A complete overview of Gorgias OAuth: Setup, scopes, and a simpler path to integration

Connecting your go-to apps to your helpdesk is a must for any support team that wants to work smarter, not harder. When your tools are all on speaking terms, your team can pull up order details from Shopify, check conversation history in your CRM, and solve customer issues in a fraction of the time. But let's be honest, getting these tools connected securely often feels like a job for the engineering team.

That's where Gorgias OAuth comes into play. It’s the standard, secure method for giving apps permission to access your Gorgias data without you ever having to hand over your password. In this post, we'll walk through how Gorgias OAuth works, what the setup looks like, and point you to a much simpler path if you’d rather skip the technical weeds and just get things working.

What is Gorgias OAuth?

At its heart, OAuth 2.0 is just a standard for authorization. Think of it like giving a valet a special key for your car. That key can start the engine and unlock the doors, but it can’t get into the glove compartment or the trunk. You're giving out specific, limited permissions without handing over the master key.

Gorgias OAuth is simply Gorgias’s implementation of this standard. It lets you authorize other applications (like analytics tools, AI agents, or CRMs) to access your Gorgias account in a controlled way. This method has a few big advantages:

• Your login details stay safe: You never have to share your actual Gorgias password with another app. If you decide you don't want an app to have access anymore, you can cut it off instantly from your Gorgias settings.

• You decide what apps can and can't do: You have fine-grained control over what an app is allowed to do. You can let it read tickets, or you can give it permission to create new customers and update conversations. You're in the driver's seat.

• It’s the standard way to connect: This is the required method for any public app that integrates with Gorgias, which means the connection process is consistent and secure for everyone.

How the Gorgias OAuth flow works

To really get why a simpler solution is so helpful, it’s worth taking a peek under the hood at the technical steps developers usually follow to set up a Gorgias OAuth integration. It’s a bit of a multi-step dance between you, the app, and Gorgias, which shows just how complex it can be.

Step 1: App registration and getting Gorgias OAuth credentials

First off, a developer has to register their app in the Gorgias partners portal. This is the official starting line for building an integration. Once the app is registered, Gorgias issues a unique "client_id" and "client_secret". You can think of these as the app's own personal username and password, which it uses to identify itself to Gorgias.

Step 2: The Gorgias OAuth authorization redirect

When you click a button like "Connect to Gorgias" in an app, a lot happens in the background. The app sends you to a special Gorgias authorization URL. This link is packed with information, including the app’s "client_id", the specific permissions (called "scopes") it's asking for, and a "redirect_uri" that tells Gorgias where to send you back after you’ve given your approval.

Step 3: User consent and the Gorgias OAuth authorization code

You'll then land on a Gorgias page that clearly lists exactly what the app wants to do. It might ask for permission to read tickets, write messages, or look at customer data. This is your chance to review the request. If it all looks good and you click "Authorize," Gorgias sends you back to the app, but with a special, temporary "authorization_code" added to the URL.

Step 4: Swapping the Gorgias OAuth code for an access token

Okay, this next part is the most technical bit. The app’s server takes that temporary "authorization_code" and sends a secure request back to Gorgias. This request includes the code, its "client_id", and its "client_secret" to prove it’s the real deal. If everything matches up, Gorgias sends back two important things: a short-lived "access_token" and a long-lived "refresh_token". The "access_token" is what the app uses to make API calls for you, and the "refresh_token" is used to get a new "access_token" when the old one expires (usually after 24 hours).

Understanding Gorgias OAuth scopes and permissions

When it comes to security, scopes are probably the most important part of the Gorgias OAuth process. They define the exact permissions an app gets, making sure it only has access to the data and actions it truly needs to function. It's always a good idea to take a moment to review the scopes an app is requesting before you click authorize. Giving an app permissions that are too broad can create security risks you don't need.

Here are a few common Gorgias scopes and what they let an app do:

Scope Name	Description
"openid", "email", "profile"	Basic user information so the app knows who you are.
"offline"	Lets the app refresh its access token on its own, so you don't have to log in over and over.
"tickets:read"	Grants permission to look at tickets, messages, and their content.
"tickets:write"	Allows the app to create new tickets, make updates to existing ones, and close them.
"customers:read"	Grants permission to view customer profiles and their data.
"customers:write"	Allows the app to create new customer profiles or edit existing ones.

