Old /bot links still work

What it is

Older Agentency links used the form /bot/{id}. The hosted page now lives at /agent/{handle}.

The old links still work. Opening a /bot/{id} address sends the browser on to /agent/{id}, which resolves to your chatbot whatever its current handle is. Nothing you printed or published has broken. Sub-paths carry across too, so an old link that pointed deeper into the chat still lands in the right place.

The redirect is a permanent one, which means browsers, search engines, and well-behaved clients will remember the new address and go there directly next time.

When you would use it

• A partner, a supplier, or an old blog post still links to /bot/.
• You have printed QR codes carrying the old address and want to know whether to reprint.
• You are auditing links before a rebrand.
• An old link 404s and you are trying to work out whether the alias was removed.

Where to find it

Nothing to configure. The redirect is automatic.

Your current URL is at Dashboard → Chatbots → your chatbot → Integrations → Messaging → Direct link.

Steps

1. Open an old /bot/{id} address in a browser.
2. Confirm it lands on the /agent/ form and the chat loads.
3. In Integrations → Messaging → Direct link, copy the current /agent/{handle} URL and use that for anything new.
4. Update /bot/ links in websites, emails, and documents as you come across them.
5. Reprint physical material when it is due anyway. There is no urgency.
6. Do not build new integrations on /bot/. Use the current address.
7. If an old link 404s, the cause is the chatbot's state, not the alias — see below.

What you will see

An old /bot/{id} address changes to the /agent/ form in the address bar, and the chat loads as normal. Everything the Direct link drawer shows you already uses the current form.

Both addresses may be placed in an iframe, and neither loads Agentency's marketing or analytics tags — the chat surface is deliberately free of them.

Should I reprint?

Probably not urgently.

The redirect is permanent and there is no announced plan to remove it. A poster carrying /bot/312 will keep working. Reprint when the material is being refreshed anyway.

Two situations where it is worth acting sooner:

• You are building something new. Code, integrations, and templates should use the current address. Do not add new dependencies on an alias.
• You are about to rebrand the handle. This is the moment to think about which address goes on the new print run — see the next section.

The trap: an old handle does not redirect

Two similar-looking things behave completely differently.

/bot/{id} → redirects. The numeric id never changes, so the alias always resolves to whatever the current handle is. Rename the handle as often as you like; old /bot/ links keep following.

An old handle → 404s. Rename from /agent/old-name to /agent/new-name and old-name simply stops existing. There is no redirect and no history.

So the resilient address to print, counter-intuitively, is the numeric one — either /bot/{id} or /agent/{id}. Both survive every rename. A pretty custom handle is the better link to share and the riskier one to print, if you might rebrand. See Change the hosted page handle.

Limits and plan notes

• The redirect is permanent, and clients are expected to cache the new address.
• It resolves to the current handle, so a renamed chatbot is still reachable from its old /bot/ link.
• The redirect does not bypass anything. A draft or paused chatbot still 404s after following it, and a gated page still shows its gate.
• Legacy links work on every plan, because the hosted page itself works on every plan.
• Both paths may be iframed. Neither carries marketing tags.

Common problems

A QR code shows /bot/ and I am worried it is dead.

Test it. It should redirect. Reprint when convenient rather than in a panic.

The old link 404s.

The chatbot is draft, paused, or the id is wrong. The alias is not the problem — check the chatbot's state first. See The hosted page is 404.

My iframe still points at /bot/{id}.

It follows the redirect and works. Update the src to the current address when you next touch the page, so you are not depending on an alias forever.

Should I use /bot/ for a new integration?

No. Use /agent/{handle}. An alias is for links already in the world, not for new code.

Does the redirect keep my query parameters?

A secret key or visitor identity parameter on the end of the URL is carried across. If a link matters, test it once anyway — and update it to the current address so there is nothing to wonder about later.

Which address should I print?

The numeric one if you might rename the chatbot later; the custom handle if the name is settled. Both are permanent in the sense that matters — only a renamed handle breaks.