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Chatbot steps: questions, messages, look-ups & AI
Every step you can use in a LogAI WhatsApp chatbot: Send message, Ask a question (buttons, lists, number, email, phone, date, yes/no, location, files), Smart answer, Answer with AI, Detect intent, Extract details, Look up orders and booking slots, Set variable, Jump, Hand off, Notify team and End — with their branches and placeholders.
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A WhatsApp chatbot is a chain of steps. Click Add step on the Build tab — the Conversation group at the top of the library holds the chatbot steps below. Each step has branches (one per button, plus outcomes like “No reply”), and any branch you don't connect follows Otherwise.
Talk to the customer
| Step | What it does | Branches |
|---|---|---|
| Chatbot start | Where every conversation begins. Start keywords, numbers and business hours live in Bot settings. | Outside business hours (runs only if business hours are on and you connect it) |
| Send message | Sends text (up to 4,096 characters; long text is split into readable bubbles), media (image, video, document or audio with a caption), or an approved template. Doesn't wait for a reply. Choose a typing indicator or follow the bot's setting. | — |
| Ask a question | Asks and waits for the reply, then saves it as a variable (and optionally a lead field). | One per option (or Yes / No), Typed something else, Skipped, Gave up after retries, No reply |
| End | Closes the conversation with an optional closing message and a 1–5 star rating; can keep the bot from restarting for a number of hours. | — |
Ask a question
Pick the Expected answer: Free text, Buttons, List menu, Number, Email, Phone, Date, Yes / No, Location, or Photo or file. Add a Question, an optional header and footer, then Save as variable — a reply saved as budget can be used later as {{vars.budget}}.
- Options go one per line as
id | Title | description(only the title is required). Up to 3 options are sent as WhatsApp buttons; 4–10, or any option with a description, as a list menu; more than 10 as a numbered menu. - Customers can answer however they like — tap the button, type the number (“2”, “option 2”, “two”), or type the title, even with a typo. Yes / No understands everyday replies such as “haan”, “nahi” and 👍.
- Validation is built in — numbers accept ₹, “5k” and “2 lakh”; phones use the bot's phone region; dates understand “today”, “tomorrow”, “kal” and “next week” in DD/MM or MM/DD.
- Retries — write the first and second retry messages and how many attempts before giving up (default 3). Turn on Allow ‘skip’ to let customers skip an optional question.
- No reply — set how long to wait (or use the bot default) and an optional single nudge before the “No reply” branch runs.
- Live options — use
{{vars.slots}}or{{vars.orders}}from a Look up step to offer real booking slots or recent orders as the choices.
Questions answer questions: With Smart answers mid-flow on (the default), a customer who asks something while the bot is waiting — “do you deliver to Pune?” — gets the matching Smart answer, and then the bot asks its question again.
Answer and understand
| Step | What it does | Cost | Branches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smart answer | Answers the customer's question from your Smart answers library — no AI. Can be limited to one category, can ask “Was this helpful?”, and offers “Did you mean…?” choices when two answers are close. | Free (1 credit if you let AI pick the closest answer when nothing matches) | Answered, Unsure, No match |
| Answer with AI | Holds a free-form conversation from your instructions, facts, Smart answers and Drive documents, in the customer's language. Define exit intents to leave the AI when the customer wants something specific. | 1 credit per answer (Fast) or 2 (Standard) | One per exit intent, Turn limit reached (default 8 answers), Asked for a person, Out of credits |
| Detect intent | Reads what the customer wants and branches on it. Write intents as key | label | example, example. | 1 credit per message | One per intent, Nothing fit |
| Extract details | Pulls names, dates, amounts or anything else out of a message into variables — and optionally lead fields. Fields as key | label | type | required | lead field. | 1 credit per message | A required detail is missing |
If Asked for a person or Out of credits isn't connected on an Answer with AI step, the chat is handed to your team. More on costs and sources in Smart answers & AI.
Look up your records
| Look up | What it does | Branches |
|---|---|---|
| An order by its number | Finds the order the customer typed (default {{answer}}) and fills {{vars.order_status}}, {{vars.order_total}}, {{vars.order_date}}, {{vars.courier}} and {{vars.tracking_url}}. Details are shared only if the order belongs to the customer's WhatsApp number. | Order found, No such order on this number |
| This customer's recent orders | Lists up to the last N orders (default 5) as options for an Ask step. | Orders found, No orders yet |
| Open booking slots | Reads up to 10 open slots from a published booking page, looking ahead a number of days (default 7). | Open slots found, No open slots |
| Book the chosen slot | Books the slot the customer picked, with an optional guest email, and sets {{vars.booking_when}}. | Booked, Slot just got taken |
Route and hand off
| Step | What it does |
|---|---|
| Set variable | Stores or computes values for later steps — pairs of name → value. |
| Jump | Goes to another step, restarts this bot, or starts another bot. |
| Hand off to a human | Pauses the bot, assigns the chat (nobody yet, a specific person, or rotate — rotation picks whoever had the fewest hand-offs in the last 24 hours) and notifies them. See hand-off. |
| Notify team | Sends an in-app notification without pausing the bot — to the people you pick, or the bot's hand-off people. |
Bots can also use these workflow actions mid-conversation: Condition, Delay (up to 30 days), create or update a Lead, Deal, Task or Calendar Event, Send Email, HTTP Request and the AI step.
Placeholders
| Placeholder | Inserts |
|---|---|
{{vars.name}} | Anything you saved with Save as variable, Extract details, Set variable or Look up. |
{{contact.name}}, {{contact.phone}} | The customer's WhatsApp name and number. |
{{answer}} | The customer's last reply ({{answer.option_title}} for the tapped option's title). |
{{message.body}} | The text of the message the customer just sent. |
{{lead.field}} | A field from the customer's lead. |
{{bot.name}} | The bot's name. |
Step cards and previews show placeholders as [name]. A placeholder with no value is simply left out — customers never see raw {{…}} text.
Frequently asked questions
How many buttons can a WhatsApp chatbot question have?
WhatsApp allows 3 reply buttons. LogAI sends up to 3 options as buttons, 4–10 options (or any option with a description) as a list menu, and more than 10 as a numbered menu customers answer by number. Button titles can be 20 characters, list rows 24.
What if the customer types instead of tapping a button?
The bot understands the number (“2”, “option 2”, “two”), the option title, or a close spelling of it. Anything else follows the “Typed something else” branch, or the retry messages if you didn't connect it.
Can my chatbot tell customers their order status?
Yes. Ask for the order number, then add a Look up step set to “An order by its number”. On Order found, send a message using {{vars.order_status}}, {{vars.courier}} and {{vars.tracking_url}}. Details are only shared when the order belongs to that WhatsApp number. The Order status template is built this way.
Can the chatbot book appointments?
Yes. Look up “Open booking slots” from a published booking page, offer them with an Ask step using {{vars.slots}} as the options, then Look up “Book the chosen slot”. Branches cover Booked and Slot just got taken.
Which chatbot steps use AI credits?
Answer with AI (1 credit per answer on Fast, 2 on Standard), Detect intent (1 per message), Extract details (1 per message), and a Smart answer's optional AI pick (1, refunded if nothing fits). All other steps are free.
Can a chatbot create leads, tasks or deals?
Yes. Save answers straight to lead fields from Ask and Extract steps, or add the workflow actions to create or update a Lead, Deal, Task or Calendar Event, send an email or call an API mid-conversation.
Open the LogAI app — start free, no credit card required.