# Add message context to conversation

{% hint style="warning" %}
All API requests should contain [authorization headers](https://developers.socialboards.com/docs/apis/tickets/authorization-headers).
{% endhint %}

**Request**

```
POST chat/conversations/{id}/previousMessages
```

This endpoint allows adding historical messages to an existing conversation.

These messages were not originally created within the service (e.g., imported from email, CRM, or other support platforms). It helps provide full context for the conversation history.

**Request body**

```json
[
    {
        "message": "Hi, I sent this via email before signing in",
        "author": {
            "name": "John",
            "email": "john@dow.com"
        }
    },
    {
        "message": "Thanks for reaching out. Let me help you with that.",
        "author": {
            "name": "John",
            "email": "john@dow.com"
        },
        "creationTime": "2023-10-19T10:00:58.84+00:00"
    }
]
```

The body of the request should contain the following model serialized to JSON.

The maximum future time set in the `creationTime` property cannot exceed 30 seconds from the moment the server receives the message. For example, if the time specified in property `creationTime` for a created message is `15:00:35`, and the server receives it at `15:00:00`, an error will be generated.

| Field        | Type                                                                                                             | Comment                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| author       | [User value](https://developers.socialboards.com/docs/apis/external-chat-api/reference/objects/user-value) model | Message author                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| creationTime | nullable string                                                                                                  | Message creation time. Optional, if `null` current time will be set                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| isByTeam     | nullable boolean                                                                                                 | <p>Indicate if the message author is a team member<br>If it's <code>null</code>, the system uses a default value.<br>If it's <code>false</code>, the message is flagged as from a client<br>If it's <code>true</code>, the message is flagged as from a team member</p> |
| message      | string                                                                                                           | Message content                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |

**Response**

```json
{
    "data": [
        {
            "author": {
                "email": "john@dow.com",
                "id": "fc2481f6-28a4-4ca7-849a-344fd6ab1b20",
                "image": null,
                "isBot": false,
                "name": "John",
                "status": "client"
            },
            "creationTime": "2023-08-22T14:50:07.21+00:00",
            "id": 667155,
            "lastModifiedTime": "2023-09-01T15:03:59.81+00:00",
            "message": "Example of chat message"
        }
    ],
    "errorCode": -1,
    "errorText": null
}
```

`Data` field has type of array of [Conversation message](https://developers.socialboards.com/docs/apis/external-chat-api/reference/objects/conversation-message) objects.