🛠️ How-to tutorials

Build a WhatsApp chatbot without code: a Flow Builder walkthrough

Updated 2026-09-19 · 4 min read · By the Convo360 team

In short

You can build a working WhatsApp chatbot with no coding using a drag-and-drop flow builder: pick a chat trigger like 'new conversation' or a keyword, add blocks such as Ask a Question, Buttons and AI Reply, connect variables between steps, preview the whole conversation, then publish. A simple lead-capture or FAQ flow typically takes under an hour to build the first time.

Key takeaways

Decide chat bot vs voice bot first — this article covers a chat flow; voice flows use call-specific blocks instead.
Every flow starts with a trigger: new conversation, a keyword, a group join event, or an inbound webhook.
Blocks like Ask a Question and Set Variable let you collect and reuse information (name, city, product) through the conversation.
Preview / Try-it lets you test the entire flow as a real customer would experience it, before publishing.
Published flows keep their draft history, so you can roll back if a change breaks something.

Prerequisites and chat bot vs voice bot

Before you start, have your WhatsApp number connected (see our WhatsApp API setup guide) and know roughly what the bot should do: answer FAQs, capture leads, or both. Convo360's Flow Builder handles both chat (WhatsApp, web, Instagram, etc.) and voice (AI phone calls) flows, but they use different blocks. This walkthrough covers a chat flow. For a phone-call flow with gather, DTMF and transfer blocks, see our AI voice agent setup guide instead.

It also helps to sketch the conversation on paper first, even three or four boxes with arrows showing the greeting, the main choices and where each one leads, before opening the Flow Builder. Five minutes of sketching saves a lot of rework once you're placing blocks on the canvas. Choosing chat versus voice correctly at this stage also matters because switching a flow's type later generally means rebuilding it with the right block set, rather than a simple setting change.

Step 1–3: trigger and first messages

Create a new flow in the Flow Builder and name it clearly, e.g. 'WhatsApp Lead Capture'.
Set the trigger: for a general bot, choose 'New conversation'; for a specific intent, choose a keyword trigger like 'price' or 'demo' (see our keyword trigger guide).
Add a Send Message block with a friendly greeting introducing your business.

Step 4–6: collecting information

Add an Ask a Question block to collect the customer's name, storing it in a variable such as 'name'.
Add a Buttons or List Menu block to offer choices, for example 'New enquiry', 'Existing order', 'Talk to a person'.
Use a Condition block to branch the flow based on which button the customer picked.

Step 7–10: intelligence, data capture, preview and publish

For open-ended questions, add an AI Reply block, giving it a short system prompt and, optionally, a knowledge base so it can answer from your documents.
Add a Save CRM lead block to store the captured name, phone number and any answers as a trackable lead automatically.
Click Preview / Try-it to run through the entire flow as a test customer, checking every branch behaves as expected. The built-in health check flags any dead ends where a customer could get stuck.
Publish the flow. It goes live on your connected WhatsApp number immediately. Drafts and published versions are kept separately, so you can keep editing a draft without affecting the live bot, and roll back if needed.

A worked example: a gym membership enquiry flow

Putting the ten steps together for a gym in Ahmedabad: trigger is 'New conversation'. The bot greets, asks the customer's name, then shows a List Menu: 'Membership plans', 'Personal training', 'Trial session'. Choosing 'Trial session' routes through a Condition block into an Ask a Question step collecting a preferred date, then a Save CRM lead block logs the enquiry, and a final Send Message confirms someone will call to schedule it. Choosing 'Membership plans' instead routes to an AI Reply block with a small knowledge base holding the current plans and pricing, so pricing questions get answered instantly without waking up the front desk.

The whole build, from opening a blank canvas to publishing, took the gym's front-desk manager about 40 minutes on her first attempt, including two rounds of testing in Preview to catch a mislabelled button. That's a realistic timeline to expect for a similarly-sized first flow. Simpler FAQ-only bots go faster, while flows with several branching Condition blocks can take a bit longer.

Troubleshooting common issues

Issue	Fix
Flow doesn't trigger at all	Check the trigger is set correctly and the flow is Published, not just saved as a draft.
A button click doesn't branch correctly	Confirm the Condition block checks the exact button value, not a similar-looking label typed by hand.
AI Reply gives generic or wrong answers	Attach a knowledge base and tighten the system prompt. See our system prompt guide.
Variable shows blank in a later message	Check the Ask a Question block's variable name matches exactly wherever it's reused later in the flow.
Health check flags a dead end	Add a fallback message or a handoff to AI Reply at any branch that currently has no next step.
Two flows both respond to the same message	Check whether more than one flow has an overlapping keyword or 'new conversation' trigger active at once.

Blocks worth knowing about as you grow

Block	What it's for
Wait / Delay	Pause seconds for a typing feel, or minutes/hours/days for a drip sequence
Send Template	Send a Meta-approved template outside the 24-hour window
HTTP/API request	Call your own backend or a third-party service mid-flow
Go To / Call Sub-flow	Reuse a chunk of flow logic across multiple flows
Split (A/B)	Test two message variants against each other

Start simple with the blocks above, then layer these in once your first flow is working reliably. Most businesses find they only need three or four of these additional blocks even at full maturity. Resist the urge to use every available block just because it exists; a flow that's easy for your team to read and edit later is more valuable than one that shows off every feature.

Step by step

Create the flow and set its triggerName the flow clearly and choose 'New conversation' or a keyword trigger for an intent-specific flow.
Send a greetingAdd a Send Message block introducing your business.
Ask for the customer's nameUse an Ask a Question block and store the reply in a variable.
Offer choicesAdd a Buttons or List Menu block for the customer to pick an intent.
Branch with a conditionUse a Condition block to route the conversation based on the chosen option.
Add an AI Reply for open questionsGive it a short system prompt, and a knowledge base if it should answer from documents.
Save the leadAdd a Save CRM lead block to capture the conversation as a trackable lead.
Preview and publishUse Preview / Try-it, check the health check for dead ends, then publish the flow live.

Example conversation

Hi, I want to know about your gym membership plans

Welcome! I'm happy to help — could I get your name first? Once I have that, I'll show you our current membership options and can book you a free trial session.

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Frequently asked questions

Do I need any coding knowledge to build a WhatsApp bot on Convo360?

No. The Flow Builder is entirely drag-and-drop — blocks like Ask a Question, Buttons and AI Reply cover most business logic without writing code. A JavaScript block exists for advanced users who want custom logic.

How long does it take to build a first flow?

A simple lead-capture or FAQ flow typically takes under an hour the first time, and much less once you're familiar with the blocks. A flow with several branching Condition steps, like a full menu-driven ordering bot, can take a bit longer to build and test properly.

Can I test the flow before customers see it?

Yes, use Preview / Try-it to run through the entire conversation as a test user, and the built-in health check flags any dead ends before you publish.

What happens if I make a mistake after publishing?

Convo360 keeps draft and published versions separately with rollback, so you can revert to a previous working version at any time. Keep editing the draft after publishing, and only push it live again once you have re-tested it in Preview / Try-it.

Can the same flow work for both WhatsApp and the website widget?

Most blocks work across channels, though a few, such as Send Template, are WhatsApp-specific since they depend on Meta's own template system. You can build one flow and swap in channel-specific blocks only where a channel actually needs them.

Why does the health check keep flagging my flow even after I fixed one dead end?

It re-scans the whole flow after each change, so if you added a new branch (like an extra button option) without giving it a next step, it will flag that new gap separately from the one you already fixed.