Use this article to set up Outbound Fin with FullStory or Pendo, understand how behavioral signals trigger proactive Fin conversations, and know what to expect in the Inbox and in reporting.
Outbound Fin lets Fin proactively start a conversation the moment FullStory or Pendo detects a customer struggling — a rage click, a failed action, or an abandoned checkout. Instead of waiting for the customer to reach out, Fin opens a chat with a personalized opening message and handles the conversation from the customer's first reply.
Fin normally waits for a customer to reach out. Outbound Fin reverses that — the moment FullStory or Pendo detects a customer struggling, Fin opens a personalized chat before the customer even thinks to ask for help.
What you can do with Outbound Fin
Trigger a proactive Fin chat from a behavioral signal, without any manual intervention
Personalize the opening message to what the customer was doing at that moment
Let Fin handle the full conversation from the customer's first reply
View, reassign, or escalate any Outbound Fin conversation from the Inbox, like any other Fin conversation
How Outbound Fin works
Outbound Fin connects FullStory or Pendo to Intercom via user events — structured signals that describe what a customer did in your product (sent via the Events API or the Messenger JS API). When a behavioral signal fires, Intercom delivers a personalized opening message in the Messenger and hands the conversation to Fin.
The tool sends an Intercom user event that includes metadata about what the customer was doing, such as the page name or the action they attempted.
Intercom matches the event name to an outbound chat message you've configured for Outbound Fin.
Fin generates a short opening message personalized to that event's metadata and delivers it in the Messenger.
When the customer replies, Fin takes over and handles the conversation end to end. The conversation appears in the Inbox as a normal Fin conversation.
Note: The opening message is generated fresh for each send — one shared chat template serves every customer, and no individual message is stored.
Before you set up Outbound Fin
Outbound Fin is available to workspaces on Proactive Support Plus or Full Suite — each proactive chat counts as one outbound Message Sent toward your billing. See Fin and Intercom plans explained for pricing details.
You'll also need:
Access to the Outbound Chat API — coordinated through the partner (Pendo or FullStory) and the Fin partnerships team. The API isn't publicly available to workspace admins.
Note: If your workspace isn't on Proactive Support Plus or Full Suite, you can still use Pendo or FullStory to send behavioral context to Intercom and trigger reactive Workflows and automations — without initiating proactive Fin conversations.
How to set up Outbound Fin
Step 1: Configure your analytics tool
Configure FullStory or Pendo to fire Intercom user events when a behavioral signal is detected:
FullStory — Frustration signals such as rage clicks and error clicks reach Intercom via FullStory Ragehooks (FullStory's webhook system for real-time frustration signals).
Pendo — The integration appears in Pendo as "Connect behavioral data to the Fin AI Agent (beta)". Behavioral webhooks — including rage clicks and other frustration signals — trigger Intercom outbound messages. Workflows and other automations can also be triggered alongside Outbound Fin.
Each event must include a name that Intercom can match to an outbound chat message. When the setup is complete, every time that event fires for a customer, Outbound Fin triggers.
Step 2: Create an outbound chat message
Your partner app (Pendo or FullStory) creates and manages Outbound Fin messages via the private Outbound Chat API (/outbound/chat). Partners must re-authenticate their access token with the "Read and write outbound messages" scope before making API calls.
The API lets partners:
Create, list, rename, pause or activate, and delete outbound chat messages
Associate each message with a specific user event name
Manage all messages without involving an Intercom engineer
Step 3: Wire the event to the message
One user event name maps to one outbound chat message. Once the mapping is live:
When the event fires for a customer, Fin generates a personalized opening message using the event's metadata — such as the page name, action attempted, or error type — and delivers it in the Messenger.
When the customer replies, Fin handles the conversation end to end.
If the customer doesn't reply, no further messages are sent for that event trigger.
Reporting
Outbound Fin conversations appear in your existing Outbound and Fin reports — there's no dedicated Outbound Fin report. The table below shows where each metric appears:
Metric | Where it appears |
Message Sent | Each Outbound Fin chat counts as one outbound Message Sent toward your billing. |
Fin resolution | Counted as a Fin resolution if Fin resolves the customer's issue. Appears in Fin reporting alongside other proactive chats. |
Limitations
The following limitations apply to Outbound Fin:
Plan requirement — Outbound Fin requires Proactive Support Plus or Full Suite. Each proactive chat counts as one outbound Message Sent.
Private API — Access to the Outbound Chat API is coordinated through Pendo, FullStory, and the Fin partnerships team. It's not available directly to workspace admins.
Opaque signal source — Intercom receives the user event payload but doesn't control the trigger criteria. Partners define which behavioral signals fire events and what metadata is included.
Frequency cap — By default, a customer receives a maximum of one Outbound Fin message per minute, regardless of how many behavioral signals fire in that window. Subsequent signals within that window don't trigger additional messages.
FAQs
Is Outbound Fin available for Fin Standalone?
No. Outbound Fin requires the Intercom Messenger (Help Center). It isn't available for Fin Standalone deployments.
What plan do I need to use Outbound Fin?
You need Proactive Support Plus or Full Suite. See Fin and Intercom plans explained for pricing details.
What happens if a customer triggers multiple behavioral signals in quick succession?
Frequency-capping applies by default. Frequency-capping is a limit on how often a customer receives a proactive Outbound Fin message — by default, a maximum of one message per minute. Behavioral signals that fire within that window don't trigger additional messages.
Can I use Pendo or FullStory with Intercom without Proactive Support Plus?
Yes. You can use Pendo or FullStory to send behavioral context to Intercom reactively — for example, to trigger Workflows and other automations — without initiating proactive Fin conversations. This reactive approach is available on any Intercom plan.
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