Build a no-code WhatsApp chatbot with AI replies

A no-code WhatsApp chatbot is built by connecting steps in a visual builder — a greeting, reply buttons, a list, a question — instead of writing code. In Relay, Flows run that structured path, and an AI auto-reply bot answers free-text questions from your own documents, so an Indian business gets a WhatsApp AI chatbot with a human handoff.

TL;DR

• A flow is a chain of steps you connect on a canvas: messages, buttons, lists, files, questions, rules, tags and a handoff. There's no code to write.
• Flows and AI drafts come with every Relay plan. The AI auto-reply bot and the knowledge base are on the Business plan only.
• Flows always win. When a flow handles a message, the AI bot stays silent, so a customer never gets two replies.
• Use the flow for the path you can predict (course enquiry → fees → demo booking). Use the AI bot and knowledge base for questions you can't predict (refunds, hostel options).
• Both end with a person. A flow handoff lands in the shared inbox. An AI handoff pauses the bot, leaves a note and notifies your team.

What is a no-code WhatsApp chatbot?#

A no-code WhatsApp chatbot is an automated WhatsApp conversation that you design by arranging and connecting ready-made steps, not by programming. Each step points to the next one. The chatbot runs the conversation with every customer who triggers it, one step at a time.

In Relay, two separate features together make a chatbot with AI replies:

• Flows are the visual builder. A flow is a button-driven conversation that waits for the customer's tap or reply before moving on. It is predictable: a parent who taps "Fees" always gets the fee structure.
• The AI assistant writes answers in plain language from your business description and your knowledge base. A knowledge base is a set of documents — FAQs, policies, prices — that the assistant searches before it answers. It handles the questions you never drew a branch for.

A flow gives you control; the AI gives you coverage. This guide builds both for a JEE and NEET coaching institute.

Which plan do I need for a WhatsApp AI chatbot in India?#

Relay is the WhatsApp Business platform for Indian SMBs, and the chatbot pieces are split across its three plans like this:

Sources: prices and credits from Relay's pricing, plan gating from the AI assistant docs, both checked on 28 September 2026. Every plan starts with a free trial, and no card is needed.

A few things to know before you pick:

• AI is funded by Relay. You don't need an account with an AI provider or an API key. Relay chooses the model for your plan.
• One AI credit is one AI action: a draft, an auto-reply or a Playground message (usage and limits, checked 28 September 2026).
• Building a flow needs the agent role or higher. Turning on the auto-reply bot and editing the knowledge base need admin or owner (Flows overview, AI assistant).
• Flows are marked beta in the product today.

You also need a WhatsApp Business API number connected to Relay. The WhatsApp Business App on its own can't run a chatbot like this. WhatsApp Business App vs API explains the difference, and Connect WhatsApp covers the setup.

How do I build a no-code WhatsApp chatbot, step by step?#

Here is the coaching institute's flow. A parent asks about courses or fees, can book a free demo class, and is then handed to a counsellor. It uses only the steps (Relay calls them nodes) listed in the node reference.

Before you start: create a tag called demo-requested in Settings → Fields & tags. The Tag contact node picks from tags that already exist.

1. Create the flow. Open Flows, click New flow, then Or start blank. The flow opens as a Draft with a single Start node. Build on the Canvas or in List view.
2. Set the trigger. In List view's trigger panel, choose A message contains a keyword and enter course, fees, demo, admission. Keywords match case-insensitively, anywhere in the message, so "What are your fees for NEET?" starts the flow. The other option is Customer's first ever inbound message, which runs once for every new contact (Flow triggers).
3. Add the welcome menu. Add a Send buttons node: "Hi! Thanks for messaging us. What would you like to know?" Give it three buttons: Courses, Fees and Talk to us. Then point Start at this node.
4. Show the courses. Point Courses at a Send list node with the button label View courses. Add rows like "JEE 2-year", "JEE 1-year", "NEET 2-year", "NEET 1-year" and "Foundation 9–10". Point each row at its own Send message node with that course's duration and batch timings.
5. Send the fees. Point Fees at a Send media node that sends your fee structure as a PDF document, with a caption such as "Fee structure for the 2027 batches." Relay accepts files up to 16 MB (node reference, checked 28 September 2026).
6. Offer the demo. Point every course message and the fee PDF at one more Send buttons node: "Would you like to attend a free demo class?" Give it two buttons, Book a demo and Not now. Not now goes to a Send message ("No problem. Message us whenever you're ready.") and then to an End node.
7. Capture the booking details. Point Book a demo at a Collect input node that asks "Which day and time suit you? For example, Saturday 11 am" and saves the reply as demo_time. Chain a second Collect input that asks for the student's name and class and saves it as student.
8. Tag the lead. Add a Tag contact node in add mode with the demo-requested tag. You can later filter contacts or choose a campaign audience by this tag.
9. Confirm in the chat. Add a Send message node: Thanks! We've noted {{vars.student}} for a demo on {{vars.demo_time}}. A counsellor will confirm here shortly. Send message fills in each variable, and the answers appear in the conversation where your counsellor will read them.
10. Hand off. End the booking path with a Handoff to agent node. Point the Talk to us button from step 3 at a second Handoff to agent node.
11. Check and activate. The validation panel at the bottom of the builder lists any button, row or branch that has no next node. When it reads "No issues. Ready to activate.", click Activate. To test, type one of the keywords from your own phone. Taps never start a flow; only typed text does.

