Concepts

This document introduces the features of the Kakao Talk Channel API.

Overview

Kakao Talk Channel (used to call 'PlusFriend') is a service to share various service news in the form of a message or feed with Kakao Talk users. To reduce costs, create a group of friends based on their user information, such as gender, age, region, and rating, and send a message only to the targeted users who are more likely to do the expected action.

Kakao Talk Channel strengthens the relationship between the service and users. Attract more users to visit the service web page or share a URL that guides useful product information through Kakao Talk Channel messages. Kakao Talk Channel provides extended features such as chat, smart chat, and bot.

Kakao Talk Channel provides the following APIs.

• Add Kakao Talk Channel: Easy addition of Kakao Talk Channel using Kakao SDK
• Manage Kakao Talk Channel customers: Convenient customer group management for administrators
• Manage Kakao Talk Channel relationship: Efficient friend management for administrators

Note: Kakao Talk Channel profile ID

To check Kakao Talk Channel profile ID, go to [프로필(Profile)] > [프로필 설정(Profile setting)] in Kakao Talk Channel Admin Center. Check the [채널 URL(Channel URL)]. Kakao Talk Channel profile ID is included in the combination of alphabets, including underbar(_) after 'pf.kakao.com/'.

• Channel URL: https://pf.kakao.com/_ZeUTxl
• Channel ID: _ZeUTxl

Add Kakao Talk Channel

How to use

Kakao SDK provides two options to implement features for adding a Kakao Talk Channel as a friend to the user.

Name	Method	Description	Result
Follow Kakao Talk Channel(Recommended)	followChannel()	Displays the Kakao Talk Channel addition screen on the service page.	The result will be sent in the response.
Add Kakao Talk Channel	addChannel()	Send users to a bridge page to add Kakao Talk Channel. Users will exit the service page to add Kakao Talk Channel.	To get the result, use Check Kakao Talk Channel relationship API.

Follow Kakao Talk Channel

Follow Kakao Talk Channel(followChannel()) is a convenient feature for adding a Kakao Talk Channel and receiving the result with only one API request. Any additional process to know the result is not required since the addition result is provided in the response.

If the user is not available to add the Kakao Talk Channel, a guidance screen for each status will be provided.

Refer to the screens and guidelines below.

Services using Kakao Login

If the service uses Kakao Login, process the request for adding Kakao Talk Channel according to the user's login status.

Logged in users

1. Request followChannel().
2. Add Kakao Talk Channel screen will be displayed.
3. Response informs whether the user added the Kakao Talk Channel.

Not logged-in users

1. Request Kakao Login.
2. Kakao Login consent screen will be displayed.
   • Users can add the Kakao Talk Channel on the Kakao Login consent screen.
3. Check Kakao Talk Channel relationship to figure out whether the user added the Kakao Talk Channel.
   • If added, provide features appropriate for the situation. (EX: Promotion page for users who added the Kakao Talk Channel)
   • If not added, Request Follow Kakao Talk Channel as Logged in users.

Services not using Kakao Login

If the service is not using Kakao Login, process the request for adding Kakao Talk Channel as below.

1. Request followChannel().
2. Login with Kakao Account screen is displayed.
3. After login, Add Kakao Talk Channel screen is displayed.
4. Response informs whether the user added the Kakao Talk Channel.

Add Kakao Talk Channel

Kakao Talk Channel API provided by Kakao SDK displays a bridge page for users to go to a Kakao Talk Channel. When the user accesses the bridge page, a pop-up that asks whether to move to the Kakao Talk Channel is presented. If the user accepts, the Kakao Talk app is launched through the Custom URL Scheme and moves to the corresponding Kakao Talk Channel. Users can add the Kakao Talk Channel as a friend or start a chat on the Kakao Talk Channel.

We recommend using Follow Kakao Talk Channel instead of Add Kakao Talk Channel for more convenience in implementation.

Manage Kakao Talk Channel customers

Kakao Talk Channel provides customer management features in Kakao Talk Channel Admin Center as APIs. Register users in a customer file and group them as a specific target with the customer management API.

This feature also makes target marketing more effective. If the service uses Kakao Login or Kakao Sync, create a customer file with user information. Based on the registered customer file, create a friend group with the desired options and send a target message in Kakao Talk Channel Admin Center.

This feature is only provided as REST API for the server. Refer to Set for customer management and REST API.

Manage Kakao Talk Channel relationship

Check Kakao Talk Channel relationship

Use Check Kakao Talk Channel relationship API to figure out whether the user added the Kakao Talk Channel. This API helps to Add Kakao Talk Channel or Manage Kakao Talk Channel customers according to the addition status. Refer to the guides below.

• REST API
• JavaScript
• Android
• iOS

Kakao Talk Channel webhook

Use Kakao Talk Channel webhook to get notifications when the user adds or blocks the Kakao Talk Channel. This feature helps the services manage the friend list more precisely for the relationship changes out of the service.

Features

• Refer to Scope of support to know whether each Kakao SDK supports each feature.

Feature	Description	Documentation
Follow Kakao Talk Channel	Requests adding Kakao Talk Channel to the user.	JavaScript Android iOS Flutter
Add Kakao Talk Channel	Provides a bridge page to allow a user to go to a Kakao Talk Channel and add the channel as a friend.	JavaScript Android iOS Flutter
Start Kakao Talk Channel chat	Provides a bridge page to start a chat with a the Kakao Talk channel on Kakao Talk.	JavaScript Android iOS Flutter
Check Kakao Talk Channel relationship	Checks if a specific user has added or blocked the Kakao Talk Channel connected to the service app.	REST API JavaScript Android iOS Flutter
Check multiple users' Kakao Talk Channel relationship	Checks if specific users have added or blocked the Kakao Talk Channel connected to the service app.	REST API
Kakao Talk Channel webhook	Notifies when a user adds or blocks the service's Kakao Talk Channel, and update the user information.	Callback
Customer management: Register customer file	Registers a new customer file.	REST API
Customer management: View customer file	Retreives a customer file.	REST API
Customer management: Add user	Adds a new user to the customer file.	REST API
Customer management: Delete user	Deletes a user from the customer file.	REST API