Testing & Triggering

Before making your flow live, you should test it to make sure everything works as expected. This page explains how to test each trigger type and common testing scenarios.

Manual trigger from Flow List

The easiest way to test any flow is to use the Trigger Flow action from the Flow List.

How to trigger manually

1. Go to Automation → Chatbot Flows
2. Find your flow in the list
3. Click the action menu (three dots) on the flow
4. Click Trigger Flow
5. Select contacts (up to 5 at a time):
   • Individual contacts — Pick specific people
   • By phone number — Enter phone numbers directly
6. Click Trigger

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Screenshot: Manual trigger dialog showing contact selection and trigger button

manual-trigger-dialog.png

1. On the Flow List, click the action menu on any flow
2. Click Trigger Flow
3. Select 1-2 contacts
4. Capture the trigger dialog before clicking Trigger
Save to: static/img/screenshots/chatbot-flows/testing/manual-trigger-dialog.png

Understanding trigger results

After triggering, you'll see a result for each contact:

Result	Meaning
Succeeded	The flow started successfully for this contact
Failed	Something went wrong (see the error message)
Blocked	The contact couldn't be reached (opted out, outside messaging window, etc.)
Cost	The number of message credits used

Testing keyword triggers

To test a keyword trigger:

1. Make sure the flow is active
2. Send a message to your WhatsApp Business number from a test phone
3. Type one of the flow's keywords (e.g., "hi", "help")
4. The flow should start automatically

tip

Keep a test phone handy that's registered as a contact in your system. This lets you test flows from the customer's perspective.

Testing webhook triggers

To test a webhook trigger, you need to send a request to the flow's webhook address. You can use any tool that sends web requests (like Postman or a terminal command).

Example request:

POST https://your-portal-url/chatbot-webhook/{flow-id}/trigger

Headers:
  Content-Type: application/json
  x-api-key: your-webhook-secret

Body:
{
  "phone_number": "+919876543210",
  "data": {
    "order_id": "ORD-12345",
    "status": "shipped"
  }
}

Required fields:

• phone_number — The customer's WhatsApp number (with country code)

Optional fields:

• data — Any additional data you want to pass as flow variables
• message_text — Simulated message text
• button_id — Simulated button click

Testing script nodes

Script nodes have a built-in Test button in the configuration panel:

1. Click on a Script node
2. In the config panel, fill in test values for the input variables
3. Click Test
4. See the output variables and any errors

Common testing scenarios

Scenario	How to test
Happy path	Trigger the flow and follow the expected path — answer questions correctly, click the right buttons
Wrong input	Enter invalid data (wrong format, empty values) to test validation messages
Each branch	Test every button/menu option to make sure each path works
Missing data	Leave Question answers empty or skip steps to test fallback behavior
HTTP Call failures	Temporarily use an invalid URL to test error handling
Variable usage	Verify that collected variables appear correctly in subsequent messages

Checking results in Flow Logs

After testing, check the Flow Logs to see exactly what happened:

1. Go to the Flow List
2. Click View Logs on your flow
3. Find your test execution
4. Click on it to see the node-by-node trace

The logs show you:

• Which nodes ran and in what order
• What data each node received and produced
• Whether any node failed and why
• The total execution time

warning

Remember to test with a small number of contacts first. The manual trigger supports up to 5 contacts at a time, which is perfect for testing.