PracticePanther connector
Your Silux Chat bot verifies customers against PracticePanther, then answers questions about their invoices and support tickets and cases from your live data.
Good to know: PracticePanther documents no invoice number or status, so invoices show their ID and outstanding balance.
What your bot can do with PracticePanther
Recognise and verify customers
Finds the customer in PracticePanther by the email address or mobile number they give, checks their name and one more detail, then sends a one-time code to the contact details PracticePanther holds. Nothing personal is shared until the code is entered.
Customers ask: “I want to check my account — it’s Jane Smith, jane@example.com”
Invoices
Reads a verified customer’s invoices from PracticePanther — number, date, amount and whether it is paid.
Customers ask: “Is my latest invoice paid?” · “How much was my last bill?”
Support tickets and cases
Reads the verified customer’s tickets, cases or tasks in PracticePanther — subject, status and when each was last updated.
Customers ask: “Is there any update on my case?” · “Has my request been closed?”
Set it up
Most businesses finish in under ten minutes. You need to be able to sign in to PracticePanther as an administrator.
Step 1 — in PracticePanther
Connect with PracticePanther (OAuth). Customers are matched to PracticePanther accounts (clients) by their primary contact's email.
Permissions (scopes) requested — read-only:
fullLeast access: grant only the read permissions named above. Never use an owner or full-admin key where PracticePanther lets you create a restricted one.
Step 2 — in Silux Chat
- 1Open Dashboard → Integrations → Connectors and search for “PracticePanther”.
- 2Press Sign in with PracticePanther. The platform makes a real, read-only call to PracticePanther with a made-up customer and shows a tick or a cross for each capability, with PracticePanther’s exact error if something is refused.
- 3If this is your first way of verifying customers it is switched on automatically; otherwise press Use to verify customers. The platform then runs its chained test (verify → code → account → orders → invoices) with the built-in test customer — no real person is contacted.
There is no key to copy. You press “Sign in with PracticePanther”, approve read-only access on PracticePanther’s own page, and are returned to your dashboard. The access token is stored encrypted and refreshed automatically before it expires.
How customer verification works
- STEP 1
Customer asks
They ask about their own account. The bot asks for their full name and their email or mobile, plus one more detail such as their postcode.
- STEP 2
Found in PracticePanther
The customer is looked up in PracticePanther by email, then mobile. The surname must match exactly and the first name must match or start with the same letter, plus one more detail.
- STEP 3
Code sent
A 6-digit code goes to the mobile PracticePanther holds (by text, when your plan has SMS) or otherwise to the email it holds. The chat never chooses where it goes.
- STEP 4
Verified
The customer types the code. It is valid for 10 minutes and five wrong attempts cancel it. The verified session lasts 30 minutes.
If the details don’t match, the customer is told only that they couldn’t be matched — never which detail was wrong. If PracticePanther can’t be reached, the bot says it can’t check accounts right now rather than “no account found”. The bot is blocked in code from reading orders, invoices or bookings until verification succeeds. Full details: Customer identity verification & OTP.
What the bot can and cannot see
Can see (after verification)
- Record ID
- Name
- Email address
- Phone / mobile
- Postcode
- Invoice number
- Date
- Amount
- Balance
- Paid
- Due date
- Subject
- Status
- Last updated
Only these standard fields are mapped from PracticePanther’s responses. Everything else in the response is discarded before the bot sees it.
Never sees
- case notes, documents or correspondence
- anything covered by legal privilege
- passwords, security answers or login details
- records belonging to anyone other than the verified customer
- anything outside the fields listed alongside
Security
Sign-in tokens encrypted at rest
Credentials are stored encrypted, shown only masked after saving, and destroyed — not just hidden — when you disconnect.
Read-only look-ups
Every capability is a look-up. The connector cannot create, change or delete anything in PracticePanther.
HTTPS only
Calls go to the vendor’s HTTPS address, redirects are not followed, and private network addresses are refused.
Injection-safe
Values a customer types are cleaned before they are placed in PracticePanther’s search, and URL-encoded in addresses.
Other customers filtered out
A row that names a different customer’s email is dropped, whatever the vendor’s search returned.
Checked daily
Connections are re-tested every day, and the owner is emailed if a working connection starts failing.
More: Security & data protection.
Technical details
For developers and IT teams: the PracticePanther endpoints this connector reads, relative to https://app.practicepanther.com/api/v2. Values in braces come from the settings you enter.
| Capability | Request | Standard fields returned |
|---|---|---|
| Recognise and verify customers | GET/accounts | id, name, email, phone, postcode |
| Invoices | GET/invoices | invoice, date, amount, balance, paid, due |
| Support tickets and cases | GET/matters | id, subject, status, updated |
Test level: Documented-API tested. Each capability is run automatically against PracticePanther’s documented example responses and must produce the standard fields; your own connection is then tested with a real call when you connect. The bot receives these through the standard Account Connect endpoints, exactly as if you had built them yourself.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | Likely cause and fix |
|---|---|
| “the vendor refused the credentials (401)” or (403) | The sign-in was revoked or has expired, or it lacks a read permission this connector needs. Sign in with PracticePanther again. |
| “Silux Chat’s PracticePanther app is not registered yet” | Our sign-in app with PracticePanther isn’t available yet; our team is notified automatically. Email support@siluxcall.co.uk for timing or alternatives. |
| Customers are “not matched” although they exist | Customers are looked up by email or mobile, not postcode. Check the customer’s email or mobile is saved on their PracticePanther record, and that the surname matches. |
| A capability shows a cross but others work | That permission wasn’t granted in PracticePanther, or your PracticePanther plan doesn’t include that part of the API. Grant it and press Test. |
| “the vendor kept rate-limiting the request” | PracticePanther returned “too many requests” three times in a row. The platform already waits and retries automatically (up to 10 seconds, as PracticePanther asks); if it persists, ask PracticePanther about your API quota. |
| Results are empty for a verified customer | The records exist under a different email or customer record in PracticePanther, or none are recent. Check the customer’s record in PracticePanther directly. |
Full error reference: Troubleshooting & error reference.
Frequently asked questions
Is the PracticePanther connection read-only?
Yes. Every request Silux Chat makes to PracticePanther is a look-up; none creates, changes or deletes anything in PracticePanther. Give the key or sign-in read-only permissions wherever PracticePanther offers them.
Do I need a developer to connect PracticePanther?
No. You sign in with PracticePanther in Dashboard → Integrations → Connectors and press “Sign in with PracticePanther”. The platform makes a real call to PracticePanther straight away and shows exactly which features work.
How does the bot know it is really my customer?
It finds the customer in PracticePanther by the email or mobile they give, checks their name and one more detail, then sends a one-time code to the mobile or email held in PracticePanther — never to one typed in the chat. The code lasts 10 minutes, five wrong attempts cancel it, and a verified session lasts 30 minutes.
What happens if my PracticePanther key is revoked or expires?
The bot tells customers it can’t check their account right now — it never pretends there are “no orders”. Connections are re-tested daily and the account owner is emailed when a working connection starts failing. Reconnect it in Dashboard → Integrations → Connectors.
How has the PracticePanther connector been tested?
It is Documented-API tested: every capability is run automatically against PracticePanther’s documented example responses and must produce the standard fields. When you connect, it is tested again with a real call to your own PracticePanther account before your bot uses it.
Other legal connectors
Need help with your integration?
Our integration team can review your endpoints, help you choose the right connector and check a test run with you. Tell us which system you use and what you would like the bot to answer.