Creating a new node

Overview

When you create a new bot and open the Flow page, you see an initial chatbot flow. This starter pack includes three pre-made nodes, including the /start node, which starts the chatbot conversation.

You can easily build upon this default flow by adding new nodes. Each node can handle different tasks and interactions to make your chatbot more helpful to users.

How to Create a New Node

Follow these steps to add a new node to your chatbot flow:

1. Open the Flow page.
2. Hover your cursor over an existing node.
3. You will see two buttons appear on the right side:”+” button (add a new node) “Duplicate” button (create a copy of the current node) To create a new node, click the “+” button.

Tip: Use the “Duplicate” button to quickly copy an existing node and its settings.

4. In the window that opens, enter a clear name for your new node in the Node Name field. (This name helps you find and manage the node later.)
5. Click Add action and select the desired action type (for example, select Message to send a text response).
6. Fill in the details for the chosen action. For the Message action:
7. Type the message you want your chatbot to send to users.
8. When finished, click Save to add your new node.

Your newly created node appears connected to the previous node in the flow. You can drag the new node around to organize your flow clearly.

Connecting Nodes

Overview

Connecting nodes allows your chatbot conversation to move from one node to another, creating a logical conversation flow for users. Nodes can be connected using visual arrows that clearly show the chatbot’s path of interaction.

How to Connect Nodes

You can connect nodes in two ways.

Option 1: Drag and Drop Connection

Use this method to visually link nodes:

1. Hover your mouse over the node you want to connect from.
2. Click and hold the “Out” arrow that appears on the right side of this node.
3. Drag the line to the “In” arrow of the node you want to connect to.
4. Release the mouse button to complete the connection.
5. Click Save.

This creates a visual connection (arrow line) between the two nodes.

Option 2: Using the “Go to node” Field

Use this method if you know the exact name of the node you want to connect:

1. Select the node you want to connect from (click on it to open settings).
2. Find the Go to node field.
3. Enter the name of the node you wish to connect to.
4. Click Add transition to create the connection automatically.

An arrow line displays to visually confirm the new connection.

Adding Buttons to Messages

Buttons allow users to interact directly with your messages. With buttons, you can direct users to websites, open apps, or start specific actions like making purchases.

How to Add Buttons

Follow these steps to add buttons to your messages:

1. Open the Message node you want to edit.
2. Click the Keyboard icon.
3. Choose the type of button from the available options.
4. Enter the text you want displayed on the button.
5. Click Save

Note: If you use a GO TO button, first create the related nodes.

Button Placement Options You have two ways to position buttons. The button position affects which button types you can use:

Inline: Buttons appear directly below the message text. Reply: Buttons appear under the user’s input field, typical in messaging apps like Telegram or Viber.

Selecting button placement does not affect WebChat.

Use different buttons depending on your scenario:

1. Inline:

2. Reply

Requesting information from user

The block “Request information from the user” is used to gather information from the user. This information can be used to personalize the user’s experience, to provide better recommendations, or to improve the product or service. The information that is requested can vary depending on the product or service, but it can include things like the user’s NAME, EMAIL, PHONE NUMBER and LOCATION.

Steps:

1. Click the “Request Info” action.
2. Enter the text of your message to the user.
3. Add the text of your success message.
4. Add the text of your error message.
5. Click the “Save” button.

Using variables in your messages

You can use variables in your messages to personalize them for your customers. For example, you could use the {{{customer.name}}} variable to include the customer’s name in your message. To see a list of available variables, click on the curly braces icon {}.

Steps:

1. Enter the variable name in your message, surrounded by curly braces.
2. Click the “Save” button.

Using webhooks

A webhook is a simple way to send data to another application or service. It can be used to automate tasks, trigger actions, collect data, create dashboards, and build chatbots.

Steps:

1. Click the “Webhook” action.
2. Select the “Run” option (before or after).
3. Select the “Method” (GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE).
4. Enter the URL of the webhook.
5. You may need to enter these Header values. You have the option to use the “+ Add Headers” button and fill in the “Key” and “Value” (for example, the API key).
6. You will also need to enter Parameter values. To do this, you can use the button “+ Add Parameters” and fill in the “Key” and “Value” (for example, the data of longitude and latitude, city, age, etc.).
7. Click the “Save” button.

The table provides information on the various methods and their descriptions.

Using logic actions

A logic action is a type of action that allows you to test a message against a condition. If the condition is met, the action will be executed. To use a logic action, you need to add it to a node and complete the following settings.

Steps:

1. Click the “Logic” action.
2. Enter the Input value that you want to test (if empty, the input value will be a message).
3. Select the “Condition” (CONTAIN, EQUAL, GTE, LTE, IS, REGEX).
4. Enter the value that you want to test.
5. Turn on the “Ignore case when doing comparison” toggle if you want to ignore the case.
6. Select the “Action” (GO TO, CONTEXT).
7. Enter the value that you want to use in the action.
8. Click the “Save” button.

For example, you could use a logic action to test if a message contains a certain word. If the message does contain the word, you could then execute an action that sends the message to a different queue.

The table shows the different conditions and their descriptions, with examples:

Action is a keyword that tells the system what to do after processing the message. There are two types of actions: GO TO and CONTEXT.

• GO TO tells the system to go to another node in the conversation flow.
• CONTEXT tells the system to show the value of a context variable.

Here is a table that shows the different actions and their corresponding values:

Using listener actions

A listener in HTTP requests is a component that waits for and captures incoming requests sent from clients to a server. It manages these requests by accepting connections, decoding data, routing requests, and executing associated actions.

Steps:

1. Click the “Listener” action.
2. Copy the secret URL for using it in trigger service.
3. (a) Add a “Message” action and use your listener variables to send them to the user.
   (b) Add a “Send To” action and use your listener variables to send them to the specified users.
4. Add the text of your message.
5. Click the “Save” button.

If you have the “customer._id” of the user you want to send a message to, you can use option 3. (a).
If you want to send your message to several users of your bot or channel (Slack), use option 3. (b).

All variables the listener receive and record are stored in the following format — {{ listener.X }}; the X is the name of the variable the trigger passes. For example {{ listener.content }}.

Using the “Send To” action

Send To action allows you to send notifications to your selected customers or channels.

Steps:

1. Click the “Send To” action.
2. Select the “Run” option (before or after).
3. Select the “Filters” (ANY, QUERY, CHANNEL).
4. Enter the value that you want to send the message to.
5. Click the “Save” button.

Functions available in “Send to” action:

Filters allows you to choose exactly who to send the message to: