Move from Help Scout to Rinhelp
By Wilbert Liu, founder of Rinhelp · Facts checked · Markdown for AI agents
Help Scout conversations with every thread, their customers, your saved replies and your Docs articles move to Rinhelp. Mind the list call: without status=all it returns only active conversations, and closed history goes missing without a warning.
| Conversations | Time to read them from Help Scout |
|---|---|
| 1,000 | about 3 minutes |
| 10,000 | about 25 minutes |
Limit used: 400 requests a minute (Plus plan, Inbox API), about 1 per conversation. Rinhelp takes up to 3,000 conversations a minute.
Free. Importing never emails your customers, never runs Rin and never counts toward a plan.
Needs a person. Help Scout’s Free plan has no API, so you may need to upgrade before moving. For Docs, you also create a separate Docs API key.
Paste one prompt
Connect your AI agent to Rinhelp first, then paste the prompt for the app you use. It reads this page’s Markdown and follows Rinhelp’s steps.
Connect Help Scout’s MCP server at https://mcp.helpscout.net/mcp next to Rinhelp and work through https://rinhelp.com/migrate/help-scout.md. It can read my saved replies, Docs and conversations, but it can’t open attachment files, so leave files for a full import.
Import my whole Help Scout history into Rinhelp by following https://rinhelp.com/migrate/help-scout.md; ask me for Inbox API access and a Docs API key. Always list with status=all and fetch threads per conversation, because chat threads come back shortened. Everyone on our account shares the limit, so leave room for my team.
What we measured
We imported the public help center at docs.helpscout.com into a test workspace with Claude Code on : 300 articles in 7 sections came across as drafts in about 9 minutes, were published in about 1 minute more, and every old address answered with a redirect. 65 conversations with 202 messages, shaped like its API’s responses, came across with their files. The full run.
Their words and ours
| In Help Scout | In Rinhelp |
|---|---|
| Conversation | Conversation |
| Customer or message thread | Message |
| Note thread | Note |
| Customer | Customer |
| Collection | Section |
| Article | Article |
| Saved reply | Saved reply |
What stays behind
- Workflows
- Beacon
- Reports
- Inbox permissions
Help Scout facts that shape the move
The Inbox API allows 200 calls a minute on Standard, 400 on Plus and 800 on Pro. Source, checked .
Help Scout’s Free plan has no API at all. Source, checked .
Everyone on a Help Scout account shares one limit, and each write or conversation search counts twice. Source, checked .
The conversation list returns only active conversations unless you add status=all. Source, checked .
Threads can be embedded in the conversation list, but chat threads arrive shortened there. Source, checked .
Each thread is typed as customer, message or note, and lists its attachments with data and download links. Source, checked .
Saved replies are listed one inbox at a time, and chat-only ones are left out unless you ask for them. Source, checked .
Docs has its own API at docsapi.helpscout.net, with its own key and a lower limit counted over 10 minutes. Source, checked .
Docs lists articles in a collection 100 per page at most, with a status filter. Source, checked .
Help Scout’s official MCP server is read-only for new connections and works on any plan with API access. Source, checked .
Questions
Why are my closed Help Scout conversations missing?
Help Scout’s list only returns active conversations by default. Your AI agent has to add status=all to see the rest.
Do my chat-only saved replies come across?
Yes, once your AI agent asks for them, since Help Scout leaves them out of each inbox’s list by default. They arrive as shared plain text.
Will the move slow my team down in Help Scout?
It can, because everyone on the account shares one limit, 400 calls a minute on Plus. Run the full history at a quiet time.