From the WhatsApp - Send message workflow node, you can enrich your reply to the contact with interactive components, in addition to plain text: quick reply buttons, option lists and link buttons. Unlike templates, these messages do not need Meta approval, but they can only be sent within the 24-hour conversation window.
For template-based messages, see the guide How to send messages with the WhatsApp Business channel.
The 24-hour window
Interactive messages are free-form messages: you can only send them within 24 hours of the last message received from the contact. It is the same window WhatsApp applies to free-form replies outside templates.
When you choose a button type in the node, a notice reminds you of this constraint. At run time the node checks the condition and, if the contact is outside the window, the message is not sent.
Choosing the button type
In the Send message node, below the Sender and Message body fields, you find the Buttons selector with four options:
- None: you only send the text, as before.
- Quick reply: up to 3 text-only quick reply buttons.
- Interactive list: a list of items organized in sections.
- Link: a single button with a URL.
The message body is always required and goes with the interactive component you choose.
Quick reply
Quick reply buttons let the contact reply with a single tap.
You can add up to 3 and, for each one, you define:
- Label: the text shown on the button, up to 20 characters.
- Value: the value you receive when the contact taps the button, up to 229 characters. It is independent of the label, so you can handle the reply in the same way even with different labels.
An optional footer of up to 60 characters is also available.
Below you can see how to set up the workflow node to get a message with quick reply buttons.
Interactive list
The interactive list shows the contact a list of items, grouped in sections, that opens when they tap a button. You can add up to 10 items in total.
For the list, you define:
- An optional header, up to 60 characters.
- The list title, that is the text of the button that opens the list, required, up to 20 characters.
- An optional footer.
For each item, you enter:
- Section: the group the item belongs to.
- Label: the text of the item, up to 24 characters.
- Value: the value you receive when the item is selected, up to 200 characters.
Items in the same section are grouped automatically. When you add an item, the section field suggests the sections you have already used, but you can also type a new one.
Link button
The link button is a single button that opens a URL. You define the button label, up to 20 characters, and the destination URL.
Here is how to configure the node to get a link button.
How to handle the contact's reply
When the contact taps a button or selects a list item, the value you set arrives as the message text. You can then catch it with the following waiting nodes of the workflow and route the contact along the path you prefer.
You add and edit Quick reply and Interactive list items in a dedicated window, while the list of items stays visible and editable directly in the node.