What are the different states a conversation can have on the platform?
⚡Quick answer -
Every customer conversation lives in exactly one of three states:
• Open – new or unassigned chats visible to all agents.
• Assigned – chats owned by a specific agent; only that agent (or an admin/manager) can reply.
• Closed – resolved or inactive chats that disallow new agent replies until the customer messages again (if 24 hours window is expired).
When should I use this guide?
Use this FAQ to understand how the Inbox sorts conversations, when a chat automatically moves between states, and what agents or admins can and cannot do in each state.
1. State definitions & triggers
State | When it starts | Who can reply | How it ends |
🟢 Open | • Customer sends a message. • Closed chat gets a new customer reply. • Any WABA number routes a new chat to your BAN. | Any agent | Agent reply → Assigned |
🟡 Assigned | • An agent replies to an Open chat. • Admin/manager assigns chat to agent. | Assigned agent (admins can override) | • Agent marks Resolved → Closed. • 48 h of no customer reply → Closed |
🔴 Closed | • Agent marks Resolved. • 48 h inactivity in Assigned. | None (read-only) | Customer messages again → Open |
2. State-change rules
- Replying from the Open bucket immediately sets the assigned agent.
- A manual Mark as Resolved action moves the chat to Closed.
- After 48 hours of silence in Assigned, the system auto-closes the chat.
- Any new customer message on a Closed chat reopens it as Open.
3. What you CANNOT do
• Agents cannot reply to assigned chats owned by someone else unless an admin reassigns or takes over.
• No agent can send free-flow messages in a Closed chat (can initiate via template); only a customer message re-opens it.
• Campaign (outbound) messages do not appear in the Inbox; only the customer’s replies do, as Open.
5. State-flow diagram
Alt-text: State diagram showing transitions between Open, Assigned, and Closed based on agent or customer actions.
Keywords: conversation states, Open, Assigned, Closed, chat routing, mark as resolved
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