A chatbot flow is a menu customers tap through on WhatsApp, such as "Track my order / Prices / Talk to a person". You build the flow once, then turn it into a chatbot and choose which chats it answers. What flows can and cannot do is explained in WhatsApp auto replies and the 24-hour window.
1. Build the flow
- Open Automations → Chatbot Flow, go to the Flows tab and start a new flow. Give it a name.
- Add steps from the side panel and fill each one in.
- Connect the steps: drag from each button or list option to the step it should lead to.
- Save the flow.
| Step | What it does |
|---|---|
| Simple message | Sends text. |
| Image, Video, Audio or Document message | Sends a file, with an optional caption. |
| Button message | Text with buttons to tap, plus an optional header and footer. |
| List message | A menu with sections and options, for more choices than buttons allow. |
| Assign chat to agent | Hands the chat to a teammate: the next one in turn, or the person a returning customer spoke to before. |
| Disable chat till | Stops the chatbot in that chat until a date and time you choose. |
| Request API | Calls your own system and lets the next step use its answer, such as an order status. |
2. Turn the flow into a chatbot
- In Automations → Chatbot Flow, go to the Chatbots tab and click Create New Chatbot.
- Chatbot Details: a name, such as "Customer support bot", and an optional description.
- Conversation Flow: pick the flow you built.
- Conversation Assignment: choose Apply to all conversations (current and future), or select specific conversations.
- Review & Create.
How it behaves
- It answers each new customer message in the WhatsApp chats it covers.
- Tapping a button or list option moves the customer to the step you connected it to.
- A message that matches no option starts the flow again from its first step, so make the first step a short menu.
- A chatbot set for specific conversations is used there instead of the one for all conversations.