> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.unify.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # The gateway > Channels, adapters, credentials, and the provider edge The gateway ([`unify/gateway/`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/tree/main/unify/gateway)) is a single FastAPI application assembled by `create_app()` in [`app.py`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/app.py) and launched with `python -m unify.gateway serve` (the CLI in [`__main__.py`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/__main__.py) also provides `doctor`, `urls`, `setup`, `smoke`, and `wizard` subcommands). It runs as a **separate process** from the `ConversationManager`. ## Channels vs adapters The two sub-packages split along an ingress/egress line — but precisely: * **[`channels/`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/tree/main/unify/gateway/channels)** hosts the **outbound and admin APIs**: sending messages, placing calls, provisioning numbers, managing watches and installs. Nearly all routes require the admin bearer token (`admin_auth_dependency` in [`common/auth.py`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/common/auth.py)). A few unauthenticated routes live here too where the provider calls back mid-flow (Twilio's TwiML and conference-status callbacks). * **[`adapters/`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/tree/main/unify/gateway/adapters)** hosts **inbound normalization**: provider webhooks and internal Console routes, each validated (Twilio signatures, Slack signing secrets, OAuth state), resolved to a target assistant, and reduced to a `{thread, event}` envelope. Two deliberate exceptions: **Discord** inbound uses a persistent WebSocket (`GatewayConnection` in [`channels/discord/gateway.py`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/channels/discord/gateway.py), supervised by `bot_manager.py`) rather than a webhook — DMs always route, guild messages only on @mention. And **social verification** ([`channels/social/views.py`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/channels/social/views.py)) is a synchronous Twilio send that returns the code to the caller — it never publishes an envelope. ## Channel modules Each channel is a sub-package under `channels/` with a `views.py` exposing its router(s): | Channel | Highlights | External SDKs | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [`phone/`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/channels/phone/views.py) | `send_call`, `send_text`, `create_phone_number` (buys a Twilio number, wires webhooks, creates the matching LiveKit SIP trunk), `dispatch_livekit_agent`, hang-up and conference teardown | `twilio`, `livekit.api` | | [`whatsapp/`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/channels/whatsapp/views.py) | `send` (freeform vs template by 24-hour window), `send_call` with call-permission handling, sender provisioning and pool assignment | Twilio WA, LiveKit SIP | | [`gmail/`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/channels/gmail/views.py) | `send_email` (threading headers), `watch_email` (Pub/Sub push watch), attachment fetch | `googleapiclient`, `google.oauth2` | | [`outlook/`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/channels/outlook/views.py) | Same shape over Microsoft Graph subscriptions | `msgraph` via [`common/graph.py`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/common/graph.py) | | [`email/`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/channels/email/views.py) | Provider-agnostic dispatcher — routes `send_email` to Gmail or Outlook based on how the assistant's mailbox is connected | — | | [`teams/`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/channels/teams/views.py) | Chats, group chats, channels, watches, and meeting creation (`create_meeting.py`: instant links vs scheduled calendar events) | `msgraph` | | [`slack/`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/channels/slack/views.py) | Workspace install upsert, `send_slack_message`, user lookup by email | Slack Web API | | [`discord/`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/channels/discord/views.py) | `send_discord_message`, bot pool registration and status | Discord REST | | [`drive/`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/channels/drive/views.py) / [`sharepoint/`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/channels/sharepoint/views.py) | File browsing for the workspace file picker (not messaging) | Google Drive API, `msgraph` | | [`unillm/`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/channels/unillm/views.py) | `chat_completions` proxy authenticated by *user* API key (the one channel not admin-authed) | `unillm` | ## Adapter modules | Adapter | Webhooks handled | Envelope threads produced | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [`twilio.py`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/adapters/twilio.py) | SMS, voice calls, call status, WhatsApp messages/reactions/calls/call status | `msg`, `call`, `call_answered`, `call_not_answered`, `whatsapp`, `whatsapp_reaction`, `whatsapp_call`, … | | [`google.py`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/adapters/google.py) | Gmail Pub/Sub push notifications, Google OAuth callback and revoke | `email` | | [`microsoft.py`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/adapters/microsoft.py) | Outlook and Teams Graph notifications, Microsoft OAuth callback, a shared `/microsoft/router` delegator | `email`, `teams_chat`, `teams_channel` | | [`slack.py`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/adapters/slack.py) | Slack Events API, with a two-pass sender-identity resolution for coordinator routing and message dedup | `slack` | | [`internal.py`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/adapters/internal.py) | Console/runtime routes: chat messages, reactions, attachments, Unify Meet rings, system events, pre-hire chat logging, wake-ups | `unify_message`, `unify_meet`, `api_message`, `unity_system_event`, … | The shared inbound pipeline lives in [`adapters/common.py`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/adapters/common.py): resolve the assistant (`get_assistant`), resolve the channel route where pools are involved (`resolve_phone_route`, `resolve_whatsapp_route` — this is how shared numbers map `(pool number, sender)` to the right assistant), activate the runtime, then `publish_runtime_event()`. ## Credentials [`unify/gateway/credentials/`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/tree/main/unify/gateway/credentials) holds **operator infrastructure credentials** — Twilio account, Slack signing secret, OAuth client IDs, LiveKit keys — behind the `CredentialStore` protocol (`base.py`), with `EnvCredentialStore` (`env.py`) as the OSS implementation reading environment variables. The package docstring draws the line explicitly: this is *distinct from* `unify.secret_manager`, which holds **assistant-owned user secrets** (per-assistant OAuth tokens like `GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN` live in Orchestra assistant secrets, not here). ## Adding a channel: the seams The gateway is designed so a new channel touches a predictable set of files: 1. **Outbound** — a new sub-package under `channels/` with an admin-authenticated router; mount it via the prefix table in `create_app()`. 2. **Inbound** — a webhook handler under `adapters/` that validates, resolves the assistant, and publishes an envelope with a new `thread` key (register it in `KNOWN_THREADS` in [`envelopes.py`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/gateway/envelopes.py)). 3. **Runtime** — a typed event class in [`events.py`](https://github.com/unifyai/unify/blob/main/unify/conversation_manager/events.py), an entry in `CommsManager.events_map`, and an `@EventHandler.register` handler — covered in [the conversation runtime](/communication/developers/conversation-manager). 4. **Send path** — a method on `CommsPrimitives` plus its brain-tool wrapper.