How to integrate Helpwise MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

This guide walks you through connecting Helpwise to the OpenAI Agents SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Helpwise agent that can add note to open conversation with client, delete outdated contact from contact list, create new team for support agents through natural language commands. This guide will help you understand how to give your OpenAI Agents SDK agent real control over a Helpwise account through Composio's Helpwise MCP server. Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

Helpwise logoHelpwise
Api Key

Helpwise is a unified customer service platform for managing all your business emails, chats, and SMS in one place. It helps teams collaborate on customer conversations more efficiently and never miss important messages.

37 Tools

Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Helpwise to the OpenAI Agents SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Helpwise agent that can add note to open conversation with client, delete outdated contact from contact list, create new team for support agents through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your OpenAI Agents SDK agent real control over a Helpwise account through Composio's Helpwise MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Get and set up your OpenAI and Composio API keys
  • Install the necessary dependencies
  • Initialize Composio and create a Tool Router session for Helpwise
  • Configure an AI agent that can use Helpwise as a tool
  • Run a live chat session where you can ask the agent to perform Helpwise operations

What is OpenAI Agents SDK?

The OpenAI Agents SDK is a lightweight framework for building AI agents that can use tools and maintain conversation state. It provides a simple interface for creating agents with hosted MCP tool support.

Key features include:

  • Hosted MCP Tools: Connect to external services through hosted MCP endpoints
  • SQLite Sessions: Persist conversation history across interactions
  • Simple API: Clean interface with Agent, Runner, and tool configuration
  • Streaming Support: Real-time response streaming for interactive applications

What is the Helpwise MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Helpwise MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Helpwise account. It provides structured and secure access to your customer communication tools, so your agent can create conversations, manage notes, upload attachments, delete messages, and organize your Helpwise workspace on your behalf.

  • Attachment management and uploads: Easily upload files as attachments to conversations and retrieve attachment metadata for streamlined file sharing.
  • Conversation note automation: Let your agent add or remove notes to specific conversations, making it easy to document context or follow up actions.
  • Mailbox and conversation cleanup: Direct your agent to delete entire conversations, mailboxes, or individual messages for efficient workspace management.
  • Contact and signature management: Seamlessly delete contacts and email signatures, keeping your Helpwise account up to date and clutter-free.
  • Webhook and team setup: Have your agent create new webhooks for event notifications or set up Helpwise teams to organize your users for better collaboration.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Composio SDK

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Step by step09 STEPS
1

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Composio API Key and OpenAI API Key
  • Primary know-how of OpenAI Agents SDK
  • A live Helpwise project
  • Some knowledge of Python or Typescript
2

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models, or you can connect to another model provider.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key
3

Install dependencies

npm install @composio/openai-agents @openai/agents dotenv

Install the Composio SDK and the OpenAI Agents SDK.

4

Set up environment variables

bash
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...your-api-key
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your-api-key
USER_ID=composio_user@gmail.com

Create a .env file and add your OpenAI and Composio API keys.

5

Import dependencies

import 'dotenv/config';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { OpenAIAgentsProvider } from '@composio/openai-agents';
import { Agent, hostedMcpTool, run, OpenAIConversationsSession } from '@openai/agents';
import * as readline from 'readline';
What's happening:
  • You're importing all necessary libraries.
  • The Composio and OpenAIAgentsProvider classes are imported to connect your OpenAI agent to Composio tools like Helpwise.
6

Set up the Composio instance

dotenv.config();

const composioApiKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const userId = process.env.USER_ID;

if (!composioApiKey) {
  throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key');
}
if (!userId) {
  throw new Error('USER_ID is not set');
}

// Initialize Composio
const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioApiKey,
  provider: new OpenAIAgentsProvider(),
});
What's happening:
  • dotenv.config() loads your .env file so COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID are available as environment variables.
  • Creating a Composio instance using the API Key and OpenAIAgentsProvider class.
7

Create a Tool Router session

// Create Tool Router session for Helpwise
const session = await composio.create(userId as string, {
  toolkits: ['helpwise'],
});
const mcpUrl = session.mcp.url;

What is happening:

