Workflow Interactions
Buttons, data collection forms, links, and other interactive elements visitors encounter during guided custom workflow conversations.
Overview
Custom workflows present visitors with structured, step-by-step interactions inside the chat. Instead of free-form typing, visitors click buttons, fill in forms, and follow guided paths. This article covers every interactive element a visitor can encounter during a workflow.
How Workflows Appear
When a workflow triggers, messages and interactive elements appear in the chat just like they would from a live agent. Visitors don't see any visual indicator that they're in a "workflow" — it all feels like a natural conversation.
A typical flow:
- A message appears with a question or information
- The visitor responds — by clicking a button, filling a form, or typing
- The next step appears based on the response
- This repeats until the workflow completes or hands off
Buttons
Buttons are the most common interactive element. They appear as a row of clickable options below the latest bot message, letting visitors choose from predefined paths.
When a visitor clicks a button:
- The selected option is recorded
- All buttons disappear immediately
- The workflow continues down the branch connected to that choice
Collect Data
Collect data actions show a single input field inside a form bubble in the chat. The visitor fills in one piece of information and submits it.
What Visitors See
A styled form block appears with:
- A question label (e.g., "What is your order number?")
- An input field matching the expected data type
- A submit button
- A close button (X) to dismiss without answering (when allowed)
Input Types
| Type | Visitor Experience |
|---|---|
| Text | Free-text input field |
| Number | Numeric input — rejects non-numeric values with an error message |
| Dropdown | Select menu with predefined options — must choose from the list |
| Customer email | Email field with format validation (rejects invalid addresses) |
After submitting, the collected value appears as a confirmation (e.g., "Order ID set to 12345") and the workflow continues.
Ask Question
The ask question action sends a message and then pauses, waiting for the visitor to type a free-form response. Unlike buttons (predefined choices) or collect data (structured input), this lets visitors answer in their own words.
The visitor types normally in the chat input and hits Enter. Their response is captured and the workflow moves to the next step.
Forms
The form action opens a full multi-field form overlay inside the widget. Unlike collect data (one field at a time), forms can include many fields — text, email, dropdowns, checkboxes, ratings, and more.
When triggered, the visitor sees a message like "Your agent would like you to fill this form:" with a clickable button showing the form name. Clicking it opens the form as an overlay within the widget. After submission, the workflow continues.
Messages
Message actions send text to the visitor as a regular chat bubble. No interaction is needed — the workflow automatically continues to the next step. Messages are used for welcome text, instructions, confirmations, or any informational content between interactive steps.
Links
Link actions redirect the visitor to a URL automatically when the workflow reaches that step. Depending on configuration:
- New tab — opens the URL separately; the visitor stays on the current page
- Same window — navigates the current page to the URL
Request Agent
When a workflow reaches a request agent action, the conversation hands off to a live human agent. The visitor may see a custom message before the transition (e.g., "Let me connect you with someone who can help..."), and then the chat moves to a live conversation.
The agent receives the full workflow conversation history for context.
Reply Time
The reply time action displays a message showing the visitor how long they can expect to wait for a response. This sets expectations when transitioning to human support.
Routing Actions
These actions are invisible to the visitor but change where the conversation goes:
- AI Bot — passes control to the AI chatbot (Vex). The visitor's next message gets an AI-generated response instead of a workflow step.
- Custom Bot — triggers a different workflow. The new workflow's actions continue in the same chat thread.
- Conditions — evaluates visitor properties (country, email, session count, agent availability) behind the scenes and routes down the matching branch. The visitor just sees the next message from whichever path was taken.
Action Categories
| Category | Actions | How They Work |
|---|---|---|
| Regular | Message, Ask Question, Collect Data, Form, API Action, Request Agent, Reply Time | Execute one after another within a node |
| Final | Buttons, Conditions, AI Bot, Custom Bot, Link | One per node — determines the next step or branch |
Regular actions run sequentially. When the workflow reaches a final action, it either branches (buttons, conditions), routes to another bot (AI Bot, Custom Bot), or exits (link).