The Basics tab and the default reply

The Basics tab and the default reply · Help

However many flows you build, a customer will always write something you never thought of: "hello", "are you there", "quick question". Those messages match no keyword and go unanswered. That is exactly what the Basics tab is for. This guide covers every box on the tab and how to set up the default reply.

💡 What the flows on the Basics tab have in common: there is one of each per account. You can build dozens of keyword automations, but there is only ever one default reply.

Opening the tab

From the tabs on the Automations screen, switch to Basics. A one-line description sits at the top of the page: "Flows that exist once per account."

There are three boxes on the screen: Default reply (working) plus Welcome message and Conversation starters (both badged Soon).

Default reply

The box is headed Default reply, and the description underneath says two things: this flow is the reply given when no other automation runs, and it goes to the same person at most once per set period (every 24 hours by default).

When it runs and when it does not

When a message arrives the engine follows an order, and the default reply is last. So it runs only when none of the following is true:

The person tapped a button we sent.
A keyword, comment, story, share or link trigger matched.
The person has a session waiting for a reply.
An automation with an Any message trigger stepped in.

The full ordering is explained in Automation.

The default reply is also subject to a frequency limit: it does not go to the same person more often than the set period. So a customer who writes five messages in a row does not get the same answer five times.

⚠️ Note: If an agent has taken over a conversation, the default reply does not run there either. That holds until the conversation is handed back or the handover period expires (Taking over from an automation and handing it back).

Setting up the default reply

If you have not set one up, the box reads No default reply set up. with a button beside it:

Press Set up a default reply.
The panel creates the automation from a ready-made template and takes you into the flow editor.
Turn the text that arrives into your own. A general greeting and one or two routing buttons is enough.
Try it on the Test tab.
Press Publish.

The button is only drawn for roles with edit rights.

Managing a default reply that already exists

Once it exists, a row appears in the box: a status badge (Draft / Live / Off), the automation's name and an Edit button on the right. Edit opens an ordinary automation editor; everything from there on works like any other automation.

Although it appears in a special box, the default reply is an ordinary automation underneath: it also sits in the My automations list, can be filed in a folder, duplicated, has versions, and keeps its own logs and stats.

What to write in it

The default reply may be a customer's first contact with you. A good default reply does three things:

Confirms the message arrived. Even "We've got your message" beats leaving someone waiting.
Points the way. Offer the three most common needs as buttons: prices, address, appointment.
Leaves a route to a human. When the customer picks none of them, hand the conversation to the team with the Hand over to a person action.

What to avoid: long corporate paragraphs, saying "we'll get back to you shortly" and not doing it, and menus that trap the customer in a closed loop.

Welcome message (soon)

The box carries a Soon badge and this description: "Sent to people who write for the first time."

You can build the same thing by hand today: create an automation with an Any message trigger and add a First contact condition inside it. The condition's True branch goes to first-time writers, the False branch to everyone who has written before.

Conversation starters (soon)

The box carries a Soon badge and this description: "Ready questions in the chat window."

These are ready-made question buttons that appear in the chat window before the customer has typed anything. They are not managed from the panel today.

A concrete example

A veterinary clinic is unhappy that messages arriving outside opening hours go unanswered:

Automations → Basics → Set up a default reply.
On the Settings tab, name it "Default reply — clinic" and press Save.
On the Flow tab, open the first message step. Write: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, we've got your message. What can we help with?"
Add three buttons: "Emergency", "Appointment", "Prices".
Connect an Action step to the "Emergency" button's exit and put the Hand over to a person action in it.
Connect the other two buttons to their own message steps.
Test → type "are you there" into the simulator; because it matches no keyword, the default reply should run.
Publish.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

Setting up the default reply and forgetting to publish it. As a draft it goes to nobody. Check the status badge in the list.
Expecting the default reply to answer every message. It runs last; if another automation steps in it never runs at all.
Treating the frequency limit as a fault. It does not go to the same person more often than the set period; that is a deliberate protection.
Putting a long menu labyrinth inside it. If the customer cannot find what they need in three taps, they give up. Leave a route to a human.
Confusing the welcome message with the default reply. The default reply means "nothing else ran"; the welcome message means "they wrote for the first time".
Trying to set up two default replies. If the same trigger is added twice in one flow, the pre-publish check treats it as an error.