  • You give the Tool Router the user id and the toolkits you want available. Here, it is only helpwise.
  • The router checks the user's Helpwise connection and prepares the MCP endpoint.
  • The returned session.mcp.url is the MCP URL that your agent will use to access Helpwise.
  • This approach keeps things lightweight and lets the agent request Helpwise tools only when needed during the conversation.
8

Configure the agent

// Configure agent with MCP tool
const agent = new Agent({
  name: 'Assistant',
  model: 'gpt-5',
  instructions:
    'You are a helpful assistant that can access Helpwise. Help users perform Helpwise operations through natural language.',
  tools: [
    hostedMcpTool({
      serverLabel: 'tool_router',
      serverUrl: mcpUrl,
      headers: { 'x-api-key': composioApiKey },
      requireApproval: 'never',
    }),
  ],
});
What's happening:
  • We're creating an Agent instance with a name, model (gpt-5), and clear instructions about its purpose.
  • The agent's instructions tell it that it can access Helpwise and help with queries, inserts, updates, authentication, and fetching database information.
  • The tools array includes a hostedMcpTool that connects to the MCP server URL we created earlier.
  • The headers object includes the Composio API key for secure authentication with the MCP server.
  • requireApproval: 'never' means the agent can execute Helpwise operations without asking for permission each time, making interactions smoother.
9

Start chat loop and handle conversation

// Keep conversation state across turns
const conversationSession = new OpenAIConversationsSession();

// Simple CLI
const rl = readline.createInterface({
  input: process.stdin,
  output: process.stdout,
  prompt: 'You: ',
});

console.log('\nComposio Tool Router session created.');
console.log('\nChat started. Type your requests below.');
console.log("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n");

try {
  const first = await run(agent, 'What can you help me with?', { session: conversationSession });
  console.log(`Assistant: ${first.finalOutput}\n`);
} catch (e) {
  console.error('Error:', e instanceof Error ? e.message : e, '\n');
}

rl.prompt();

rl.on('line', async (userInput) => {
  const text = userInput.trim();

  if (['exit', 'quit', 'q'].includes(text.toLowerCase())) {
    console.log('Goodbye!');
    rl.close();
    process.exit(0);
  }

  if (!text) {
    rl.prompt();
    return;
  }

  try {
    const result = await run(agent, text, { session: conversationSession });
    console.log(`\nAssistant: ${result.finalOutput}\n`);
  } catch (e) {
    console.error('Error:', e instanceof Error ? e.message : e, '\n');
  }

  rl.prompt();
});

rl.on('close', () => {
  console.log('\n👋 Session ended.');
  process.exit(0);
});
What's happening:
  • The program prints a session URL that you visit to authorize Helpwise.
  • After authorization, the chat begins.
  • Each message you type is processed by the agent using run().
  • The responses are printed to the console.
  • Typing exit, quit, or q cleanly ends the chat.

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Helpwise and OpenAI Agents SDK:

import 'dotenv/config';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { OpenAIAgentsProvider } from '@composio/openai-agents';
import { Agent, hostedMcpTool, run, OpenAIConversationsSession } from '@openai/agents';
import * as readline from 'readline';

const composioApiKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const userId = process.env.USER_ID;

if (!composioApiKey) {
  throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key');
}
if (!userId) {
  throw new Error('USER_ID is not set');
}

// Initialize Composio
const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioApiKey,
  provider: new OpenAIAgentsProvider(),
});

async function main() {
  // Create Tool Router session
  const session = await composio.create(userId as string, {
    toolkits: ['helpwise'],
  });
  const mcpUrl = session.mcp.url;

  // Configure agent with MCP tool
  const agent = new Agent({
    name: 'Assistant',
    model: 'gpt-5',
    instructions:
      'You are a helpful assistant that can access Helpwise. Help users perform Helpwise operations through natural language.',
    tools: [
      hostedMcpTool({
        serverLabel: 'tool_router',
        serverUrl: mcpUrl,
        headers: { 'x-api-key': composioApiKey },
        requireApproval: 'never',
      }),
    ],
  });

  // Keep conversation state across turns
  const conversationSession = new OpenAIConversationsSession();

