🤖 Chatbots & Flows

A chatbot is an automated conversation — like a choose-your-own adventure for your customers. Build one visually at Dashboard → Chatbots.

When to use a chatbot vs. an assistant

Chatbot — predictable, step-by-step flows. Best for FAQs, lead capture, bookings, menu-style options. You decide every branch.
Assistant — open-ended AI conversation. Best when customers ask anything in their own words and you want the AI to figure it out.

You can use both — a chatbot for structured steps, then hand off to the assistant (or a human) when the customer breaks out of the script.

The flow builder is a canvas where you drag blocks (called nodes) and connect them with arrows. The conversation follows the arrows.

The entry point. Triggers on keywords like "hi", "menu", or anyone messaging you for the first time.

Sends a plain message to the customer.

Asks something with buttons or a list. Each button has its own arrow out — the customer's choice decides the next step.

Sends an image, video, audio clip, or document.

Branches based on a rule (e.g. "if plan = VIP, go here, else go there").

Asks the customer for information (name, email, phone) and saves it to a field on their contact record.

An endpoint. Handoff to AI, escalate to a human, or end the flow.

Go to Chatbots and click Create Chatbot. Give it a name (e.g. "Restaurant FAQ").
Click the new chatbot to open the flow builder. You'll already see a Start node.
Click the Start node. In the panel on the right, set a trigger keyword (e.g. "hi").
Drag a Question node onto the canvas. Connect Start → Question by dragging from the right side of Start.
Click the Question node. Write the question (e.g. "What can I help with?") and add buttons (e.g. Menu, Book a table, Talk to a human).
For each button, drag out an arrow and drop on the canvas — a menu pops up so you can choose what node to create next.
Keep building until every path ends in an Action node (e.g. Handoff to AI).
Click Save. The flow auto-saves as you go, but the save button publishes it.

Question and user-input nodes can save what the customer types into fields on their contact record:

System fields — name, email, phone. Built in.
Custom fields — anything you defined in Settings → Custom Fields (e.g. booking date, party size). Saved as custom:booking_date.

Saved answers are then available everywhere — in segments, in campaigns, and to your AI assistant.

Always offer an out. Include a Talk to a humanoption so people don't get trapped.
Keep buttons short. WhatsApp caps button text at 20 characters.
Test on your own number first. Trigger the keyword from your own phone before sharing with customers.
End every path. Loose ends cause silent failures.