This feature is available from the Pro plan and above.
The Intercom Articles app lets you easily import articles and collections from Intercom into your Lokalise project for translation. Once the translations are complete, you can export them back to Intercom with just a couple of clicks.
Known limitations
The Intercom API has a few limitations when it comes to importing and exporting content:
Image resizing: When importing images from Intercom, only the image source is preserved. This means the width and height information is stripped out. If you've manually resized images in an Intercom article, those custom sizes will be lost when importing the article to Lokalise, translating it, and exporting it back.
Callouts and collapsibles: The Intercom API currently does not fully support callouts or collapsible elements. Articles containing these may not export correctly into Intercom. For more details on callout and collapsible support, check the Intercom forum.
Getting started
Here’s how to set up the Intercom Articles app and select the data you want to translate.
Necessary permissions
To properly set up the app, make sure you have the following Intercom access rights:
Install, configure, and delete apps
Manage articles
Connecting Lokalise to Intercom
Open your Lokalise project and go to Apps.
Find Intercom Articles in the list, click on it, and then press Install.
Click Install again to integrate Intercom with Lokalise.
Review the requested permissions and click Authorize access.
Importing from Intercom
This app also supports automated import. You can learn more Automated import/export article.
After setting up the app, you’ll see a list of your articles and collections available on Intercom. To translate these items, you need to import them. Simply select one or more items by ticking the checkboxes next to the titles, then click Import selected.
All languages available in Intercom but not yet in your Lokalise project will be created automatically.
Import options
After clicking Import selected, you can choose which languages to import and whether to update already downloaded items with Intercom values.
You’ll have two options to control this behavior:
Overwrite updated translations — this updates existing keys linked to Intercom items with new values.
Skip key creation for empty translations — if checked, Lokalise will not create translation keys for items that are empty on Intercom.
You can also assign tags to translation keys during this step. Once done, click OK to start the import. This process runs in the background, and you can track its progress on the Activity page.
Filtering items
You can filter items using the Filter dropdown to make navigation easier.
Note on character limits
Lokalise respects the character limits set in Intercom. However, if you change the character limit in Lokalise after importing, you’ll still be able to export a draft back to Intercom. Keep in mind, though, that you won’t be able to publish it in Intercom until the character count meets Intercom’s limit.
Importing updated content from Intercom
You can import updated content from Intercom for items that have already been downloaded to Lokalise. To do this:
Go to Apps > Intercom Articles.
Select one or more items you wish to import.
Click Import selected to pull in the updated content from Intercom.
Adding new Intercom Articles languages
To add more languages to Intercom, follow these steps:
Go to Articles > Help Center > Settings > Localize your Help Center.
Click Add language and select the desired language from the dropdown.
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Important: If you've added a new language to Intercom but haven’t created at least one article, collection, or section in that language, Lokalise won’t be able to properly sync it. This is due to Intercom's limitations. Lokalise cannot detect newly added languages unless they are linked to at least one article, section, or collection.
For example, if you’ve added Japanese, you need to assign it to at least one article before starting the import process:
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Working with the translation keys
Once the selected items are imported, you can manage them in the project editor. Translation keys created for these imported items will be tagged as follows:
Intercom Articles — assigned to all items imported by the Intercom Articles app.
Article — assigned to the keys that represent articles.
title — assigned to the keys that contain article titles.
description — assigned to the keys containing article or collection descriptions.
body — assigned to the keys containing article bodies (main text).
Collection — assigned to the keys that represent collections.
Section — assigned to the keys that represent sections.
name — assigned to the keys containing collection or section names.
Additionally, every key has a tag containing the item name (for collections) or title (for articles). For example, if a key contains the body of an article named "Hello", then this key will be assigned a Hello tag.
Please note that Intercom has length limitations for certain items (such as article titles, collection names, etc.). When performing translations, the maximum allowed length will be visible for you to ensure it meets Intercom’s limits.
Exporting to Intercom
This app also supports automated export. You can learn more in the Automated import/export article.
Once your translations are complete, it's time to export the new strings back to Intercom! Here's how to do it:
Go to More > Apps > Intercom Articles.
Select one or more items that you want to export.
Click Export selected and choose the languages you wish to export.
If needed, you can choose to Convert the exported articles to drafts. Once you're ready, press OK, and the selected items will be uploaded to Intercom.
Empty translations will be ignored and won't be exported to Intercom.