Keyword Node

The Keyword Node (also called the Trigger Words panel) is where a chatbot flow starts. It listens for specific words a contact sends on WhatsApp and, when one matches, starts the chatbot flow connected to it.

Every chatbot needs a trigger — this is the most common way to start one, alongside the Ad Welcome Sequence trigger for Click-to-WhatsApp ads and the Webhook trigger for external systems.

Adding Trigger Words

Type a word or short phrase and press Enter to add it as a trigger keyword. You can add as many as you need (for example hi, hello, menu). When a contact sends any one of these words, this chatbot starts.

Keyword Match Type

Choose how strictly an incoming message has to match your trigger words:

• Exact match (default) — The message must be exactly the keyword, nothing else. Sending “hi there” will not trigger a keyword set to hi.
• Optional match — The message just needs to contain the keyword as a whole word anywhere in the text. Sending “hi there” will trigger a keyword set to hi, and so will “can I get a demo please” for a keyword set to demo. It won’t match the keyword inside another word (demo won’t match “demonstrate”).

Use Exact match when your keywords are short common words you don’t want accidentally triggered mid-sentence. Use Optional match when you expect contacts to type full sentences that happen to include your keyword.

Session Expiry

Automatically end a contact’s chat session after a set period of inactivity, so an old, abandoned conversation doesn’t stay stuck waiting for a reply forever.

• Expiry time — How long to wait after the contact’s last message before ending the session (15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, or 1 hour).
• Expiry message — The message sent to the contact when their session ends. Customize this to invite them to start again.

On Mismatch (Interactive Button/List Nodes)

These two settings control what happens when a contact’s reply doesn’t match any of the options on an Interactive Button or List node further along in the flow — for example, they type something instead of tapping one of the provided buttons. Both are off by default, and both can be turned on together.

Stop the bot

On your own risk: if turned on, the chatbot ends the conversation the moment a reply doesn’t match — no further messages are sent for that flow. Use this if you’d rather stop talking to a contact who isn’t following the expected options than keep re-asking.

Send a message

If turned on, the chatbot sends a configured message (for example, “That doesn’t look like a valid option. Please try again with a correct reply.”) and then shows the same buttons or list again, so the contact can try once more. The conversation keeps going and keeps waiting for a valid reply.

Using both together

If you turn on both Stop the bot and Send a message, the chatbot sends your configured message first, and then ends the conversation — it doesn’t stop silently.

What this doesn’t affect

• Question Node (multiple-choice) has its own separate handling — it automatically re-prompts a limited number of times before ending the flow, and isn’t controlled by these settings.
• Input Node always accepts whatever the contact types, so there’s no “mismatch” case for it.
• These settings only apply to a mismatch on Interactive Button/List nodes reached after this trigger — they never fire on the trigger word itself that started the chat.

Summary

1. Add one or more trigger keywords the contact can type to start this chatbot.
2. Choose Exact match (word-for-word) or Optional match (keyword anywhere in the message).
3. Set a session expiry time and message so inactive chats don’t stay open forever.
4. Optionally turn on Stop the bot and/or Send a message to control what happens if a contact’s reply doesn’t match an Interactive Button/List node’s options later in the flow.