Codex is happy editing a hundred files from one instruction and handing you a single diff to read. Your Intercom help center is a hundred articles in want of that, but they sit in front of customers with no diff: an edit in the editor or through the API is live the second you save. So the refresh you want, rewrite every article in the new voice, cap the intros, fix the old plan names, ships one save at a time.
Scratch pulls the help center into a folder of articles. Codex rewrites them on your laptop and reports back like a code change; Scratch shows every change as a diff; you publish only what you approve. The last 1%, what goes live to customers, stays yours, and conversations stay read-only throughout.
How it works
- Scratch pulls your help center into files. Every article lands in a folder on your laptop, one file each, with its title, body, and placement.
- Codex edits the articles. Point Codex at the Scratch folder and describe the refresh. It works the help center the way it works a codebase, and you read the result like a pull request. Rewrite every article in the new brand voice and cap each intro at two sentences. Codex works the files, never the live help center.
- You review every diff and publish. Scratch lays each change next to the original, word by word. Approve what ships, and Scratch writes only those articles back through the Intercom API.
What people use it for
The help-center work that lags the product because each article is its own screen:
- Run a tone pass over every article after a brand or product change.
- Cap long intros and reorder so the answer comes first.
- Fix the articles that still name an old plan, price, or feature.
- Move articles into the right collections and sections.
- Clean up content migrated in from another knowledge base.
Run it on a few articles to feel the loop, then turn it loose on the center.
Why not an MCP server?
An Intercom MCP server or app wires Codex straight to your live help center. One pass republishes every article at once, in front of the customers reading them right now.
Scratch gives Codex the same full read and write access against a local copy instead. The publish step is lifted out and handed to you. Codex can change anything; only you can ship it. On a help center your customers actually read, that gap is the whole point.
What Codex edits in Intercom
- Help center article title, body, and description
- Article state, draft or published
- Article hierarchy, parent collection or section
- Collection name, description, and icon
- Translated content
Conversations are pulled for context but stay read-only, and validators check length caps and required fields so an article never publishes broken. The full picture lives on Scratch for Intercom.
Questions people ask
Is this an MCP server or an Intercom app?
Neither. An MCP or an app hands Codex the publish button. Scratch keeps it. Codex gets the same access, and publishing is a separate step you approve, one article at a time.
Will it touch my customer conversations?
No. Conversations are pulled read-only for context. Codex edits help center articles and collections, nothing in your inbox.
Can it keep my translated articles in step?
Yes. Translated content is in scope, so Codex can carry an edit through each language you maintain, and you review every version as its own diff before it ships.
Can I roll a change back after it publishes?
Yes. Scratch keeps the original beside the rewrite, so every published article reverts per row. You decide which version stays.
How is this different from editing in Intercom or running a script?
Editing in Intercom is one article at a time, and a script writes straight to the live help center with no per-article approval. Codex takes the whole refresh in one pass, and Scratch still holds every change for review before anything publishes.
Do I need to be technical?
Codex lives in the terminal, so if you run it already, you are set. If a terminal is not where you want to be, the Claude desktop app runs the same Scratch loop with a more familiar surface.
See it on your own help center
The fastest way to trust it is to watch it run on your articles. See it run on your Intercom help center →, or download Scratch free and take the first pass yourself.