While these specific scopes give you great control, trying to manage them for several different custom-built tools can turn into a real headache.

The challenge of custom Gorgias OAuth integrations (and a simpler alternative)

As you can see, setting up Gorgias OAuth manually is a technical, multi-step process. For most support teams, this creates a few pretty big hurdles:

• You need an engineer (and their time): The whole flow, from registering the app to making sure tokens get refreshed properly, requires dedicated engineering time and API knowledge. That's a resource that’s often in short supply.

• It's not a 'set it and forget it' deal: Access tokens expire and APIs change. The logic for keeping the connection alive needs constant maintenance. This isn’t a one-time setup; it’s an ongoing commitment from your engineering team.

• Support managers get stuck waiting for help: If you're a support leader who wants to try out a new tool or automate a workflow, you're often blocked by your reliance on a developer to build and maintain the connection for you.

This is where things can get frustrating. You know what your team needs, but you’re stuck in line waiting on an engineering team with its own packed roadmap.

A better way than manual Gorgias OAuth: One-click integration with eesel AI

But what if you could skip all that technical stuff? eesel AI is an AI platform designed to plug right into your helpdesk. Its Gorgias integration uses the same secure OAuth standard but boils the entire technical setup down to a single click. You connect your account, approve the permissions, and you’re done in a couple of minutes, not weeks.

This approach is built on a few simple ideas:

• Get started in minutes, not months: You don't need to book a sales call or wait for a developer. You can sign up, connect your Gorgias account, and set up your AI agent all on your own.

• You get full control from a simple dashboard, no coding required: Once you're connected, eesel AI’s dashboard gives you complete control. You can decide exactly how the AI interacts with your tickets, whether that’s answering common questions, triaging requests, or escalating to a human, all without writing a line of code.

• Bring all your knowledge together: A smart AI needs access to good information. Beyond learning from your Gorgias tickets, eesel AI can also connect to your other knowledge sources like Confluence, Google Docs, and your help center to get the full picture.

Comparing pricing models: Gorgias AI vs. eesel AI

Gorgias has its own native AI Agent, but its pricing can make your monthly bill hard to predict. The AI features are an add-on to their standard plans and are priced per resolution. This means you pay for every conversation the AI fully automates, which can lead to a surprisingly high bill when you're busy.

Here's a quick look at how their pricing works:

Plan	Base Price (Monthly)	Included Tickets	AI Agent Cost
Starter	$10/mo	50	$1.00 / resolved conversation
Basic	$50/mo	300	$0.90 / resolved conversation
Pro	$300/mo	2,000	$0.90 / resolved conversation
Advanced	$750/mo	5,000	$0.90 / resolved conversation

This per-resolution model means your costs go up right alongside your support volume, which can feel like you're being penalized for growth.

eesel AI, on the other hand, takes a different approach with straightforward, predictable pricing. Plans are based on a set number of monthly AI interactions (an interaction is any reply or action the AI takes), so you always know what your bill will look like. There are no surprise fees for each resolution, which makes budgeting simple. You're paying for capacity, not for every single ticket the AI touches.

Secure Gorgias OAuth integration shouldn't be a technical hurdle

Gorgias OAuth is the right and secure way to connect apps to your helpdesk. It keeps your data safe and gives you control over permissions. However, the manual setup is, let's be honest, a lot of work. For many teams, this technical barrier stops them from using powerful tools that could make a real difference in their support operations.

Platforms like eesel AI fix this by doing all the heavy lifting for you. They make powerful, secure AI integration available to anyone, no matter their technical skill level. This gives support leaders the freedom to innovate and improve their workflows without having to get in the engineering queue.

Ready to simplify Gorgias OAuth and connect Gorgias in minutes?

Stop worrying about OAuth flows and API keys. With eesel AI, you can securely connect your Gorgias helpdesk in just a few clicks. Start your free trial today and see how easy it is to deploy a smart AI agent that learns from your existing knowledge base and past tickets.