🚀 Things to Know Before Building Your First Bot

Building your first bot in Wabo.ai is exciting — and incredibly powerful. But before you dive into flow design and automation, it’s important to understand the core building blocks and logic that power your WhatsApp bot. This article walks you through everything you need to know to start strong.

1. What is a Flow?

A Flow is the overall structure of your conversation.
It’s a collection of steps (called nodes) that define how the bot interacts with the user. You can create multiple flows for different use cases — like lead generation, support, or onboarding.

🧠 Think of a flow like a WhatsApp conversation script.

2. What is a Node?

A Node is a single step inside your bot flow.
Each node can:

Send a message
Ask a question
Display buttons
Call an API
Introduce a delay
Trigger custom logic

Nodes are the building blocks of your bot.

3. What is a Version?

Whenever you publish a bot, Wabo.ai saves that snapshot as a Version.
This ensures:

Your live bot remains stable
You can edit and test flows without affecting the current bot
You can restore or manage older versions easily

🛑 Reminder: You must create and publish a new version to make updated flows live.

4. What is FAQ in Bot?

The FAQ section allows you to set predefined Q&A pairs.
If a user asks a common question — like "What are your working hours?" — the bot can reply instantly, even if it’s outside a specific flow.

Use FAQs to enhance bot flexibility without building everything into flows.

5. What is Smart AI in Bot?

Wabo.ai lets you power your bot with Smart AI (like ChatGPT).
By setting up prompts and training it with data, your bot can:

Understand natural language
Respond intelligently without fixed rules
Feel more human and flexible

You can configure the AI using Prompt Management in the bot’s settings.

6. What is a Variable?

Variables (like {{first_name}} or {{email}}) are used to personalize bot messages.
They pull data from your Contact Module so that each user sees responses tailored to them.

✨ Example:
"Hi {{first_name}}, how can I assist you today?"
If the contact’s name is Priya, it becomes:
"Hi Priya, how can I assist you today?"

7. What is an Intent?

An Intent is a keyword or short phrase like “Hi”, “Support”, or “Order” that triggers a specific node or flow.

Wabo.ai uses intents to detect free-form user messages and instantly route them to the right part of the bot.

🧠 Example:
User types “Hi” → Bot jumps to the greeting node

📝 Note: To use intents, your bot must be published and enabled.

8. How Does a Bot Get Triggered?

A bot in Wabo.ai gets triggered when a user message matches specific entry points configured in your bot settings. There are two primary ways to trigger a bot:

1. Using Intents

An Intent is a keyword or phrase (like “hi”, “support”, “price”) that a user might type.
You can map each intent to a specific bot flow and node.
When a message matches the intent, the bot jumps directly to the selected part of the conversation.

2. Using FAQs

In the FAQ section, you can define common user questions and link them to relevant flows and nodes.
If the user’s message matches the FAQ, the bot immediately responds based on the configured logic.

✅ Bot triggering works only when:

The bot is enabled
The flow version is published
The intent or FAQ is correctly linked to a node

🛑 Ensure the bot is enabled and published for it to respond live.

9. How to Test and Debug a Flow

Before making your bot live, you can test the experience using Preview Mode.

To test a bot:

Go to your Bot Flow
Click on the Preview button on the top right
Use the simulation window to interact with your bot as if you were a user
Validate logic, messages, conditions, and personalization

For debugging:

Review flow connections and conditions
Check whether the correct version is published
Ensure your APIs and variable mappings are correct
Use Version History to revert or restore a working state

Other Key Tools You’ll Use

Delay Node: Adds a pause before the next message
Conditional Node: Adds logic to your flows (e.g., if user_type = new)
Jump To: Sends user to another node or flow
WhatsApp Flows: Native forms for structured data capture
API Library: Connects your bot to external systems and dynamic data

Before You Start, Remember:

✔️ Outline your flow on paper
✔️ Set your goals: What should this bot achieve?
✔️ Identify the key questions you want the bot to answer
✔️ Use variables and personalization to improve engagement
✔️ Test with preview mode before publishing
✔️ Create a version every time you want to go live with updates