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shiftagent Integration API

Look up a conversation by external ID.

GET
/conversations/by-external-id/{external_id}
 
curl --request GET \
  --url https://shiftagent.example.com/conversations/by-external-id/example \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>'

Pure lookup by the host system’s conversation ID — never creates. 404 not-found if no conversation carries this external_id within the tenant. external_id is unique per tenant: under a platformJwt the tenant comes from the token; under the integrationKey, pass ?tenant_id= (400 without it). The guarded companion to upsertConversationByExternalId: GET to check, then createConversation with external_id for an explicit 409 on the race.

Authorizations

Section titled “Authorizations ”

Parameters

Section titled “ Parameters ”

Path Parameters

Section titled “Path Parameters ”
external_id
required
string
>= 1 characters <= 255 characters

The host system’s identifier, namespaced by the adapter (e.g. {ns}:tenant:{id} / {ns}:user:{id} / {ns}:conversation:{id}). Opaque to shiftagent — compared byte-exact after trimming; case-sensitive; URL-encode reserved characters (: → %3A where required by the client).

Query Parameters

Section titled “Query Parameters ”
tenant_id
string
/^tnt_[A-Za-z0-9]+$/

Tenant whose external-ID namespace to search. Required under the integrationKey (400 without it); ignored under a platformJwt (the token’s tenant applies).

Responses

Section titled “ Responses ”

200

Section titled “200 ”

The conversation.

Media type application/json

An agent conversation owned by a user within a tenant. Snapshots its resolution context at creation and carries live runtime state.

object
object
required
string
Allowed value: conversation
id
required
string
/^con_[A-Za-z0-9]+$/
external_id
required

Host system’s conversation ID (namespaced by the adapter). Unique per tenant; natural key for upsertConversationByExternalId — the continue-vs-create decision. Null for conversations created via plain createConversation without one.

string | null
<= 255 characters
tenant_id
required
string
/^tnt_[A-Za-z0-9]+$/
user_id
required
string
/^usr_[A-Za-z0-9]+$/
title
required

Display title; auto-derivable from the first message.

string | null
<= 255 characters
status
required

Archived conversations keep readable history but reject message writes with 409 conversation-archived.

string
Allowed values: active archived
context
required

Resolution snapshot taken at conversation creation (user → role → repository → skills) — makes history self-explaining even after roles or repositories change.

object
role_id
required

The role the conversation was resolved under.

string
/^rol_[A-Za-z0-9]+$/
repository_id
required

The effective repository at creation.

string
/^rep_[A-Za-z0-9]+$/
skill_ids
required

The effective skills at creation.

Array<string>
selected_skill_ids
required

Optional narrowing within context.skill_ids; null means no narrowing.

Array<string> | null
runtime
required

Runtime placement state of a conversation. agent_type selects the agent runtime behind the platform’s runtime abstraction — each type runs in its own isolated sandbox.

object
agent_type
required

Agent runtime — open enum so new runtimes are non-breaking. Known values: claude-agent-sdk, codex, deepagent. Defaults from tenant settings. Immutable after creation.

string
mode
required

pooled — each message claims a warm-pool sandbox and releases it; warm — the conversation keeps its sandbox alive between messages under a sliding idle timeout (idle_ttl_seconds, reset on every message). The most recent message’s settings govern what happens next.

string
Allowed values: warm pooled
idle_ttl_seconds
required

Sliding idle timeout of the warm sandbox; null for pooled conversations.

integer | null
sandbox_state
required

warm — a sandbox is currently held for this conversation (fast next message); cold — none held (pooled, warm-before-first- message, or the idle timer lapsed and the sandbox was recycled — the next message cold-starts and resumes the same session).

string
Allowed values: warm cold
expires_at
required

When the warm hold lapses (moves forward on every message); null when sandbox_state is cold.

string | null format: date-time
filler
required
One of:

Filler-agent enablement. Cascade: tenant settings → conversation → message; most specific wins. Filler output is part of the reply stream and the persisted message — indistinguishable from agent output by design.

object
enabled
required

Whether the low-latency filler agent runs for this scope.

boolean
storage
required

S3-style storage bucket attached to a user or conversation. Platform-assigned automatically at creation; host-owned buckets can be linked via update (provider: "external").

object
provider
required

platform — bucket provisioned and owned by the deployment; external — host-linked BYO bucket.

string
Allowed values: platform external
bucket_uri
required

S3-style URI of the bucket root (e.g. s3://bucket/prefix).

string
message_count
required

Persisted message count (all roles).

integer
last_message_at
required

Timestamp of the newest message; null when empty.

