app Agent Chat). Novu loads the conversation history and forwards it to your agent brain with the current turn. Replies go back to the same thread.

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Tool approval

Before a sensitive tool runs, the agent can pause and post Approve / Deny in the channel. The turn resumes after the user decides. See Tool approval.

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Connect your agent

Choose how the agent brain runs:

Custom code

AI SDK, LangChain, Mastra, or custom handlers on your bridge.

Claude managed agent

Anthropic Claude. No bridge server.

AWS Claude managed agent

Claude Platform on AWS. No bridge server.

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Frameworks

AI SDK

@novu/framework/ai-sdk + Vercel AI SDK.

LangChain

@novu/framework/langchain.

Mastra

@novu/framework calling Mastra generate().

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Channels

Slack

Typing, plan cards, Block Kit, tool approval.

Microsoft Teams

Adaptive Cards, typing, tool approval.

WhatsApp

Quick-reply buttons, session context.

Telegram

Inline keyboards, typing, edit-in-place.

Email

Threaded HTML, action-link approvals.

Agent Chat

In-app headless hook, typing, tool approval.
Platform differences are listed in Channels overview.

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Message flow

  1. A user sends a message on a connected channel.
  2. Novu ingests the webhook, normalizes the event, and resolves identity.
  3. Novu forwards the event and conversation history to your agent brain.
  4. Your agent returns a reply (and may wait on tool approval).
  5. Novu delivers the reply to the correct thread.
  6. The conversation is stored and visible in the Novu dashboard.

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Learn more

What is ACI?

Architecture and scope of the communication layer.

Mental model

Inbound path from channel to agent and back.

Agents and providers

Agent entities and provider connections.

Channels overview

Feature support by platform.

Tool approval

Pause the turn until the user approves a tool call.

Conversation observability

Inspect live conversations in the dashboard.

Build the Agent Chat UI

Headless useAgentChat in your product UI.