Build WhatsApp automation flows

• Use a flow when every customer should go through the same steps: greet, show a menu, ask for their email, create a lead.
• Use AI agents for open questions that need understanding: “Do you deliver to Sharjah?”, “Which glove is best for food handling?”.

Open Automations. You have three ways to start:

1. 1

   Step 1: Create with AI (fastest)

   Click Create with AI and describe what you want in plain words, e.g. “When someone says hi, send a welcome message, ask what they need with a menu of Products, Pricing and Support, and create a lead if they pick Pricing.” Press Enter — LarkFlow builds a complete flow and opens it for you to edit.

2. 2

   Step 2: Use a template

   Click Use template to start from a ready-made flow and adjust it.

3. 3

   Step 3: Start blank

   Click New Flow, enter a Flow name (e.g. “Welcome Message Flow”), an optional Description, and pick a Trigger. You’ll see Flow created! Opening editor….

The trigger decides which messages start the flow. It sits on the START node:

• Message received — any incoming message. Use carefully: it can catch everything, including messages meant for AI agents.
• Keyword matched — only when the message contains one of your keywords. Add them with + keyword (e.g. menu, price, hi). Recommended for most flows.
• New contact — the first message from someone who isn’t in your contacts yet.
• New conversation — the first message of a new conversation.

In the editor, click a step in Flow Nodes to add it to the canvas. Connect steps by dragging from the coloured dots on the side of one node to the next. Click any node to edit it in Node Properties.

Wrap a variable in double curly braces to insert it into any text field:

• {{message}} — the customer’s latest message. Always available.
• {{phone}} — the customer’s WhatsApp number. Always available.
• Any name you set in Save reply to variable on an Ask Question node (e.g. {{name}}, {{email}}) or in a Variable node.

Use Simulate incoming message in the editor: type a message such as “I want pricing info” and step through how the flow would respond — which trigger fired, which branch each Condition took, and where the flow ended. Nothing is sent to WhatsApp.

1. 1

   Step 1: Save

   Click Save — you’ll see Flow saved. Saving doesn’t switch the flow on.

2. 2

   Step 2: Activate

   Turn on the switch at the top of the editor (or in the Automations list). Only active flows respond to customers. Turn it off to pause the flow without deleting it.

Trigger: Keyword matched → hi, hello, menu

1. 1

   Step 1: Send Message

   “Hi! Welcome to Acme Supplies 👋”

2. 2

   Step 2: List Msg

   Body “What can we help with?”, button “View options”, options: Products, Get a quote, Talk to sales.

3. 3

   Step 3: Condition

   Message contains “quote” → yes branch; otherwise the no branch.

4. 4

   Step 4: Ask Question (yes branch)

   “What products and quantities do you need?” → save to enquiry.

5. 5

   Step 5: Create Lead

   Title {{enquiry}}, stage New lead.

6. 6

   Step 6: Assign + Send Message

   Assign to sales@yourcompany.com, then “Thanks! Our sales team will reply shortly.” → End.

The flow never starts

Check the switch is on, the WhatsApp channel is active, and your test message really contains a trigger keyword. Run the simulator to see which step stops.

The AI stopped answering

A flow with a broad trigger (e.g. Message received) is probably catching every message first. Switch it to Keyword matched.

“No approved templates” in a Template node

Create a template under Templates and wait for Meta to approve it.

“Could not update status” when activating

You may have reached your plan’s active-flow limit — deactivate another flow or upgrade.

The flow stops after an Ask Question

That’s expected — it waits for the customer’s reply, then continues from that step.