Quick Answer

1. Objective, Definition & Benefits

Canned Messages (also called Canned Responses or Canned Replies) eliminate repetitive typing, speed up first-response times, keep answers consistent, and give new agents an approved library to draw from.

2. Ideal & Non-Ideal Use Cases

• Answering FAQs such as pricing, business hours, or return policies
• Sending standard greetings, away messages, or chatbot hand-off notices
• Sharing onboarding or troubleshooting steps that rarely change
• Handling high-volume events like promotions or outages
• Speeding up onboarding for new agents—point them to the library instead of having them write from scratch

Do not use Canned Messages for highly unique or sensitive issues, when required customer data (name, order ID, etc.) is missing with no fallback, or when live, frequently changing information such as real-time stock levels is required.

3. Access & Permissions

4. Creating a Canned Message

1. Navigate to the Canned Messages menu in the sidebar.
2. Click + Create New Message.
3. Complete all required fields, optionally add attachments, variables, and buttons (rules below).
4. Review the live preview pane.
5. Click Save Message.
   

Common validation errors:

1. "Name already in use" — choose a different message name
2. "Please enter a message name" — name field is blank
3. "Please upload the image" / "Please fill the required fields"
4. Invalid file format or size triggers an attachment-specific error

5. Editing a Canned Message

1. On the listing page click Edit beside the desired message.
2. The form opens pre-filled; all fields except Message Name are editable.
3. Apply changes and click Save Message.

The same validation rules used at creation apply on edit.

6. Deleting a Canned Message

1. Click Delete on the listing row.
2. A custom confirmation modal opens; click Confirm to proceed.

Messages linked to a Welcome Message or Away Message cannot be deleted until the link is removed. The agent sees:

You can't delete this canned message. It's currently linked to the {{Welcome Message / Away Message}} on {{phone number}}. To delete it, first remove it from that message.

7. Listing Page Features

8. Inserting & Sending a Canned Message

1. In the composer, type /; a pop-up selector appears above the composer without covering chat history.
2. Scroll or type at least two characters to live-filter by name or content.
3. Click the message or highlight with arrows and press Enter; the resolved message is inserted, the pop-up closes, and any triggering characters are replaced.

The cursor lands at the end of the inserted text unless unresolved placeholders remain—then it jumps to the first unresolved variable for quick editing. Agents may freely edit the inserted text; changes affect only this send, not the stored template.

9. Variable Handling

Variables resolve in this order:

1. Values the agent types manually into the composer.
2. Auto-populated values from the active conversation’s customer profile (e.g., {{contact.name}} → "Rahul Sharma").
3. The fallback value set by an admin.

1. If none apply, the raw placeholder stays visible for the agent to fill.
   
2. Auto-populated variables are limited to predefined system and contact fields; external data sources are not yet supported.
   
3. Manual variables such as {{a}}, {{1}}, or {{discount}} are never auto-filled and may be reused multiple times within one message.
   

10. Media Attachments

When a canned message containing media is inserted, the text appears, and the media is internally attached. A filename or icon signals the attachment. While active, the Add Attachment and remove (×) icons are disabled—agents cannot swap or remove the media.

11. Interactive Buttons

12. Limitations & Quotas

• Message names are immutable and must be unique per company.
• Maximum 1,000 canned messages per company account (configurable by the platform team).
• Body text limited to 1,024 characters.
• Buttons: max 3 Quick Replies (25 characters each) and 1 CTA with a static URL.
• Supported media only: JPEG, JPG, PNG ≤ 5 MB; MP4, 3GPP ≤ 10 MB; PDF, DOCX ≤ 10 MB.
• Agents cannot modify button text or attached media at send time.
• If customer data is missing and no fallback is set, raw {{variable_name}} is sent unless the agent edits it manually.

Keywords

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