Creating a Flow

This page walks you through building your first chatbot flow from start to finish.

Step-by-step process

Step 1: Open the Flow Builder

1. Go to Automation → Chatbot Flows
2. Click the Create Flow button

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Screenshot: Create Flow button on the Chatbot Flows page

create-flow-button.png

1. Navigate to Automation → Chatbot Flows
2. Capture the top section showing the Create Flow button
Save to: static/img/screenshots/chatbot-flows/creating-a-flow/create-flow-button.png

Step 2: Select a channel

Before entering the builder, you must select the channel this flow is for:

Channel	What it means
WhatsApp	Flow for WhatsApp conversations — supports templates, product messages (SPM/MPM), WhatsApp Flows, and list menus
Messenger	Flow for Facebook Messenger conversations — supports carousels, and comment reply (with Post Comment trigger)
Instagram	Flow for Instagram DM conversations — supports carousels, and comment reply (with Post Comment trigger)

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Screenshot: Channel selection dialog showing WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram options

channel-selector.png

1. Click Create Flow
2. Capture the channel selection dialog showing the three channel options
Save to: static/img/screenshots/chatbot-flows/creating-a-flow/channel-selector.png

Channel is permanent

The channel cannot be changed after the flow is created. The builder will show only the nodes and triggers relevant to the selected channel. If you need a flow for a different channel, create a new flow.

Step 3: Configure flow settings

In the settings panel, fill in the basic details:

Field	Description	Limit
Flow Name	A unique name for your flow	3–255 characters
Description	Optional description of what the flow does	Up to 1,000 characters

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Screenshot: Flow settings panel showing name and description fields

flow-settings-panel.png

1. In the Flow Builder, click the Settings icon in the header
2. Fill in a flow name and description
3. Capture the settings panel
Save to: static/img/screenshots/chatbot-flows/creating-a-flow/flow-settings-panel.png

tip

Choose a descriptive name that tells you what the flow does at a glance — like "Welcome Bot" or "Order Status Checker" instead of "Flow 1".

Step 4: Add a trigger

Every flow needs a trigger — this is what starts the conversation. Drag a Trigger block from the node picker onto the canvas.

The available triggers depend on your flow's channel:

Trigger	Channels	When it fires
Keyword	All	Customer sends a specific word or phrase
Button Click	All	Customer clicks a button from a previous interactive message
Webhook	All	An external system sends a request to your flow's unique web address
Manual	All	You manually trigger the flow from the Flow List for specific contacts
Drip Campaign	All	A drip campaign reaches a chatbot step
Order Received	WhatsApp	Customer places an order via WhatsApp catalog
WhatsApp Flow Submitted	WhatsApp	Customer submits a WhatsApp Flow form
Ad Click (CCTWA)	WhatsApp	Customer clicks a Click-to-WhatsApp ad
New Lead (Facebook Lead Ad)	WhatsApp	A new lead is submitted via a Facebook Lead Ad form
Post Comment	Messenger, Instagram	Customer comments on one of your Facebook/Instagram posts

Learn more about each trigger in the Trigger Blocks page.

Step 5: Build the flow

Add nodes to create your conversation. Connect them by dragging from one node's output to another node's input.

Common patterns:

• Trigger → Message — Send a greeting when triggered
• Trigger → Question → Condition → Message — Ask something, then respond differently based on the answer
• Trigger → Interactive Buttons → Message — Show options and respond to the selection

See the full list of available nodes:

• Message Blocks — Send messages, media, templates, buttons, lists, and more
• Action Blocks — Check conditions, route conversations, call external systems, manage contacts

Step 6: Save the flow

Click the Save button in the header. This creates a new version of your flow automatically.

info

Every time you save, a new version is created. You can view and roll back to any previous version from the Flow Builder.

Step 7: Activate the flow

1. After saving, your version is automatically published
2. Go back to the Flow List
3. Toggle the status switch to activate the flow

Once activated, the flow will start responding to its trigger.

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Quick Start Example: Simple Welcome Bot

Let's build a simple welcome bot that greets customers and shows them a menu.

What the bot does

Customer sends "Hi"
        ↓
Bot sends a welcome message with 3 buttons:
  [Browse Products]  [Track Order]  [Talk to Agent]
        ↓
Customer clicks a button
        ↓
Bot responds based on the button clicked

Step-by-step

1. Create the flow — Click Create Flow, name it "Welcome Bot"

2. Add the trigger — Drag a Trigger block, select Keyword, add keywords: hi, hello, hey, menu

3. Add an Interactive Buttons message — Connect it to the trigger, configure:

   • Body: "Welcome! How can I help you today?"
   • Button 1: "Browse Products"
   • Button 2: "Track Order"
   • Button 3: "Talk to Agent"

4. Add response messages — For each button, add a Text Message node:

   • Browse Products → "Check out our catalog at yoursite.com/shop"
   • Track Order → "Please share your order number and we'll look it up!"
   • Talk to Agent → "Connecting you with an agent. Please wait..."

5. Add End nodes — Connect each response to an End node

6. Save and activate — Save the flow, go to the Flow List, and toggle it on

How it looks

┌──────────────────────┐
│   TRIGGER            │
│   Keywords: hi,      │
│   hello, hey, menu   │
└──────────┬───────────┘
           │
           ▼
┌──────────────────────┐
│   INTERACTIVE        │
│   BUTTONS            │
│                      │
│   "Welcome! How can  │
│    I help you?"      │
│                      │
│   [Browse Products]  │
│   [Track Order]      │
│   [Talk to Agent]    │
└───┬──────┬───────┬───┘
    │      │       │
    ▼      ▼       ▼
 ┌─────┐┌─────┐┌─────┐
 │ MSG ││ MSG ││ MSG │
 │Shop ││Order││Agent│
 │link ││ ask ││wait │
 └──┬──┘└──┬──┘└──┬──┘
    │      │      │
    ▼      ▼      ▼
 ┌─────┐┌─────┐┌─────┐
 │ END ││ END ││ END │
 └─────┘└─────┘└─────┘

tip

This is just the beginning! You can make this flow much more powerful by adding Question nodes to collect data, Condition nodes for smart routing, and HTTP Call nodes to look up orders from your system.