Build a workflow

Owners and admins only. Everyone else can open a workflow and look, but the canvas is locked.

Build one

Create it

Go to Workflows and choose New workflow. Give it a name and choose Open the builder. Or choose Start from this on a ready-made workflow.

Choose the trigger

A blank workflow starts with the Customer messages you trigger. To use a different one, remove it and add another from Triggers on the left. A workflow has exactly one trigger.

Add steps

Click a step in the list on the left, or drag it onto the canvas. Then join the steps up in the order they should run, starting from the trigger.

Fill in each step

Click a step on the canvas. Its settings open on the right. A step that is not filled in yet says so on the canvas, such as No message written yet.

Save

Choose Save changes. Saving does not switch the workflow on.

A workflow cannot loop back on itself. The builder refuses a connection that would make one.

Triggers

Trigger	When it runs
Customer messages you	When a customer writes to you. You can limit it to messages containing words you choose, separated by commas. It runs at most once per conversation every 12 hours unless you change the number; 0 runs it on every message. Reactions, submitted forms and STOP never start it.
New conversation starts	Once, on a new customer’s first message.
Payment link is paid	When a customer pays a link you sent in the chat.
Conversation goes quiet	When a customer has been left waiting for the time you set. It only counts customers left waiting after you switch it on, and runs once for each time a customer is left waiting.
On a schedule	Every day, every week or every month at a time you set, in your workspace’s time zone. It runs within 15 minutes of that time. You choose who it reaches: Conversations with a tag, Every open conversation or Open conversations nobody is assigned to.
Form submitted	When a customer sends back a form from one of your templates. You can limit it to one template’s form by its name.

A scheduled workflow never runs without an audience, and one run reaches at most 1,000 conversations. If the audience is larger, the run is refused: narrow it with a tag.

Steps that send

Step	What it does
Send a message	Sends a plain WhatsApp message into the conversation. Only works inside the 24-hour window.
Send a template	Sends an approved template, so it works outside the 24-hour window. Fill in a value for each of the template’s variables.
Send a product	Sends a product from your connected shop, by SKU or product ID. Only works inside the 24-hour window.
Send a payment link	Sends a payment link for the amount you set. Needs Square connected. Only works inside the 24-hour window.

In a message, a template variable, a payment link’s description or a team notification you can use these tokens:

{{name}} or {{first_name}}: the customer’s first name.
{{full_name}}: their full name.
{{phone}}: their phone number.

If typed replies are switched off for your team, Send a message steps still send. Meta may charge for them like any other reply sent from Companion.

Templates sent by a scheduled workflow count towards your plan’s broadcast reach. A marketing template is never sent to a customer who has opted out.

Conditions and waits

These are under Route in the list. A condition has two ways out, Yes and No. Join each one to the step that should follow. A branch with nothing joined to it simply ends the run.

Step	What it checks or does
Did they reply?	Waits up to the time you set, then splits on whether the customer wrote in that time.
Has a tag	Whether the conversation carries the tag you name.
Message contains	Whether the customer’s message has any of your words or phrases, as whole words.
Inside opening hours	Whether it is within the days and hours you set, in your workspace’s time zone. Until you set them, every time counts as closed.
24-hour window is open	Whether a typed message can still be sent, or only a template.
Opted out of marketing	Whether the customer has asked not to get marketing.
Wait	Pauses for the minutes, hours or days you set before the next step.

A run can wait for days. Before every step and after every wait, Companion checks that the workflow is still switched on. If it is not, the run stops and nothing more is sent.

Steps for your team

These are under Internal in the list. The customer does not see them.

Step	What it does
Assign to someone	Assigns the conversation to the member you choose.
Add a tag	Tags the conversation.
Remove a tag	Takes a tag off the conversation.
Archive the conversation	Takes it out of the inbox. A new message from the customer brings it back.
Add an internal note	Leaves a note on the conversation that the customer never sees.
Notify the team	Sends a notification to the phone app of the rep assigned to the conversation, or of everyone when nobody is assigned.
Call a webhook	Posts the customer and conversation to one of your outgoing webhooks. Needs the Business plan. See Webhooks and custom API.

Switch it on

Turn the switch on

Use the switch on the workflow’s page, or on its card on the Workflows page.

Read what it will do

Companion tells you what switching on means for this workflow. For a scheduled one, that includes how many open conversations each run would reach as things stand.

Confirm

Choose Switch on. It runs on its next trigger.

If the workflow cannot run yet, Companion says why and does not switch it on. The usual reasons are no trigger, a trigger joined to nothing, a schedule with no time or no audience, or a plan with no room for another workflow. To switch a workflow off, turn the switch off. It stops at once. Runs that were waiting stop too.

Edit a workflow that is switched on

You can edit a workflow while it is on. Change the canvas and choose Save changes. New runs use the saved version. If your changes leave it unable to run, for example a schedule that has lost its audience, Companion saves your work and switches the workflow off. The message tells you what to put right. From the menu beside the switch you can also Rename, Duplicate or Delete a workflow. A duplicate starts switched off. Deleting stops any waiting runs and cannot be undone. Messages already sent stay in their conversations.

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Workspace settings

Help

Build one

Triggers

Steps that send

Conditions and waits

Steps for your team

Switch it on

Edit a workflow that is switched on

​Build one

​Triggers

​Steps that send

​Conditions and waits

​Steps for your team

​Switch it on

​Edit a workflow that is switched on

​Related

Build one

Triggers

Steps that send

Conditions and waits

Steps for your team

Switch it on

Edit a workflow that is switched on

Related