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Why this use case exists

VAPI is the most-used third-party voice agent provider among Knotie partners, and the AI Agents page is the single entry point for every provider card. This playbook documents the end-to-end VAPI journey — not just the import step, but the full chain that gets a customer’s call on the bill:
  1. Import VAPI agents into Knotie
  2. Assign an imported agent to a customer
  3. Attach a phone number to the agent
  4. Place a test call (or trigger an inbound)
  5. Verify the call lands in Agent Analytics with a cost breakdown
  6. Confirm the cost flows through AI Gateway and Credits
Partner Portal AI Agents page showing the Voice AI Agents section with the VAPI AI card

AI Agents page — Voice AI Agents section with VAPI AI card visible

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What you’ll achieve

  • A VAPI agent imported into the Partner Portal and ready to take calls
  • The agent assigned to a customer with a profit multiplier set
  • A phone number attached so the agent can be reached
  • A test call recorded in Agent Analytics within seconds of the call ending
  • A clear understanding of where the cost lands (Knotie Credits, AI Gateway, customer bill)

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Prerequisites

  • An active VAPI account with at least one agent already created in the VAPI dashboard
  • A VAPI API key (from VAPI dashboard → Settings → API Keys)
  • At least one customer already onboarded in the Knotie Partner Portal (see Onboard a customer)
  • A phone number available in Knotie — either imported from VAPI/Twilio/Telnyx or purchased directly (see Phone Numbers and the Retell phone number import use case)
  • Sufficient Knotie Credits to cover the test call (typically < $0.10 for a short test)

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Step 1 — Open the VAPI card on the AI Agents panel

  1. Sign in to the Partner Portal at https://knotie-ai.pro/partners
  2. In the main sidebar, expand AI Agents (an expandable button under AI PLATFORM — click to reveal its sub-groups)
  3. The AI Agents panel organises providers into three sub-groups:
    • Voice Agents — VAPI, Ultravox, Retell, ElevenLabs, GHL, Knova
    • Chat Agents — Retell Chat, N8N Chat Agents
    • Automation & Tokens — N8N Automation, N8N Tokens (MCP Tokens is now a top-level link, not nested here)
  4. Under Voice Agents, click VAPI Agents
VAPI AI card showing an imported agent named Riley in the Voice AI Agents grid

VAPI AI card in the Voice AI Agents grid (showing an imported agent — Riley)

If you don’t see VAPI Agents in the Voice Agents list:
  • Your plan may not include VAPI integrations — VAPI is a Premium Feature on some tiers and the import action will be gated.
  • Check Settings → Partner API Keys to confirm your API keys are valid. The live Settings sidebar has 5 items: Profile Settings / Partner API Keys / Email Domain Management / Plans & Billing / White-Label Portal. There is no “Integration Settings” entry.

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Step 2 — Start the VAPI import

  1. Click the VAPI AI card. You should land on the VAPI sub-page (path is roughly /partner/ai-agents/vapi).
  2. On the VAPI agents page, click the Import Agents button (typically top-right).
VAPI agents page in its empty state, prompting the user to import agents

VAPI agents page — empty state with Import Agents CTA

  1. The import modal opens. It will prompt you for:
    • VAPI API Key — paste the key from your VAPI dashboard. Knotie uses this once to fetch your agent list; the key is stored for analytics + webhook plumbing.
  2. Click Fetch VAPI Agents.
VAPI import modal showing the API key input field and the Fetch VAPI Agents button

Import modal — VAPI API key field and Fetch VAPI Agents button

  1. Knotie calls VAPI and lists the agents available in your account.
  2. Each agent shows:
    • Agent name and agent ID (read-only)
    • Import status — Available for new agents, Imported for agents already in Knotie
    • A checkbox to select it for this import batch
  3. Select the agent(s) you want to import. To bring them all in one shot, use Select All.
  4. Click Import.
VAPI agent list with checkboxes, showing the imported Riley agent and other available agents

Agent list with checkboxes — Imported vs Available agents

  1. The modal closes and the page shows a success state. Knotie automatically:
    • Registers each agent with Agent Analytics
    • Sets up the webhook configuration with VAPI so call events are forwarded to Knotie
VAPI configure-webhook modal showing the URL and secret fields needed to forward call events into Knotie

Configure Webhook modal — VAPI side of the webhook plumbing

This step is documented in detail in Import a VAPI agent.
“Please update your VAPI API key in settings” The API key stored on your account is invalid or missing. Go to Settings → Partner API Keys and confirm your keys are valid, then return to AI Agents → Voice Agents → VAPI Agents and retry.No agents available for import All your VAPI agents are already imported. To verify, check the VAPI dashboard — the count there should match what you see in Knotie.You hit a plan limit VAPI imports may be gated by plan tier. The UI will show an upgrade message if so.

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Step 3 — Assign the imported agent to a customer

Imported agents are unassigned by default — they exist in the Partner Portal but no customer is paying for them yet.
  1. On the VAPI agents page, find the newly imported agent.
  2. Open the agent’s action menu (three-dot menu or row-level actions).
  3. Click Assign Customer (or Map to Customer, depending on the UI version).
  4. The assignment modal opens. Fill in:
    • Customer — select from the dropdown of onboarded customers
    • Profit multiplier — the markup you charge the customer above Knotie’s cost. Default is 1.2x (i.e. 20% margin).
  5. Click Save / Assign.
VAPI agent assign-customer modal showing the customer selector and the profit multiplier input

Assign Customer modal — customer dropdown and profit multiplier field

The agent is now tied to that customer for billing and analytics purposes. The customer will see the agent in their own whitelabel portal under Conversations.
Profit multiplier is the partner’s markup on the upstream VAPI cost. If VAPI charges you 0.10/minuteforLLM+STT+TTScombined,andyousetthemultiplierto‘1.2x‘,thecustomerisbilled0.10/minute for LLM+STT+TTS combined, and you set the multiplier to `1.2x`, the customer is billed 0.12/minute. You can change the multiplier per customer without re-importing the agent.

