Conversational Workflows: Chatbot Message Triggers

Build Hexabot chatbot workflows that trigger from incoming channel messages, use conversation context, and reply across connected messaging channels.

Conversational workflows are Hexabot chatbot workflows that run when connected channels receive messages or events. They automate message-based conversations using the inbound message and current conversation context.

Use conversational workflow automation to build:

• Customer support assistants

• Lead-generation chatbots

• Product recommendation conversations

• FAQ and knowledge-base chatbots

• Multi-step data collection

• Human handover workflows

Unlike Manual and Scheduled workflows, Conversational workflows receive input automatically from the channel event and conversation context.

Create a chatbot conversational workflow

To create one:

1. Open the Workflow Editor.

2. Create a new workflow.

3. Select Conversational under Type.

4. Enter a descriptive Name.

5. Optionally add a Description.

6. Click Submit.

The workflow type determines its trigger and available input fields.

A workflow's type cannot be changed after it has been created.

Connect a chatbot workflow to a messaging channel

A Conversational workflow must be associated with a channel source before it can process incoming chatbot messages.

See Which channels are supported in Hexabot? to choose a supported channel, or build your own.

Open the relevant channel source and select the workflow in the Workflow field.

When the source receives a new message, Hexabot starts the selected workflow. It provides the message and conversation context as workflow input.

Different sources can use different conversational workflows. For example, assign one chatbot workflow to a website widget and another to a messaging channel.

Conversational workflow message input

The input schema of a Conversational workflow is defined by Hexabot and cannot be edited.

The schema is displayed as Read only in the workflow form because its values are generated automatically from the incoming channel event.

The workflow can receive the following properties:

Property	Type	Description
message_type	string	The type of inbound message associated with the event, such as text, quick reply, postback, or attachment.
payload	object or string	Additional payload supplied by the channel event. Its structure may vary depending on the channel and message type.
message	object	The normalized incoming message object received from the channel.
text	string	Text extracted from the incoming message.
mid	string	The unique identifier of the incoming message, when provided by the channel.
thread_id	string	The identifier of the conversation thread associated with the event.

The exact values available in message and payload depend on the connected channel and the type of event received.

Process incoming chatbot messages

For text-oriented workflows, use the text property as the primary message content.

Use message_type when the workflow needs different behavior depending on how the user interacted with the channel. For example, the workflow can handle a text message differently from a button postback or file attachment.

The message property provides the complete normalized message when additional metadata is required.

The payload property can contain channel-specific information, such as the value associated with a quick reply or postback.

Maintain chatbot conversation context

Every Conversational workflow execution is associated with a conversation thread.

The thread_id identifies that thread and allows Hexabot to maintain context across multiple user messages. Messaging actions can use the current execution context to reply through the same channel and conversation.

The conversational input object does not accept arbitrary top-level fields. Workflow expressions usually read from $input.text, $input.message, $input.payload, or runtime context in $context.

YAML workflow example

defs:
  reply:
    kind: task
    action: send_text_message
    inputs:
      text: "='You said: ' & $input.text"

flow:
  - do: reply