When you connect a channel to a platform, someone has to hold the key: the permission to read and send messages on your WhatsApp, Instagram or email. Usually that key stays inside the platform’s own app. At MuseRelay we made a different decision from the start: the key is yours.
That’s called BYOK (Bring Your Own Keys): each channel connects with your own credentials, and MuseRelay uses them on your behalf so your AI assistant and your team can work from a single inbox.
Channel by channel: what your key is
| Channel | Your key | What you control |
|---|---|---|
| Your Meta app, with a permanent System User token and its App Secret. | Your number and your WhatsApp Business account. Meta bills conversations to you directly. | |
| Instagram and Messenger | Your Meta app, with your account’s or page’s token and its App Secret. | Which permissions the app has and when they’re removed. |
| Your own mailbox, from any provider: your hosting or domain email, Microsoft 365, Gmail and Google Workspace, IONOS, Zoho, Yahoo, iCloud… It connects over IMAP and SMTP, the standard email protocols. | Your email stays with your provider; replies are sent from your mailbox and you keep using it with your usual email app. | |
| Telegram | Your bot, created with @BotFather. | The bot is yours: if you change its token in @BotFather, the old one stops working instantly. |
| Website chatbot | No external key: the chat is MuseRelay’s and you install it on your website. | Which domains it works on and what visitors see. |
What you gain
- Control. The connection lives in your account. You see its permissions, revoke it whenever you want and don’t need to ask us to do it.
- Privacy. No third-party app has permissions over your channels: you grant them, to your own app, mailbox or bot.
- Independence. Your channels don’t depend on an app shared with other companies: what other customers do doesn’t affect your limits or your reputation with Meta.
- No lock-in. If you ever leave, your channels are still yours: disconnect them here and connect them wherever you like.
- Verifiable security. We check that every incoming message is genuine: Meta signs its messages with your app’s App Secret and Telegram sends a secret key unique to your channel. Anything unsigned is rejected. And your keys are stored encrypted and never shown in the dashboard.
What it costs you (honestly)
- Some setup time. At Meta you need to create an app, generate the token, copy the App Secret and set up the webhook: 15 to 30 minutes the first time, with our step-by-step guides. Email and Telegram connect in a few minutes.
- A little maintenance. If you change a password, token or App Secret at the provider, you’ll need to update it in the channel. We email you if a channel stops working, and we renew some tokens automatically.
- Meta’s review for Instagram and Messenger. For your app to talk to anyone, Meta has to approve its messaging permissions (and verify your business). Until then it only works with accounts that have a role in your app. WhatsApp doesn’t need it.
What about the guided connection?
Not everyone wants to open Meta’s developer dashboard, and we get it. That’s why we’re progressively rolling out the guided connection: click a button, log in, pick the account and you’re done. It’s designed for less technical customers, on WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger.
For email, you can already connect any mailbox from any provider today using its IMAP and SMTP details: MuseRelay detects your provider’s servers and fills in almost everything for you. For Gmail, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 we’ll also add a “Connect with Google” / “Connect with Microsoft” button, so you don’t need app passwords.
The guided connection doesn’t replace BYOK: it’s another option. You’ll be able to choose, channel by channel, the convenience of a button or the control of your own keys. We explain it in detail, with a table of pros and cons, in the guide Meta channels: own credentials or guided connection.
Who BYOK is for
Agencies and companies with someone technical on the team, businesses whose internal policies require their own apps, and anyone who wants the final say over their channels. If you’d rather not touch anything, the guided connection is for you; until it reaches your account, connect the simplest channels today —your website chatbot, your email or Telegram— and add Meta later: it all lands in the same inbox.
Get started today
MuseRelay is in an invitation-based open beta: the account is free and no card is required. Write to webmaster@muserelay.com to get your access code and create your account. If you have questions, all the documentation is available in English and Spanish.