Connect a LINE Official Account
About 5 minutes. Follow the 6 steps in “Channels”; each step checks itself when you finish it. Send a message from your phone at the end, and once the bot replies you’re done. Chatbotta sets up the webhook URL and the rich menu for you.
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”- A LINE Official Account. If you don’t have one, you can create it in LINE Official Account Manager in step 1. Friends, the add-friend link and the QR code belong to the official account, so switching platforms later doesn’t affect them.
- You’re the Owner or an Admin of the Chatbotta project. Other roles see “Only owners and admins can connect LINE”; ask one of them to connect it, or select “Request access”.
- A project can connect several LINE Official Accounts that share one bot and one Chats; more than one needs a paid plan. See Connect more than one account. To give different official accounts different bots, create a project for each.
Connect step by step
Section titled “Connect step by step”In Chatbotta, open “Channels”, select “Add channel” and choose “LINE Official Account”. If you have no channels yet, select “Connect a LINE Official Account”.
The 6 steps are listed on screen. Finished steps get a tick, and “Review” opens them again. You can leave with “Do this later”: progress is saved in the project, and you pick up at the first unfinished step. On the right, “Stuck?” offers “Have the assistant walk me through it”, “Contact us (LINE)” and the “LINE setup guide”.
Step 1: Have a LINE Official Account
Section titled “Step 1: Have a LINE Official Account”Customers add this account as a friend and message it in LINE. No account yet? Select “Open LINE Official Account Manager”, select “Create new” and fill in the details. Then select “I have an account”.
Step 2: Turn on the Messaging API
Section titled “Step 2: Turn on the Messaging API”The Messaging API lets Chatbotta reply for you.
- In LINE Official Account Manager, open your account and select “Settings” at the top right.
- Select “Messaging API” on the left, then “Enable Messaging API”.
- Choose or create a provider, then select “OK”.
Already on? Select “Next”.
Step 3: Paste the access token
Section titled “Step 3: Paste the access token”The access token (channel access token) lets Chatbotta send and receive messages as this account.
- Select “Open LINE Developers”, open this account’s channel and select the “Messaging API” tab.
- Scroll to “Channel access token (long-lived)” at the bottom, select “Issue”, then copy it. A token you issued before works too.
- Paste it into the “Channel access token” box in Chatbotta.
Chatbotta checks the token with LINE as soon as you paste it, then asks “Is this the account?” and shows the account’s name, picture and ID. If it’s right, select “Yes, connect this account”; if not, select “No, use another token”. Nothing is saved until you confirm the account.
When you connect, Chatbotta sets the webhook URL in LINE and syncs the rich menu from your flows to LINE. You don’t copy any URL by hand.
Step 4: Let LINE send messages to Chatbotta
Section titled “Step 4: Let LINE send messages to Chatbotta”We’ve filled in the webhook URL for you. One more step: turn on “Use webhook” in LINE Developers.
- Select “Open LINE Developers”, open this account’s channel and select the “Messaging API” tab.
- Scroll down to “Webhook settings”.
- “Webhook URL” already has Chatbotta’s URL; leave it as is.
- Turn on the “Use webhook” switch.
This step checks itself every 5 seconds (it pauses while the Chatbotta tab is in the background and resumes when you come back). Once the switch is on, Chatbotta asks LINE to send a test event to confirm it arrives, and the step ticks itself. You don’t need to come back and select anything.
If the check fails, the screen explains why, for example “LINE didn’t accept Chatbotta’s webhook URL” or “LINE can’t reach Chatbotta’s webhook URL”. Select “Check again”; if it keeps failing, contact us. If it says the project’s plan has expired, renew and check again. If it says “LINE’s test doesn’t match the saved channel secret”, paste the current Channel secret below.
Verify that messages come from LINE (recommended)
Section titled “Verify that messages come from LINE (recommended)”Below this step you can add the Channel secret (optional). With it, Chatbotta only accepts webhook requests signed by LINE, so nobody can pretend to be LINE and message your bot.
- In LINE Developers, open this account’s channel, select the “Basic settings” tab and copy “Channel secret”.
- Paste it into the “Channel secret” field and select “Save”.
Chatbotta checks with LINE that the secret belongs to the same channel before saving it, so a wrong one never stops the bot from receiving messages. Once it’s saved, the step shows “Signature verification is on.”, and “Use another secret” replaces it. For an account that’s already connected, open “View setup steps” and select “Review” on step 4.
Step 5: Turn off LINE’s auto-reply
Section titled “Step 5: Turn off LINE’s auto-reply”LINE’s auto-reply and Chatbotta would both answer, so customers would get two messages. LINE doesn’t let us read this setting, so please check it yourself:
- Select “Open response settings” to open the account’s “Response settings”.
- Turn off “Auto-reply messages”.
- Make sure “Webhooks” is on.
If you set up a welcome message in Chatbotta, you can also turn off LINE’s “Greeting message” so customers aren’t welcomed twice. If LINE’s own AI chatbot is turned on for the account, turn it off too. Then select “It’s off”.
Step 6: Send a test message
Section titled “Step 6: Send a test message”From your phone, send “Hello” to your official account. If you haven’t added it as a friend, scan the QR code on screen in LINE, or select “Add as a friend in LINE”.
