Zalo Personal
Zalo Personal connects an individual Zalo account to Fiko. You link it by scanning a QR code with the Zalo app, and its customer messages then appear in the Fiko inbox, where your team can reply. This page covers personal accounts; for a Zalo Official Account, see Setup Zalo OA.
Unofficial integration. The setup screen states: "This connects a personal Zalo account through an unofficial library, not Zalo's official API. Zalo may lock the account, so use a dedicated number rather than someone's main account." The channel is labelled Beta.
Zalo Personal vs Zalo Official Account
Zalo Official Account
- Uses Zalo's official Official Account (OA) API
- Needs an Official Account and an app in the Zalo Developer Portal
- Setup is a 5-step wizard that includes registering an OAuth callback URL and a webhook
Zalo Personal
- Connects an individual Zalo account through an unofficial library, not Zalo's official API
- Linked by scanning a QR code with the Zalo app on the phone that holds the account
- No OAuth step and no webhook to register — setup is two steps: name the channel, then scan the QR code
Before You Start
- A Fiko account with admin access to your company. Viewers do not see the Connect button on the channel card
- A phone with the Zalo app, signed in to the account you want to connect
Connect a Personal Account
Open the Zalo Personal card
- Go to Apps and Integrations → Channels
- Find the Zalo Personal card. It carries a Beta badge and reads: "Reply to customers from a personal Zalo account by scanning a QR code. Not an official Zalo integration, and Zalo may lock the account."
- Click Connect. A window titled "Create a new Zalo Personal" opens
Name this channel
- Enter a Channel name — the setup screen suggests something like "Sales Zalo" and describes it as a name your team will recognise in the inbox. The name can be up to 100 characters
- Click Next. Next stays disabled until a name is entered. Fiko creates the channel at this point and starts the login
Scan the QR code
- Fiko shows "Preparing the QR code..." and then the QR code
- On the phone, open Zalo, tap the QR scanner in the top right, then scan the code on screen. A short animation under the code shows where the scanner is in the Zalo app
- When the scan is accepted the step shows "Connected." and the Finish button becomes available
Click Finish
- The window closes. The Zalo Personal card now also offers Manage, which opens the Zalo Personal Accounts page where the channel is listed
- Once a Zalo Personal channel exists, Zalo Personal also appears under My channels in the Apps and Integrations sidebar
The QR code is short-lived. The setup screen counts down the seconds left under the code and shows it as expired the moment the countdown reaches zero. The Finish button stays disabled until the account is connected.
Manage the Connection
Open Zalo Personal from My channels in the Apps and Integrations sidebar, or click Manage on the Zalo Personal card. The page is titled Zalo Personal Accounts. Each channel card has a menu with the connection actions below.
Scan QR
Reopens the QR step for an existing channel, without the naming step. If no login is running, Fiko starts a new one.
Reconnect
Brings the account back using the session Fiko has already stored, so no new QR scan is needed. A confirmation appears as "Reconnect completed".
Log out
Stops the connection and discards the stored session, so connecting again needs a fresh QR scan. A confirmation appears as "Log out completed".
Connection status
Select a channel card to open Channel Details. The Connection status row shows a coloured dot and one of these labels, refreshed every 10 seconds:
- Connected — The account has a live session.
- Waiting for QR scan — A QR code has been issued and has not been scanned yet.
- Connecting — The connection is starting, signing in, or reconnecting.
- Disconnected — The account is not connected.
- Session expired — The stored session can no longer be used. Only a new QR scan brings the account back.
- Error — The connection hit an error.
- Not connected — No connection status is available for the channel.
When AI auto-reply is set up for your company, the channel menu also holds the Turn off AI auto-reply / Turn on AI auto-reply switch that other channel cards have. Channel Details has the same Delete channel button as other channels, and deleting a Zalo Personal channel also removes its connection.
Messages
Receiving
These arrive in the Fiko inbox:
- Text
- Images
- Videos
- Voice messages (shown as audio)
- Files
- Messages from Zalo group threads
A sticker appears as the label "[Sticker]". Any other type appears as a placeholder starting with "[Unsupported Zalo message type]". If an attachment cannot be retrieved, the message shows a short note in its place instead of being dropped.
Replying
- Text and images are sent as such; other attachments are sent as files
- Replies go to the customer's direct chat only. Replying inside a Zalo group thread is not supported
- Fiko limits how many messages per minute it sends from one account, so the account does not behave like a bulk-messaging tool
Messages from a Zalo Personal account enter Fiko through the same event pipeline as the other channels.
Troubleshooting
The QR code expired before it was scanned?
- A countdown ("Expires in …s") runs under the QR code and turns orange for the last 15 seconds
- When it reaches zero the step shows "This QR code expired before it was scanned." Click "Get a new QR code"
The status is Disconnected, Error or Session expired?
- Open the channel's menu and try Reconnect first — it reuses the stored session
- If the status does not return to Connected, or it shows Session expired, use Scan QR and scan a new code
You closed the window before the scan finished?
- The channel was already created when you clicked Next on the naming step, so it is listed on the Zalo Personal Accounts page
- Open its menu and choose Scan QR to resume at the QR step without naming it again