> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.plain.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create threads

<Snippet file="graphql/sdk-note.mdx" />

Creating a thread is useful in scenarios where you want to programmatically start a support interaction.

You can do this in many different scenarios but the most common use-cases are when a contact form is submitted or when you want to provide proactive support off the back of some event or error happening in your product.

A thread is created with an initial 'message' composed out of [UI components](/ui-components). You have full control over the structure and appearance of the message in Plain.

To create a thread you need a `customerId`. You can get a customer id by [creating the customer](/graphql/customers/upsert) in Plain first.

<Note>
  If you're migrating historic threads from another support provider, use [`importThread`](/graphql/threads/import) instead. It preserves original timestamps and won't trigger SLAs or autoresponders.
</Note>

To create a thread, you need an API key with the following permissions:

* `thread:create`
* `thread:read`

<Snippet file="graphql/create-thread.mdx" />