The screen shows progress as it happens: once your message arrives it says it’s waiting for the bot to reply, and when the bot replies the step ticks and shows the bot’s reply. The channel is now “Connected”. Select “Done” to go back to “Channels”.
- Got two replies? LINE’s auto-reply is still on. Go back to step 5 and turn it off.
- No reply from the bot? Make sure your flow is published, or select “Open Chats” to look at this conversation.
Connect more than one account
Section titled “Connect more than one account”A project can connect several LINE Official Accounts, for example one per store. They all share the same flows, knowledge and AI, and their conversations all arrive in the same Chats.
- Add an account: In “Channels”, select “Add channel”, choose “Another LINE Official Account” and follow the same 6 steps. Each account has its own card in “Channels”. All accounts use the same webhook URL; Chatbotta tells them apart by itself.
- Paid plan: The first account works during the trial too; any more need a paid plan. On a trial, choosing “Another LINE Official Account” lets the owner pick a plan right away.
- Chats: With more than one account, each conversation shows the account it came through, for example “LINE · Zhongshan”, and replies go out from the same account. A customer who added two of your accounts has two separate conversations.
- Rich menu: The rich menu in your flow is synced to every account and updated when you publish.
- Website chat hand-off: You can choose which account visitors are handed off to. See Hand off to a person.
- AI conversations: Each account’s conversations count separately. A customer who gets AI replies on two accounts on the same day counts as 2.
- One project per account: If an official account is already connected to another project, pasting its token says “This LINE Official Account is connected to another project.” Disconnect it there first.
Without a paid plan, the first account keeps working and the others show “Paused”: customer messages still arrive in Chats, but the bot doesn’t reply and you can’t send from those accounts. Choosing a plan brings them back right away.
Manage the connection
Section titled “Manage the connection”Each LINE Official Account has its own card in “Channels”. On the card:
- Check again: Check the token and webhook status with LINE again.
- View setup steps: Opens the 6 steps above so you can review any of them.
- Change the token: After issuing a new token in LINE Developers, open “View setup steps” and select “Use another token” in step 3 to paste it. Issuing a new token invalidates the old one, so update any other service that uses the same account. A token for the same official account keeps the channel “Connected”; a token for a different account means sending a test message again.
- Disconnect: The bot stops answering this official account and the rich menu Chatbotta set up is removed. You can reconnect later. Your other LINE Official Accounts aren’t affected. See Disconnect.
For what each card status means, see Statuses.
After pasting, it says “That’s the Channel ID, not the access token” or “That’s the Channel secret, not the access token”?
You copied the wrong value. On the “Messaging API” tab in LINE Developers, select “Issue” under “Channel access token (long-lived)” at the bottom and copy the long string.
It says “LINE doesn’t accept this token”?
The token may be incomplete or expired. Make sure you didn’t copy anything extra, or select “Issue” at the bottom of the “Messaging API” tab in LINE Developers and paste the new token.
The card says “Webhook is off”?
LINE isn’t sending messages to Chatbotta yet. On the “Messaging API” tab in LINE Developers, turn on “Use webhook” under “Webhook settings”. The card updates by itself once it’s on.
The card says “Wrong webhook URL”?
An official account has only one webhook URL, and another platform usually replaced Chatbotta’s. Select “Fix the URL” to open the setup steps. If the status doesn’t recover, select “Use another token” in step 3 and paste the access token again (the same one works); Chatbotta sets the webhook URL again.
How many LINE Official Accounts can I connect?
A project can connect several, sharing one bot, knowledge and Chats; more than one needs a paid plan. To give different official accounts different bots, create a project for each. An official account can be connected to one project at a time.
After pasting the token, it says the account is already connected to this project or to another project?
That official account is connected already. In this project, open its card in “Channels” to update its token; if it’s in another project, disconnect it there first, then paste the token again.
The card says “Channel secret doesn’t match”?
Messages from LINE don’t match the saved channel secret, so Chatbotta rejects them. Usually the Channel secret was reissued in LINE Developers. Select “Update channel secret” and paste the new one in step 4.
The card says “Paused”?
More than one LINE Official Account needs a paid plan. Without one, every account except the first is paused: customer messages still arrive in Chats, but the bot doesn’t reply and you can’t send from that account. Select “Choose a plan”; it comes back as soon as the plan is active.
The card says “Needs a new token”?
LINE no longer accepts the saved access token, usually because a new token was issued in LINE Developers. Select “Update token”, issue a new token in LINE Developers and paste it.
Connecting says “The token is saved, but the rich menu didn’t sync to LINE”?
The token is connected; only the rich menu didn’t sync this time. It syncs again the next time you publish.
Customers get two replies?
LINE’s auto-reply is still on. Turn off “Auto-reply messages” in “Response settings” in LINE Official Account Manager.
The bot doesn’t answer in LINE groups?
In LINE groups and multi-person chats, customers need to mention (@) your official account for AI to answer.
I’m moving from another chatbot platform. Will I lose my friends?
No. Friends belong to the official account; switching platforms only points the webhook at Chatbotta. Chatbotta changes the webhook URL when you connect, so the old platform stops receiving messages.
If the channel is connected but the bot doesn’t reply, see Bot not replying?. For a full move from another platform, see the chatbot platform migration guide (in Chinese).