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Who can use this?
  • Owners and Admins, and roles that can update channels and bots, for setup.
  • Anyone troubleshooting why a bot or AI agent did or didn’t reply.
A rule-based bot or a Chat AI Agent replies only when two things are true: the conversation is assigned to it, and it has a published flow that matches the message. A keyword on its own never starts a bot. Most “my bot isn’t replying” problems come down to who the conversation is assigned to.

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How a conversation gets assigned to a bot

A conversation reaches a bot in one of five ways:
  1. The channel’s assignment rule sends new conversations to the bot. This is your default bot. See Set the default bot.
  2. Reply settings on the template or broadcast the customer replied to. See Send button replies to a bot.
  3. You trigger a flow from the inbox (WhatsApp only). In the conversation’s message box, click Trigger agent. Pick a flow under Choose a bot flow, then click Trigger.
  4. You assign the conversation to the bot by hand. A Chat AI Agent replies straight away if the customer sent the last message and the 24-hour window is open. A rule-based bot waits for the customer’s next message.
  5. An agent fallback rule reassigns the chat to a bot. See Agent fallback management.

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Open conversations keep their owner

While a conversation is open, new messages stay with whoever owns it. That can be a team member, a team, or nobody (Unassigned). The channel’s assignment rule doesn’t run again, so the bot doesn’t start.
  • When a team member replies from the inbox, the conversation is assigned to them and the bot stops.
  • When a conversation is resolved, the customer’s next message opens a new conversation. The channel’s assignment rule applies again, so the default bot can pick it up.
Testing a bot from your own phone? Resolve your test conversation before each test. Otherwise your message lands in the old conversation, and the bot never sees it.

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Set the default bot for new conversations

There is no separate “default bot” switch. The default bot is the bot your channel’s assignment rule sends new conversations to.
1

Open the channel

Go to Channels, open your WhatsApp number, and select the Assignments tab.
2

Set the assignment rule

Under Assignment Rules, tick Assign New Conversation to. In Select Assignee, choose Agents, then pick the bot in Select Agent.
An agent that has never been published appears greyed out with the note Please publish this agent before assigning.

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Overrides send the chat to a person instead

Two checkboxes under Assignment Rules win over the bot. When either one applies, the new conversation goes to a person and the bot doesn’t start:
  • Override the above rule and reassign the conversation to the same user who previously handled the conversation. Returning customers go back to the team member who helped them last time.
  • Override the above rule and assign the conversation to the contact owner. Contacts with an owner go to that owner. Contacts without one follow the rule as normal.

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Shortcuts when you publish

  • Rule-based bots. If none of your WhatsApp numbers has a default bot yet, publishing a flow asks Default bot selection. Choose Publish and make it as default bot to set it.
  • Chat AI Agents. Publishing with Publish Agent asks you to Assign channels. The agent becomes the assigned agent for each channel you pick. Each channel has one agent. If a channel already has one, you’ll see This channel already has an agent. Choose Replace and publish to switch.

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Send template and broadcast button replies to a bot

Reply settings route a customer’s reply to a bot, even when the chat is open with someone else.
  • For a template: go to Templates, open the row’s Configurations, and set Reply Settings → Assign to to Agents.
  • For a broadcast: set Broadcast reply settings → Assign conversations to. A broadcast’s own reply settings take priority over the template’s.
Reply settings work when the contact taps a button or swipes to reply to your message. A plain-text reply to a broadcast also counts when all of these are true:
  • the broadcast was the last message you sent that contact,
  • the reply comes within 7 days, and
  • the contact already existed before the broadcast.

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Override the current assignments

Override the current assignments? decides what happens when the chat is already open with someone:
  • Ticked (“Use the above configuration, though the conversation is currently assigned to some assignee.”). The reply moves the conversation to the bot, even from a team member.
  • Unticked. The reply settings only apply when there’s no open conversation.
Choosing an assignee ticks this box for you. If button replies stop reaching the bot, check that nobody unticked it. The bot then matches the reply against its flows, so one of its flows must match the button’s text or payload. See How a flow is chosen.

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How a flow is chosen

Once a conversation is assigned to a bot, the bot picks a flow for the customer’s message.

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Flow types

Every flow has a type: Message based, Order based, WhatsApp Form based, AI Flow, or CTWA Ad Based.

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Keyword matching

For a Message based flow, When to trigger this flow? offers two choices:
  • For any keyword: the flow runs for any message. Use this for a catch-all.
  • For specific keyword(s): the whole message must equal the keyword. By default the match ignores capitals, so “hi” matches “Hi” but not “hi there”.
Under Advanced Options:
  • Case Match makes the keyword case-sensitive.
  • Regex Match matches a pattern, which you need for partial matches such as “any message containing price”.
  • Payload matches a button’s payload as well as its text.
You can’t use “stop” as a keyword. It’s reserved for marketing opt-out.

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What the bot reads

The bot matches on:
  • the message text,
  • the text and payload of a button or list reply, and
  • the caption on an image or video.
A location or contact card only matches a For any keyword flow.

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Which flow wins

The bot checks flows in this order:
  1. ad flows,
  2. WhatsApp Form flows,
  3. order flows,
  4. payload keywords,
  5. text keywords,
  6. For any keyword.
When more than one flow matches, the most recently created published flow runs. Only published flows run. Drafts never trigger. If none of the bot’s flows match, the bot lets go of the conversation and it moves to Unassigned.

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A running flow isn’t interrupted

While a flow is waiting for the customer’s answer, their next message is treated as that answer. Typing another flow’s keyword doesn’t switch flows. The exception is replying to the message that started the flow. That starts matching again from the top. To move a customer to a different flow yourself, use Trigger agent in the inbox.

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Click-to-WhatsApp ads

Use a CTWA Ad Based flow. Under When to trigger this form?, choose For Any Ads, For Specific Ads (then add each Ad Id), or For Any Ad/Post. The ad flow belongs to a bot, so the ad conversation still has to reach that bot first. Usually that means making the bot your channel’s default bot. If a team member already has an open chat with the contact, the ad flow doesn’t start. If no ad flow matches, the bot tries its keyword flows next.

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Messages a bot never sees

These messages never reach a bot:
  • messages from blocked contacts,
  • reactions,
  • payment messages, and
  • opt-out and opt-in keywords: “stop”, plus any additional keywords you set for marketing opt-out.
Working hours don’t affect whether a bot starts.