User Guide · Automation
Automated messages
Send WhatsApp messages automatically when something happens in your own platform: an order, a payment, an appointment.
Automated messages connect events from your website, store or app to WhatsApp messages that send themselves. Your platform tells Inboxi “order.shipped for +966…”, and Inboxi sends the right message, as a normal chat message or as an approved template, depending on WhatsApp's 24-hour rule. Open Settings › Automated Messages.
The Automated Messages page
- 1Logs: every send with its status and method.
- 2New Custom Event.
- 3Filter by category: Education, Orders, Appointments, Payments, Custom, General.
- 4Switch the event on or off.
- 5System or Custom badge.
- 6Configure the message.
System and custom events
System events are ready-made for common cases. If your list is empty, click Create System Events. You can rename their display labels.
| Category | System events |
|---|---|
| Education | enrollment.created, enrollment.activated, enrollment.expired, student.performance_report |
| Orders | order.created, order.confirmed, order.shipped, order.delivered |
| Appointments | appointment.created, appointment.reminder |
| Payments | payment.received, payment.failed |
| General | custom.notification |
Custom events cover anything else. Click New Custom Event and give it an English event name (it is prefixed with custom. and cannot be changed later), a display label, a description and a category.
- 1Event Name: the technical name your platform sends.
- 2Category.
- 3Tabs: Message, Template (Outside 24h), Variables.
- 4Session Message with {{variables}}.
- 5Generate a report page for long messages.
Session message vs. template fallback
WhatsApp only allows free-form messages within 24 hours of the customer's last message. Each event therefore has two versions:
| Tab | Used when | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Message | The customer wrote to you in the last 24 hours. | Free text with variables and an optional URL button (one CTA). |
| Template (Outside 24h) | The 24-hour window is closed. | Pick an approved Meta template and map its {{1}}, {{2}}… to your data fields. You can also create and submit a new template from here. |
Generate report page for long messages: outside 24 hours, a message longer than a template allows is turned into a hosted page, and the template links to it. The page expires after 30 days.
Variables
In the Variables tab, list the data your platform will send: key, label, type (Text, Number, URL, Array) and whether it is required. Auto-discover from last data fills the list from the last event received. In messages you can use:
Hello {{customer_name}}! Your order #{{order_id}} has shipped.
{{#if tracking_url}}Track it here: {{tracking_url}}{{/if}}
{{#each items}}- {{this.name}} x{{this.qty}}
{{/each}}Triggering an event from your platform
/api/v1/events/triggerFire an event for one phone number| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
event | string | required | Event name, e.g. order.shipped or custom.homework_submitted. |
phone | string | required | Customer phone number in international format. |
data | object | optional | Values for your variables. variables is accepted as an alias. |
sendAt | string | optional | Optional time to send later. |
curl -X POST https://inboxi.app/api/v1/events/trigger \
-H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"event":"order.shipped","phone":"+966500000000","data":{"customer_name":"Sara","order_id":"1042"}}'Full API details, cooldowns and error codes are in Event messaging and the Events API reference.
Test and logs
- Saved events have a Test tab: enter a phone number, adjust the auto-filled test data and click Send Test.
- Logs lists every send with Date, Event, Phone, Method (Session, Template, or Report + Template) and Status (Sent, Failed, Pending, Scheduled).
- Automated messages are sent through your WhatsApp Cloud API number.