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Step 4 — Attach a phone number to the agent

The agent can run, but no one can reach it until a phone number is mapped to it.
  1. In the main sidebar, click Phone Numbers.
  2. Find or import a phone number. If you don’t have one:
    • Click Import Numbers and pull one from VAPI/Twilio/Telnyx
    • Or click Buy Number to purchase one through Knotie
Phone Numbers import page showing VAPI numbers as a Coming Soon option in the current UI

Import Numbers page — VAPI numbers marked as Coming Soon in the current UI

  1. For the number you want to use, open its action menu and click Assign Agent.
Phone Numbers page showing the empty state when no numbers are available for assignment

Phone Numbers page (empty state — numbers must be imported before assignment)

The Phone Numbers page above shows the empty state for a partner that has not yet imported or purchased any numbers. Once at least one number exists, the row-level Assign Agent action becomes available — see Phone Numbers for the import/purchase flow and the Retell phone number import use case for a worked example of the assignment action.
  1. In the assignment modal:
    • Agent — select the VAPI agent you imported
    • Direction — choose Inbound, Outbound, or Both depending on the use case
  2. Save.
If you imported a number from VAPI specifically, the number is owned by your VAPI account. Knotie still tracks the customer assignment and credit usage, but the telephony bill may remain with VAPI. See Retell phone number import for the same pattern with Retell.

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Step 5 — Place a test call

You have three options for the test, in increasing order of realism:

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Option A — VAPI’s test panel (fastest, no phone number needed)

  1. Open the VAPI dashboard at dashboard.vapi.ai
  2. Navigate to the imported agent
  3. Click the Test button in VAPI’s UI
  4. Speak with the agent in your browser
VAPI test call log entry from the Knotie partner portal — a failed test call is shown for reference

Test call log (failed call shown — the test-call flow itself is initiated from VAPI's dashboard, not the Knotie portal)

This validates the agent’s prompt, voice, and tools — but it does not generate a Knotie-side record of the call. Skip to Step 6 only if you do an Option B or C call.

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Option B — Inbound test call

  1. Call the phone number you attached in Step 4 from your mobile
  2. Let the VAPI agent pick up and have a short conversation (15–30 seconds is enough)
  3. Hang up

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Option C — Outbound test call

  1. In the Knotie partner portal, find the imported agent
  2. Open the action menu and look for a Test Call / Make Outbound Call option (if available)
  3. Enter your mobile number and trigger the call

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Step 6 — Verify the call lands in Agent Analytics

Within ~30 seconds of the call ending:
  1. In the main sidebar, click Agent Analytics.
  2. Set the time period to Day to see today’s calls.
  3. The agent should appear in the call list with:
    • Call duration matching the test call
    • Status = Completed (not Failed)
    • Cost broken down into LLM / STT / TTS / provider fees
  4. Click into the call for a transcript and per-component cost detail.
Agent Analytics overview page showing the recent test call in the call list

Agent Analytics — overview with the test call row visible

Agent Analytics detail view for the Riley VAPI agent, with per-component cost breakdown

Agent Analytics — per-agent drill-down (Riley)

The call doesn’t show up.
  • Wait 30–60 seconds — analytics are not real-time.
  • Confirm the VAPI webhook is configured. Go back to AI Agents → VAPI AI → [agent name] and look for a webhook URL or a “Refresh from VAPI” / “Sync” action.
  • Check the VAPI dashboard under Logs — if VAPI shows the call ended successfully but Knotie doesn’t, the webhook forwarding is broken. Re-importing the agent usually fixes it.

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Step 7 — Verify the cost flows through Credits and AI Gateway

  1. In the main sidebar, click Credits. Your Knotie Credit balance should have decreased by the test call’s actual cost.
  2. Click AI Gateway. The VAPI agent’s LLM calls are routed through the AI Gateway, so they should also appear in the AI Gateway spend if you have an active partner-level gateway key.
  3. (If you assigned the customer with a profit multiplier) Open the customer’s profile → Billing to confirm the per-customer cost ledger reflects cost × multiplier.
Knotie Credits page showing the recent debit from the VAPI test call

Credits page — Knotie Credit balance debited by the test call

AI Gateway page showing the matching spend line for the VAPI agent's LLM traffic

AI Gateway — matching spend line for the VAPI agent's LLM traffic

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Operational notes

  • Multi-customer scenarios: A single VAPI agent can be assigned to multiple customers with different profit multipliers per customer. Each customer’s calls are billed independently.
  • Re-importing an agent is safe. The agent ID is the source of truth; re-importing refreshes the agent’s config from VAPI without losing customer mappings.
  • If the agent fails: Check the VAPI logs first, then the Knotie webhook log. The failure is almost always upstream (VAPI rate limit, model timeout) — Knotie’s layer is passive plumbing.
  • Cost drift: VAPI’s per-minute rate can change. Review the agent’s cost/min in Agent Analytics monthly and adjust the customer’s profit multiplier if needed.