What a WhatsApp AI agent should do, and what it shouldn't
Someone messages your business at 21:40. Nobody is at a desk, and by morning they have asked two other shops. A WhatsApp AI agent closes that gap. Strip away the hype and it has four jobs.
- Answer the common questions at once
Opening hours, delivery times, returns, prices. It replies from the pages and documents you gave it, at 21:40 on a Tuesday as readily as at noon.
- Collect what a person will need
A name, what they want and how urgent it is, so whoever picks the chat up starts with the facts.
- Know when it is out of its depth
When the answer isn't in your knowledge, the customer asks for a person, or they sound frustrated, it hands the chat to your team.
A bot that guesses is worse than no bot, because the customer believes it. Keep prices and policies in your knowledge, and anything that lives only in your head goes to a person.
Three ways to connect a WhatsApp number
Every route runs on the official WhatsApp Business Cloud API, not an unofficial bridge, and your access token is encrypted at rest.
| Our cloud, Embedded Signup | Our cloud, your own Meta app | Self-hosted | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How you start | Press Continue with Facebook and follow Meta's popup | Paste the phone number ID, a permanent access token and the app secret from your app | Paste the phone number ID and a permanent access token |
| Meta app | None to create. The number joins ChatterMate's app | Yours. Without its secret the number can send but not receive | Yours, set in your install's settings with a webhook verify token you choose |
| Checks on connect | ChatterMate confirms the number belongs to the WhatsApp Business Account you signed in with | ChatterMate reads the number with your token and checks the secret with Meta | ChatterMate reads the number with your token |
| Registering the number | Done for you, with a verification PIN ChatterMate generates and stores encrypted | Already done in your app | Already done in your app |
| Webhooks | Subscribed for you | An address of its own, set on the number for you where Meta allows it | Point your app's webhook at your install |
| Templates | Listed from your WhatsApp Business Account | Add the WhatsApp Business Account ID to list and send them | Add the WhatsApp Business Account ID to list and send them |
Why a number from your own Meta app gets its own webhook on our cloud
Meta signs every webhook with the secret of the app the number lives in. Numbers that join through Embedded Signup live in ChatterMate's app, so one shared address can check them.
A number from your own app is signed with your app's secret, which that shared address can't check. Before this was fixed, such a number could send replies but never received a message.
Each own-app number gets its own webhook address, checked only against your app's secret. ChatterMate sets it on the number through Meta's per-number callback setting, so there is nothing to paste.
That address only accepts events for your organization. If Meta refuses the automatic setting, the channel card shows the callback URL and verify token to add in your app by hand.
The 24-hour window and templates
Meta sets this rule and no vendor can change it. An agent that answers questions lives inside the window. Anything later needs an approved template.
- The customer writes
A 24-hour window opens. The AI and your team can reply freely.
- They write again
Each new message from them restarts the 24 hours.
- The window closes
Free replies stop. The inbox says so and offers Send template.
- A template reopens it
Pick a template Meta has approved. When they answer, a new window opens.
- Where templates come from
- You write them in Meta's WhatsApp Manager, in its Template library, which also has ready-made ones. ChatterMate lists yours with their approval status.
- Starting a new conversation
- Your team can message a number that has never written to you, using an approved Utility or Authentication template. Marketing templates are left out on purpose.
- Who can send them
- Anyone who can work the inbox can browse templates. Sending one takes the same permission as taking over a chat, because it is a billable Meta message.
- Who pays
- Meta charges template messages to your WhatsApp Business Account at its own rates. AI replies inside the window count toward your ChatterMate plan as usual.
- Opt-in
- Only message people who have agreed to hear from you. That is Meta's rule, and breaking it is a quick way to lose a number.
- What the AI does
- The AI only answers people who wrote to you. It never starts a conversation or sends a template on its own.
Buttons and lists on WhatsApp
Turn on Reply buttons in your agent's settings and the AI can offer choices people tap instead of type. It is off by default, and the same switch covers Messenger, Instagram and Telegram.
| The AI offers | On WhatsApp it becomes |
|---|---|
| Up to 3 short choices, 20 characters or fewer | Reply buttons under the message |
| 4 to 10 choices, or choices too long for a button | A list behind a Choose button, up to 10 rows |
| More than 10 choices | The first 10 |
| A choice longer than a row title (24 characters) | A shortened title, with the full text as the row description |
A tap reaches the AI as the text the customer saw, so nothing else needs setting up. A shared location pin arrives as one line with the place name, address and coordinates, so the agent can read it too.
