Guided Flows

Guided Flows lead visitors through authored questions and options. Use them for order help, returns, product finders, lead capture, and other repeatable paths.

A flow can route an option to another question or to an outcome. Outcomes can complete the flow, return to the menu, hand off to a person, or reuse a custom outcome.

Key concepts

• The draft is editable; publishing creates the version used by new conversations.
• Turning a flow off stops new entries without deleting the draft.
• Archiving hides the flow and stops active runs, so use it carefully.
• Strict input pauses free typing while options are active. The flexible policy also lets visitors type.
• Channel labels have tighter limits than widget labels. WhatsApp allows up to ten options on a question.
• In the chat widget, enabled flows appear in a compact Guided help list by name, and each flow's description shows as a hover tooltip. When you enable more than a handful, a few show at once and a More button opens the full list, so every flow stays reachable without crowding the chat.
• On WhatsApp, options are shown in the way that is easiest to tap. When a question or the topic menu has three options or fewer and none of them use a subtitle, they appear as inline reply buttons the customer can tap right away. With more options, or when any option shows a subtitle, they appear as a tap-to-open selection list instead. Because a reply button has no subtitle, adding a WhatsApp subtitle to an option keeps that set as a list.
• On WhatsApp, the topic menu of published flows is offered to the customer automatically. It rides along with AI and Direct Answers, including after a customer temporarily leaves a flow to ask a different question. When the assistant has no answer (for example, to a greeting like "hi"), the menu is still sent on its own. A customer can also send menu at any time to bring the topic list back.
• A WhatsApp flow can also start when a customer types one of its saved Keywords. Add keywords in the flow's WhatsApp settings, separated with commas or new lines. A keyword must match the whole message, but capitalization and extra spaces do not matter.

Message usage

Starting a Guided Flow uses one AI message from your monthly allowance. This is counted once, at the moment the visitor opens the flow. Every question and option the visitor selects after that is free, no matter how many steps the flow has, so a long journey never costs more than a single reply.

If a visitor opens the same flow again later, that new start uses one message. Restarting or reopening the same flow from a double-tap or a refreshed page is not charged twice.

Troubleshooting

• A flow start was not counted. If your message allowance is already used up for the month, the flow still opens for the visitor, but the start may not be counted until your allowance renews or you add more messages. Check your usage on the billing page.
• I expected steps to be charged. Only the start of a flow uses a message. Moving between questions and options inside a running flow is always free.
• My flows do not show on WhatsApp. Open the flow and check its settings: the WhatsApp channel switch must be turned on, and the flow must be published (a draft that was never published will not appear). The WhatsApp channel switch only becomes available after you connect WhatsApp in Integrations. After turning WhatsApp on, save the flow, then message the connected number; the topic list appears with your reply, or on its own if the assistant has no answer. You can also send menu to bring it back.
• My keyword will not save. A keyword can only belong to one flow for the same agent. Remove it from the other flow or choose a different phrase. Blank keywords, keywords longer than 60 characters, and more than 20 keywords on a single flow cannot be saved.
• A customer typed a keyword but the flow did not start. Keywords only work for published flows with the WhatsApp channel turned on. They must match the customer's entire message, not just part of it. If the customer is already in a flow, their current flow continues instead.