# Attentive connector

> Connect Attentive with a custom app. Text and email sends and clicks arrive by webhook, and Datacenter sends back custom attributes and segments.

Source: https://datacenter.so/docs/attentive-connector
Section: Measure

The Attentive connector works in two directions:

- **In:** Attentive tells Datacenter about texts and emails as they go out, get opened and get clicked. They join each [customer profile](https://datacenter.so/docs/customer-profiles).
- **Out:** Datacenter writes each customer's first and last source, lifetime value, orders and best send hour as custom attributes. Segments you pick become Attentive segments.

It is on paid plans: Solo, Studio, Agency and Custom. Free does not include it.

## What Attentive allows

Checked against Attentive's developer docs in October 2026:

- Attentive's public API has **no way to read past messages or clicks**. It sends them as they happen, through a webhook. So Datacenter sees messages from the day you turn the webhook on. Nothing older is imported.
- Custom attributes and segments are written **by email or phone**. Datacenter updates people by email. That needs **Show contact details** on for the site. People Datacenter knows only by phone are skipped.
- Attentive's Segments API is an **open beta**. Attentive may change it.

## Connect

1. In Datacenter, open your site, then **Settings**, then **Integrations**. Under **Email and texts**, click **Connect** next to **Attentive**.
2. In Attentive, open **Integrations**, then **Custom apps**, and click **Create app**. Name it `Datacenter`.
3. Under permissions, set **Custom Attributes** and **Segments** to write. Leave the rest off.
4. Click **Create**. Copy the API key.
5. Paste it into Datacenter and click **Connect Attentive**.

Datacenter checks the key with Attentive. It is stored encrypted, never shown again, and never appears in logs.

## Turn on the webhook

1. Open the Attentive connector's page in Datacenter and copy the **Webhook address**. It looks like `https://datacenter.so/hooks/attentive/...`.
2. In Attentive, open the Datacenter app, then the **Webhooks** tab. Turn on **Event Webhook Status**.
3. Pick **Universal webhook** and paste the address as the **HTTP Post URL**.
4. Pick these events:
   - `sms.sent`
   - `sms.message_link_click`
   - `sms.unsubscribed`
   - `email.sent`
   - `email.opened`
   - `email.message_link_click`
   - `email.unsubscribed`
5. Copy the **Signing key** and paste it into Datacenter under **Messages from Attentive**. Save in Attentive.

Datacenter checks the signature (`x-attentive-hmac-sha256`) on every webhook and refuses any that do not match.

Attentive asks that each event type goes to one app only. If another app already listens to an event, pick the rest.

## What comes in

| Attentive event | On the customer |
|---|---|
| `sms.sent` | **Text sent** |
| `sms.message_link_click` | **Text clicked**, with the link (without its query string) |
| `sms.unsubscribed` | **Unsubscribed from texts** |
| `email.sent` | **Email sent** |
| `email.opened` | **Email opened** |
| `email.message_link_click` | **Email clicked** |
| `email.unsubscribed` | **Unsubscribed from email** |

Datacenter finds the customer by Attentive's subscriber id and by the email and phone (hashed with SHA-256). The phone number itself is never stored.

- A **click** or an **unsubscribe** can add a new customer.
- A **send** or an **open** only joins a customer Datacenter already knows.

A webhook sent twice is stored once.

## What goes back

For people Attentive already sent to, and whose email Datacenter keeps, these custom attributes stay up to date:

| Attribute | What it holds |
|---|---|
| `datacenter_first_source` | Where they first came from |
| `datacenter_last_source` | Where they came from last |
| `datacenter_ltv` | Lifetime value |
| `datacenter_orders` | Number of orders |
| `datacenter_best_send_hour` | Their best hour, 0 to 23, in their time zone |
| `datacenter_timezone` | The time zone that hour is in |

Attentive types an attribute from the first value it gets. Datacenter sends every value as text, so the types stay the same.

Each [segment](https://datacenter.so/docs/segments-and-best-send-time) you send to Attentive becomes a segment named `Datacenter: ` and the segment's name. Datacenter adds and removes members every 15 minutes.

To stop, click **Stop sending back** on the connector's page.

## Disconnect

Click **Disconnect** on the connector's page. The key and the signing key are deleted at once, and the webhook address stops answering. Items already imported stay on your customers. Turn off the webhook and remove the app in Attentive too.