Flows & automation overview

What flows are, the available trigger types, and common use cases for automating WhatsApp responses.

Flows let you automate responses to WhatsApp messages without manual agent involvement. A flow is a sequence of actions (send a message, assign a conversation, etc.) that runs automatically when a trigger condition is met.

Trigger types

Trigger	When it fires
Keyword	A contact sends a message containing a specific word or phrase
First inbound	A contact messages your number for the very first time
Manual	An agent triggers the flow manually from within a conversation

Keyword trigger

Keyword triggers match against the contact’s message text. Four match modes are available:

Mode	How it matches
Exact	The message is exactly the keyword (case-insensitive)
Contains	The message contains the keyword anywhere
Fuzzy	The message approximately matches (handles typos)
Regex	Full regular expression match

Example: a keyword trigger for pricing (contains) fires when a contact sends “What’s your pricing?” or “Can you share pricing info?”.

First inbound trigger

Fires once per contact — the first time they ever message your number. Use it to send an automatic welcome message and set expectations about response times.

Manual trigger

Agents can trigger a flow from within a conversation. Use this for structured workflows like sending a multi-step onboarding sequence or a feedback survey.

Flow statuses

Status	Meaning
Draft	Being built — not active
Published	Active and running
Inactive	Was published but manually paused

Only one flow run can be active per contact at any time. If a contact is already in a flow, a new trigger for the same contact is ignored until the current run completes.

Common use cases

• Welcome message — greet new contacts automatically with a first inbound trigger
• FAQ auto-reply — answer common questions like “What are your hours?” with a keyword trigger
• Lead qualification — send a sequence of questions to gather information before routing to an agent
• Out-of-hours notice — reply automatically outside business hours to set expectations