Chat Builder

Build predictable, step-by-step chatbots on a visual canvas: messages, options, questions, conditions and webhooks.

How a chatbot works#

A chatbot is a set of steps connected on a canvas. It always begins at the Start Message step. Each step sends something, waits for the customer's reply, then follows its connection to the next step.

1
Open a chatbot
Click Chat Builder in the sidebar and click a chatbot, or create one with New chatbot. See Your chatbots.
2
Add a step
In the Steps panel on the left, click a step to add it, or drag it onto the canvas.
3
Connect it
Drag from the handle on the right of one step to the next step. Steps that branch get one handle per choice.
4
Set it up
Click the step. Step settings opens on the right: write the message, name the step and set its options. The Phone preview tab shows how it looks to customers.

Give each step a short name using letters and numbers: you use that name to reuse its answer later, for example {{@orderNumber}}.

Conversation steps#

Step	What it does
Send Message	Sends a message and moves on.
Text	Asks a question and waits for any reply.
Options	Sends numbered options. Each option has its own connection.
Number, Email, Date	Wait for a valid number, email address or date.
Get file	Waits for an image, document or video.
Send File	Sends a file from a public link and waits for a reply, with optional options to branch on.
Get Location / Send Location	Ask for an address or location, or send a latitude and longitude.
End	Ends the conversation flow.

Use Send Message when no reply is needed, and Text when the bot should wait for one: the answer is saved under the step name, ready for later messages.

Options shows the answers as buttons on your website and as a numbered list on WhatsApp. An answer that isn't one of the options gets a reminder to choose.

Email, Get Location and Get file check the answer before moving on: an email that isn't valid is asked again, an address can be typed or shared as a location, and a file can be a photo or a document.

Number and Date check the answer before the chat moves on: the kind of number or the date formats you accept, rules such as a range or only future dates, your own message for answers that don't fit, and a Not valid output after a few wrong tries. Try it in the step checks sample answers exactly like the bot will.

WhatsApp-only steps#

These steps are in the WhatsApp (Meta) group of the Steps panel. They work on the WhatsApp · Official channel only:

Buttons: up to 3 reply buttons.
List: a menu of up to 10 rows, grouped in sections, opened from a menu button.
Templates: send a message template Meta has approved for your business.

Logic and tools#

Step	What it does
Filter	If / else. Combine conditions with AND / OR. Operators include equals, contains, starts with, greater than and exists.
Key Words	When a message matches a keyword, the chat continues from that keyword's branch. Matching ignores case.
Jump	Continue from another step. Useful for "back to menu".
Set variables / Switch	Save calculated values, or branch on a value. See Expressions.
Talk to a person	Brings in your team and tells them a customer is waiting. Older chatbots may still have a Notification step.
AI Flow	Hands the conversation to one of your AI Flows.
Brick	Groups steps on the canvas to keep a large flow tidy.
Google Sheets, Google Calendar, Gmail	Save rows, book meetings and send email from your Google account.

Webhooks and API#

These steps are in the Webhook and API group of the Steps panel.

Catch Hook lets an outside system, such as your store or CRM, start the conversation. See Catch Hook & API. Start a flow starts it without the customer writing first: from a website form, a new Google Sheets row, a calendar event or a schedule.

HTTP calls any URL mid-conversation:

GET loads data. The response (its data field if there is one, otherwise the whole response) becomes variables you can use in later steps.
POST sends data as JSON, for example the customer's answers to your CRM.

The full HTTP editor adds auth, headers, retries and saving any response as variables. See HTTP.

To connect Zapier, create a webhook trigger there and call its URL from an HTTP step. Make has its own Make step. To have an outside tool message a customer, use a Catch Hook. See Integrations.

Preview and publish#

Preview opens a test chat in the browser, and Test on your phone (WhatsApp) lets you try it on your own phone. Find step (⌘F) jumps to any step by name.

Publish makes the bot live. Changes to a live chatbot reach customers only when you publish again, and conversations already in progress carry on. Share has the chat link, form link and website embed snippet.