string | null format: date-time
metadata
required

Free-form string key–value map for host/adapter bookkeeping (e.g. a host-side reference ID). Max 50 keys; values max 500 chars. Replaced wholesale when provided in updates.

object
<= 50 properties
key
additional properties
string
<= 500 characters
created_at
required

RFC 3339 / ISO 8601 timestamp, UTC.

string format: date-time
updated_at
required

RFC 3339 / ISO 8601 timestamp, UTC.

string format: date-time
Example 
{
  "object": "conversation",
  "status": "active",
  "runtime": {
    "mode": "warm",
    "sandbox_state": "warm"
  },
  "storage": {
    "provider": "platform"
  }
}

400

Section titled “400 ”

Bad request — malformed body/parameters or an invalid parameter combination (e.g. neither or both of user_id/tenant_id on listConversations, or both pagination cursors).

Media type application/problem+json

RFC 9457 problem+json error envelope. type is a URI under https://shiftagent.example.com/problems/{slug} (deployment host substituted); see the API-level problem registry for every slug.

object
type
required

Problem type URI (registry slug).

string format: uri-reference
title
required

Short, human-readable summary of the problem type.

string
status
required

HTTP status code.

integer format: int32
detail

Human-readable explanation specific to this occurrence.

string
instance

URI reference identifying this occurrence.

string format: uri-reference
request_id

Correlation ID for support and log lookup.

string
conflicting_resource_id

On name-conflict, external-id-conflict, and resource-in-use: the ID of the existing/depended-on resource — fetch it and continue (replay recovery).

string
errors

On validation-error, field-level details.

Array<object>
object
pointer
required

JSON pointer to the offending field.

string
message
required

What failed.

string
Examples
Example bad_request

Invalid parameter combination

{
  "type": "https://shiftagent.example.com/problems/validation-error",
  "title": "Invalid request",
  "status": 400,
  "detail": "Exactly one of user_id or tenant_id is required.",
  "request_id": "req_01hzx8bad001"
}

401

Section titled “401 ”

Missing or invalid credentials — no bearer token, an unknown/revoked sk_int_ key, or an expired platform JWT.

Media type application/problem+json

RFC 9457 problem+json error envelope. type is a URI under https://shiftagent.example.com/problems/{slug} (deployment host substituted); see the API-level problem registry for every slug.

object
type
required

Problem type URI (registry slug).

string format: uri-reference
title
required

Short, human-readable summary of the problem type.

string
status
required

HTTP status code.

integer format: int32
detail

Human-readable explanation specific to this occurrence.

string
instance

URI reference identifying this occurrence.

string format: uri-reference
request_id

Correlation ID for support and log lookup.

string
conflicting_resource_id

On name-conflict, external-id-conflict, and resource-in-use: the ID of the existing/depended-on resource — fetch it and continue (replay recovery).

string
errors

On validation-error, field-level details.

Array<object>
object
pointer
required

JSON pointer to the offending field.

string
message
required

What failed.

string
Examples
Example unauthorized

Missing or invalid bearer token

{
  "type": "https://shiftagent.example.com/problems/insufficient-scope",
  "title": "Unauthorized",
  "status": 401,
  "detail": "Provide a valid sk_int_ service key or platform JWT.",
  "request_id": "req_01hzx8auth001"
}

404

Section titled “404 ”

Not found — the resource does not exist, was deprovisioned, or lies outside the integration key’s subtree (indistinguishable by design).

Media type application/problem+json

RFC 9457 problem+json error envelope. type is a URI under https://shiftagent.example.com/problems/{slug} (deployment host substituted); see the API-level problem registry for every slug.

object
type
required

Problem type URI (registry slug).

string format: uri-reference
title
required

Short, human-readable summary of the problem type.

string
status
required

HTTP status code.

integer format: int32
detail

Human-readable explanation specific to this occurrence.

string
instance

URI reference identifying this occurrence.

string format: uri-reference
request_id

Correlation ID for support and log lookup.

string
conflicting_resource_id

On name-conflict, external-id-conflict, and resource-in-use: the ID of the existing/depended-on resource — fetch it and continue (replay recovery).

string
errors

On validation-error, field-level details.

Array<object>
object
pointer
required

JSON pointer to the offending field.

string
message
required

What failed.

string
Examples
Example not_found

Unknown resource

{
  "type": "https://shiftagent.example.com/problems/not-found",
  "title": "Not found",
  "status": 404,
  "detail": "No tenant with external_id acme:tenant:999999.",
  "request_id": "req_01hzx8nf001"
}