When you create a Tooltip, Intercom opens your website so you can place and design it with the Tooltip builder. This article helps if the builder doesn't load on your site, says the Messenger isn't loaded, or won't save your Tooltip.

The Tooltip builder connects to Intercom through the Messenger on your site. If it can't connect, you'll see a message that the Messenger isn't loaded, or the builder won't appear. Check the following.

The Messenger must be installed on the page where you're building the Tooltip, and it must boot for you while you're logged in. For example, if you only installed the Messenger for logged-out visitors, the builder won't load inside your product. If your site is set up so the Messenger doesn't boot for admins, make sure it boots for your login while you build the Tooltip.

If you have more than one Intercom workspace, check that the workspace you're building the Tooltip in is the one installed on the page. Compare the workspace ID in your Intercom URL with the result of running window.intercomSettings.app_id in your browser console on that page. This check works with the standard JavaScript install.

The builder opens the URL you chose for the Tooltip and only connects to a page on the same domain. If that URL now redirects to a different domain (for example, after you moved your site from example.com to example.io), the builder can't connect. Tooltips don't have a setting to change the stored URL, so create the Tooltip again on the page's current domain.

If your site or product is loaded inside a third-party iframe (for example, a Shopify App or a Figma plugin), the Messenger can't access the page that contains it, and the Tooltip builder won't work.

The Tooltip builder uses window.opener to communicate with Intercom. If your site sends a Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy header with any value other than the default unsafe-none, or your site's JavaScript overwrites window.opener, the builder won't load. Set the header to unsafe-none or remove it while you build the Tooltip. You can change it back afterwards: it doesn't affect how live Tooltips show to customers.

The builder saves a few values in your site's session storage (keys starting with intercom.intercom-snippet__intersection-) to talk to Intercom. If your site clears session storage while the builder is open, for example by calling sessionStorage.clear() on page load rather than only on logout, the builder loses its connection. To check, run Object.keys(sessionStorage) in the browser console while the builder is open. If no intercom.intercom-snippet__intersection- keys appear, ask your developers to clear session storage only on logout.

If the builder shows a general save error with no details, check the Tooltip's position offsets. A Tooltip won't save if its Top offset or Left offset is outside -1000 to 1000 pixels. Open the layout settings in the Tooltip builder, set both offsets to values between -1000 and 1000, and save again.