  // Simple CLI
  const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: 'You: ',
  });

  console.log('\nComposio Tool Router session created.');
  console.log('\nChat started. Type your requests below.');
  console.log("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n");

  try {
    const first = await run(agent, 'What can you help me with?', { session: conversationSession });
    console.log(`Assistant: ${first.finalOutput}\n`);
  } catch (e) {
    console.error('Error:', e instanceof Error ? e.message : e, '\n');
  }

  rl.prompt();

  rl.on('line', async (userInput) => {
    const text = userInput.trim();

    if (['exit', 'quit', 'q'].includes(text.toLowerCase())) {
      console.log('Goodbye!');
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }

    if (!text) {
      rl.prompt();
      return;
    }

    try {
      const result = await run(agent, text, { session: conversationSession });
      console.log(`\nAssistant: ${result.finalOutput}\n`);
    } catch (e) {
      console.error('Error:', e instanceof Error ? e.message : e, '\n');
    }

    rl.prompt();
  });

  rl.on('close', () => {
    console.log('\nSession ended.');
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main().catch((err) => {
  console.error('Fatal error:', err);
  process.exit(1);
});

Conclusion

This was a starter code for integrating Helpwise MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK to build a functional AI agent that can interact with Helpwise.

Key features:

  • Hosted MCP tool integration through Composio's Tool Router
  • SQLite session persistence for conversation history
  • Simple async chat loop for interactive testing
You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom business logic, or building a web interface around the agent.
TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Helpwise action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Create attachment

Tool to upload a new attachment.

Add note to conversation

Tool to add a note to a conversation.

Create Helpwise Team

Creates a new team in Helpwise to group users for collaboration and assignment purposes.

Create Helpwise Webhook

Creates a new webhook subscription in Helpwise to receive real-time event notifications.

Delete Contact

Deletes a contact from Helpwise by its unique identifier (ID).

Delete Helpwise Conversation

Attempts to delete a conversation by ID from Helpwise.

Delete Mailbox

Tool to delete a mailbox by its unique identifier.

Delete Helpwise Message

Attempts to delete a message from Helpwise.

Delete Helpwise Note

Tool to delete a note from a conversation.

Delete Email Signature

Deletes an email signature from Helpwise.

Delete Tag

Permanently deletes a tag from Helpwise.

Delete Team

Tool to delete a team.

Delete Template

Deletes a Helpwise email template (saved reply) by its ID.

Delete Helpwise Webhook

Delete a Helpwise webhook by its ID.

Get Attachment

Retrieves a specific attachment by its unique identifier.

Get Conversation Attachments

Retrieves attachments from messages in a specific conversation.

Get Helpwise Contact

Retrieves detailed information for a specific contact by ID.

Get Conversation

Retrieves complete details of a specific conversation by ID from Helpwise.

Get Conversations

Tool to retrieve a list of conversations.

Get Helpwise Custom Field

Retrieves details of a specific custom field by its ID.

Get Helpwise Mailbox

Tool to retrieve details of a specific mailbox by its ID.

Get Helpwise Mailboxes

Tool to retrieve mailboxes.

Get Conversation Note

Tool to retrieve details of a specific note.

Get Conversation Notes

Retrieves all notes associated with a specific conversation.

Get Helpwise Tag

Retrieves detailed information about a specific tag in Helpwise.

Get Helpwise Team

Retrieves details of a specific Helpwise team by its ID.

Get Helpwise Teams

Tool to retrieve Helpwise teams.

Get Helpwise WhatsApp Templates

Tool to retrieve Helpwise WhatsApp message templates.

Get Helpwise Users

Tool to retrieve Helpwise users list.

Get Helpwise Webhook

Retrieve detailed configuration for a specific Helpwise webhook by its ID.

Get Helpwise Webhooks

Tool to retrieve Helpwise webhooks.

Search Helpwise Contacts

Tool to search contacts by term with pagination.

Update Helpwise Contact

Tool to update an existing Helpwise contact.

Update Mailbox

Updates an existing Helpwise mailbox.

Update Helpwise Message

Tool to update an existing message.

Update Helpwise Tag

Updates an existing tag's name and/or color in Helpwise.

Update Helpwise Template

Updates an existing Helpwise email template by modifying its name, subject, and/or HTML content.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

With a standalone Helpwise MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Helpwise tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Helpwise and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Yes, you can. OpenAI Agents SDK fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Helpwise tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Helpwise scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Helpwise data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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