Text bot response control

Use the Text bot response control in a Virtual Agent topic to display a bot response as text. You can format the Text bot responses using the text editor controls. For example, you can bold or italicize the text, as well as include links, bulleted lists, and emojis.

Text bot response properties

Use the Text response properties panel to design bot responses to the user.

Table 1. General options

Property	Description
Node name	Name that identifies this Text bot response node in the topic flow.
Response message	The Text bot response to the user. The response can be one of the following: Rich text message. Script, which can include Glide record variables or script variables. Note: The script can also include a temporary password for the end user. You can format the text messages using the text editor controls. For example, you can use the icons on the Response Message field to bold or italicize the text, as well as include links, bulleted lists, numbered lists, and emojis. You can also include an input variable, such as a temporary password, in the response message. To include a link, do one of the following: Select the link icon: . Add your response message. Select the text to use as a link, and then select the link icon. Fill in the fields in the Confirmation window. Enter the text to use as the link, and then enter the URL in the Link field. Enter the display label for the link and a static URL, or use the data pill picker to create a dynamic URL.
Add alternate message	Add one or more alternate response messages for the user. Virtual Agent randomly chooses one of your responses for each conversation.

Table 2. Advanced options

Shorten responses
Enable	When turned on, long bot responses are shortened. A Show more link is shown along with the truncated response. When the option is turned off, the entire response is used. By default, this option is turned on.
Make this response secure
Enable	When enabled, the bot response is displayed to the user, but thereafter securely masked and not viewable by others.
Request feedback
Enable	When turned on, thumbs up and down icons are displayed next to bot responses for feedback.
Hide this node
Conditionally show this node if	A no-code condition statement or low-code script that specifies a condition for presenting this node in the conversation. The condition must evaluate to true.

Channel support

Table 3. Channel support for the Text bot response control

Channel	Support	Constraints
Web UI	Supported	None
Mobile UI	Supported	None
Now Assist panel	Supported	None
Microsoft Teams	Supported	None
Slack	Supported	None
Workplace	Supported	None
Facebook Messenger	Supported	Plain text string only
SMS Twilio	Supported	None
LINE	Supported	None
WhatsApp	Supported	None
Apple Messages for Business	Supported	None
Alexa (Voice)	Supported	For screen devices, full support. For nonscreen devices, the header is read.

Example Text bot response script

In this example, the script returns a string that greets the user. The gs.getUser().getFirstName() property is used to append the first name of the current user.

(function execute() {
    return 'Hello ' + gs.getUser().getFirstName();
})()

In this example, the script returns links to three instances in the response. Use Markdown to include multiple links in the script.

(function execute() {
    var output = 'Hello\n';
    output += '\n- [Instance 1](http://instance1.com)';
    output += '\n- [Instance 2](http://instance2.com)';
    output += '\n- [Instance 3](http://instance3.com)';
    return output;
})()

Example Text bot response control

Note:

Assistant Designer controls may display and function differently in other channels.

Response properties	Text bot response output
Figure 1. Text bot response control basic properties	Figure 2. Web UI Text bot response output