Workflow Interactions
Buttons, data collection forms, links, and other interactive elements visitors encounter during guided chat workflow conversations.
Overview
Chat 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 human 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
When the visitor starts a workflow by tapping something — a Home button or a conversation starter — the label they tapped appears as their own message first, and the workflow's first step answers it. If a workflow starts while Vex is still writing an answer, the half-written answer stays on screen and finishes normally.
Yaplet.startBot, a yaplet://bot/ link and an Engagement banner or chat message. The label of a tapped Home button or conversation starter reaches the colleague as the visitor's own message instead. In that conversation only a colleague can start a workflow, from the inbox or the mobile app. Automatic triggers stay quiet too while a colleague is in the chat, unless a Rating given trigger is set to start anyway.Buttons
Buttons are the most common interactive element. They appear as outlined chips on the left, under 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
Buttons and collect-data cards that no longer belong to a live workflow disappear on their own: when a newer workflow run replaces the old one in the conversation, when the workflow is switched off, or when an edit removes the step they came from.
Collect Data
Collect data actions show a single input field inside a card that appears in the AI's place in the chat. The visitor fills in one piece of information and submits it.
What Visitors See
An elevated card appears with:
- A question label (e.g., "What is your order number?")
- An input field on the page color, matching the expected data type
- A solid Submit button
- A close button (X) to dismiss without answering
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 |
| Email address | Email field with format validation, for an address that is not the visitor's own (for example the one an order was placed with) — kept only for this workflow run |
| The visitor's own email address | Email field with format validation (rejects invalid addresses); the address is saved on the visitor |
After submitting, the answer appears in the chat as the visitor's own message (for example "12345") and the workflow continues. For the visitor's own email address the chat shows "You have updated your email to …" instead.
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 card from Vex reading "Vex would like you to fill this form:" with one outlined chip carrying the form name. Tapping it opens the form as an overlay within the widget. After submission, the workflow continues.
A workflow can fill in some of the form's text fields in advance with what it already knows — for example the order number the visitor gave a moment earlier. The visitor sees those answers already typed in and can change them before sending. Only free-text fields are filled in this way; choices and ratings are always left to the visitor.
Every form belongs to a ticket board, and its answers are filed as a ticket on that board. Forms are built and edited on the board's own Forms tab, at Tickets → (board) → Forms.
Messages
Message actions send text to the visitor as plain text under the same Vex · AI assistant name row as the AI's own answers — the workflow speaks as Vex. 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.
A message step with Let the AI say it switched on is written by the AI for this visitor — in their language, same meaning, nothing added. The visitor sees the typing dots first, then the message, exactly like an AI answer.
Links
Link actions redirect the visitor to a URL automatically when the workflow reaches that step — the widget opens the page itself, there is nothing to click. The address can include values the workflow collected, like an order number. 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 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:
- Send to VEX AI — hands the step's question to the brand's AI agent (Vex), which answers it straight away: typing dots, then one reply. On that turn it does not start another workflow or offer a human agent; the visitor's next message is an ordinary AI turn.
- Start a workflow — ends the current workflow and starts the one it names, in the same chat thread. If that workflow cannot start (for example it was switched off or deleted), the visitor gets an apology and a colleague is requested.
- 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.
- Call an API — fetches data from your own system without showing the visitor anything, then goes on as Worked or Failed. If it fails and the workflow has no Failed branch, the visitor gets an apology and a colleague is requested.
- Stop — don't reply — ends the workflow and sends nothing.
Action Categories
| Category | Actions | How They Work |
|---|---|---|
| Regular | Write a message, Ask a question, Collect data, Start a form, Request agent, Show expected reply time | Execute one after another within a node |
| Final | Buttons, Conditions, Call an API, Send to VEX AI, Start a workflow, Open link, Stop — don't reply | 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, Call an API), hands over (Send to VEX AI, Start a workflow), or ends (Open link, Stop — don't reply).