Capturing information from a user in a WhatsApp chat conversation

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Capturing Information from a User in a WhatsApp Chat Conversation

    This guide details how to utilize the Virtual Agent Designer to capture information from users during WhatsApp chat conversations. It emphasizes the importance of user consent for notifications and outlines the input controls and bot responses available for effective interaction.

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    User Notification Consent

    Users must opt in to receive notifications via WhatsApp. They can do this by either typing "Notification" in the chat or responding to a bot prompt that offers subscription options. As an administrator, you can configure these options on your portal for user management.

    User Input Controls

    The WhatsApp Cloud API supports various user input controls within the Virtual Agent Designer, enabling effective data capture:

    • Text: Users can enter plain text.
    • Static Choice: Users select an item from a predefined list.
    • Boolean: Users respond with Yes or No.
    • File Picker: Users can send files to the bot.
    • Dynamic Choice: Users select from a dynamic list (partial support).
    • Date Time: Users select date and/or time.
    • Carousel: Users choose an item from a carousel display.

    Bot Responses

    The application also supports a variety of bot responses to enhance user interaction:

    • Text: Sends a plain text message.
    • Image: Sends an image to the user.
    • Link: Sends a web link.
    • Card: Sends selected information from a record.
    • Multi-response: Combines text, images, and links with interactive buttons.
    • Video: Sends a video link with a title and description.
    • Web UI Image Card: Sends compact content with an image and text.
    • Table: Displays information in a table format.

    For further details on configuring these features, refer to the Assistant Designer documentation.

    Use the collection of input controls provided by the Virtual Agent Designer to prompt and capture information from a requester in a WhatsApp chat conversation.

    Virtual Agent Designer is a diagram tool for creating and managing topics, which are blueprints for conversations between a virtual agent and user. For more information, see Getting started with Virtual Agent Designer.

    User notification consent

    Users must opt in to receive notifications. No notifications can be delivered until the user grants consent.

    There are two ways for users to grant consent to receive notifications:
    • The user can enter Notification into the WhatsApp chat with your business. The user gets a bot response with the option to subscribe or unsubscribe from receiving notifications for your business on WhatsApp.
    • As the administrator, you can set up the option for users to subscribe or unsubscribe from notifications from your portal. See Subscription-based notifications for more information.

    User input controls

    The Conversational Integration with WhatsApp (WhatsApp Cloud API) application supports the following user input controls in Virtual Agent Designer.

    Table 1. Supported user input controls
    User input control Description
    Text User enters a plain text string in the conversation.
    Static Choice User selects an item from a predefined list.
    Boolean User enters a Boolean response to the bot. For example, the user can reply Yes or No in a chat conversation.
    File Picker User sends a file to the bot.
    Dynamic choice User selects an item from a dynamic list (partial support).
    Date Time User selects a calendar date, time (hours and minutes), or both.
    Carousel User selects a single item from the carousel.

    For more information about configuring user input controls, see Assistant Designer user input controls.

    The Conversational Integration with WhatsApp (WhatsApp Cloud API) application supports the following bot responses in Virtual Agent Designer.

    Table 2. Supported bot responses
    Bot response Description
    Text Bot sends a plain text string to the user.
    Image Bot sends an image to the user.
    Link Bot sends a web link to the user.
    Card Bot sends selected information from a record on your instance.
    Table 3. Supported bot responses
    Bot response Description
    Text Bot sends a plain text string to the user.
    Image Bot sends an image to the user.
    Link Bot sends a web link to the user.
    Card Record card: Bot sends content from a record in a compact format.

    Image card: Sends an image along with a caption.

    YouTube video card: Bot sends a YouTube video link with a title and description.
    HTML Not supported
    Script Not supported
    Multi-response Bot sends text, image, and link with an interactive button.
    Video Bot sends a video link with title, description, and interactive button.
    Web UI image card output Bot sends content from a record in a compact format, including an image with text.
    Table Bot response is displayed as a table.

    For more information about configuring bot responses, see Assistant Designer bot responses.