What customers ask on WhatsApp
Quick facts people would rather text than look up. The easiest wins for the AI.
How long, how much, and how to send something back, straight from your policy pages.
It quotes what is in your knowledge. If prices change daily, keep the page current or let these go to a person.
ChatterMate has no booking integration, so the AI collects the details and brings in your team.
A damaged item or a wrong charge needs a person. Tell your agent in plain words to hand these off.
These show you the gaps. Each one the AI can't answer is a page worth adding.
What happens when the AI hands off on WhatsApp
The customer never leaves WhatsApp and never repeats themselves. Handover needs to be on in your agent, with at least one group. A chat can't go back to the AI yet.
- Step 1The AI steps backIt tells the customer that a person will reply in this chat, then stops replying.
- Step 2Your team hears about itThe chat waits in the shared inbox with the whole conversation, marked as WhatsApp.
- Step 3You reply in the same threadYour message goes out on the customer's WhatsApp. Ticks show when it was sent, delivered and read.
- Step 4Mind the clockIf their last message is over 24 hours old you need a template, so answer handed-off chats the same day.
Set it up in this order
The dashboard part takes minutes. The work is in the preparation, because an untrained agent on a live number makes a bad first impression.
- Step 1Teach the agent firstAdd your website, pricing, returns policy and FAQ. Write down the ten questions you get most on WhatsApp and check it answers all ten.
- Step 2Connect the numberContinue with Facebook on our cloud, or enter the phone number ID, token and app secret from your own Meta app.
- Step 3Choose the agent and the rulesAssign the number to an agent. Tell it in plain words what must reach a person, such as refunds or anything about money.
- Step 4Test like a customerMessage the number from your own phone. Ask something in your docs, something not in them, and ask for a human.
A realistic first week
Take a small furniture workshop. Most messages ask about lead times, delivery to a postcode and whether a table comes in oak. The owner adds the price list, the delivery page and the materials guide, connects the number, and sets one rule: anything about a damaged order goes straight to a person.
On day one the agent fumbles a few things. Asked about a custom size, it says it doesn't have that information and offers to pass the chat on. That is the right failure.
Each evening the owner reads the chats the AI handed off and adds a paragraph or two to the guide. An edit in ChatterMate is learned again at once, so the next customer gets the answer. That loop, more than any feature, is what makes it worth running.
Can you make the Hale table 2.4 metres long?
I don't have details on custom sizes. Would you like me to pass this to the workshop?
Yes please.
We can. It adds about two weeks. Shall I send a quote?Ravi, human
Building it yourself with n8n and the Cloud API
Many tutorials wire an automation tool, a model, a vector store and the Cloud API together. It works, and it makes a good weekend project.
- Turning your pages and PDFs into knowledge, and keeping it current
- A place for people to take over a chat
- Conversation history per customer
- The 24-hour window and template handling
- A way to see which questions the bot failed
Total control of the logic, and integrations we don't have. If your flow is mostly "call this API, then that one", a workflow tool may suit you better.
ChatterMate gives you the pieces on the left already joined up, and because it is open source you can also run it on your own servers.
What ChatterMate doesn't do on WhatsApp
- No broadcasts or marketing campaigns. It answers conversations, it does not blast lists
- No cold outreach. Messaging people who never opted in breaks Meta's rules
- Photos, voice notes and documents aren't passed on yet. A photo on its own reaches neither the AI nor the inbox
- Source links, product carousels, ratings and workflows are website-widget features
- No translation feature. Write your knowledge in the language your customers use
WhatsApp AI agent questions
Do I need my own Meta app?
Not on our cloud. Continue with Facebook and pick or create your number in Meta's popup. If you self-host, you connect a number from your own Meta app.
What happens if my team replies after 24 hours?
The free reply can't be delivered. The inbox tells you the window has closed and lets you send an approved template instead.
Can the AI message customers first?
No. It answers people who wrote to you. Your team can start a conversation with an approved Utility or Authentication template.
Can I connect more than one number?
Yes. Each number is its own channel and is assigned to one AI agent, so two numbers can use two different agents.
Can customers send photos or voice notes?
Not yet. The AI and the inbox receive text, button taps and shared locations. Ask customers to describe the problem in words.
Which plan do I need?
Every channel except the website widget is on the Growth plan ($9.99 a month, 2,500 AI replies) and above. New accounts get 14 days of Growth with no card. Self-hosted has no plan limits.