Every path now ends in either an End or a Handoff to agent node. That is what a finished flow needs:

Two limits come from WhatsApp itself. A reply-button message allows at most 3 buttons of up to 20 characters each (Meta, reply buttons). A list allows at most 10 rows in total, with row titles up to 24 characters (Meta, list messages). Both were checked on 28 September 2026.

To let returning parents with the demo-requested tag skip the menu, add an If / else node after Start that checks for the tag and sends the true branch to a handoff.

The same pattern works in other businesses. A clinic can run departments → timings → collect preferred slot → handoff. A real estate agency can run budget list → locality → collect site-visit day → handoff. A D2C brand can run track order / returns / talk to us. A travel agency can run destination list → send itinerary PDF → collect travel dates → handoff.

How does AI handle questions the flow can't answer?#

Parents also ask things you never drew a branch for, such as "Is there a hostel near the centre?" or "What's your refund policy if my son drops out after a month?" On the Business plan, the AI auto-reply bot answers these from your knowledge base.

Set it up in AI Agents → Setup (AI assistant docs):

1. In Business context & instructions, describe the institute and what the bot may and may not promise. For example: "Never confirm a demo slot or a discount. Hand those to a counsellor."
2. Turn on Enable AI assistant, then Auto-reply to inbound messages.
3. Set Max auto-replies per conversation, from 1 to 20, and choose who to Hand off to: a specific teammate, or the unassigned queue.
4. Under Knowledge base, click Add document for each topic, for example "Refunds and batch transfers", "Hostel and PG options" and "Scholarship test". The assistant splits each document into short passages and uses only the few most relevant to the question. Keep each document to one topic, and use the words parents use.
5. Test it in the Playground tab first.

The bot replies from the same number the parent wrote to. Because it only answers a message that has just arrived, it always replies inside WhatsApp's 24-hour customer service window (Meta, checked 28 September 2026). Its messages carry an AI badge in the Inbox.

Does the flow or the AI reply first?#

The flow always does. Relay offers every inbound message to Flows first, and the AI bot only sees messages no flow handled. In practice:

• A message that starts a flow, or arrives mid-flow, belongs to the flow. The bot stays silent.
• An active New Message or Keyword Match automation on that number also keeps the bot quiet there, so the parent is never answered twice.
• Only typed text gets an AI reply. Button taps and list picks don't.
• A question typed while the flow is waiting for a tap is an unrecognized reply, not an AI question. The flow re-sends its buttons, and after 2 unrecognized replies it hands the conversation off (how flow runs work, checked 28 September 2026).

So keep your keyword list tight. Keywords match anywhere, so "fees" in "will you refund the fees?" starts the flow, not the AI.

On Starter or Growth, you won't have the auto-reply bot, but your team can still click Draft a reply with AI in any conversation. The draft fills the composer, your agent edits it, and nothing is sent until they send it.

How does handoff to a human work?#

There are two kinds of handoff, and they behave differently.

Flow handoff (the Handoff to agent node). The run ends, and the conversation moves to pending in the shared inbox, unassigned, for any agent to pick up. The node's internal note is saved with the run but isn't shown in the inbox, and it doesn't fill in variables. That's why step 9 repeats the answers in a Send message. Every captured answer is also listed on the flow's Runs page. A flow also hands off by itself after 2 unrecognized replies. If an agent replies from the inbox mid-flow, the run stops as Paused by agent. A paused run with no reply for 24 hours ends as Timed out.

AI handoff (the auto-reply bot). When the bot decides it can't help, it:

1. pauses itself in that conversation until someone clicks Resume AI;
2. leaves a short note, such as "AI agent handed off after 2 replies. Last customer message: …";
3. assigns the conversation to the teammate in Hand off to, if it was unassigned. Otherwise the conversation stays where it is;
4. raises a notification for the assigned teammate, or for every owner and admin if it stays unassigned.

Reaching the reply cap is not a handoff. The bot simply stops replying in that conversation, with no note and no notification.

One practical tip. The bot never replies in a conversation that has an assigned teammate. After a flow handoff, have the counsellor assign the booking to themselves, or click Take over on the bot's banner. Otherwise a Business-plan bot can answer the parent's next message.

If your number runs in coexistence mode (available during onboarding with our team), replying from the WhatsApp Business App on the phone also pauses the bot. Coexistence explains how one number can run on both.

Why isn't my WhatsApp chatbot replying?#

Check these in order:

• The flow never started. It isn't Active, the parent tapped instead of typing, or they already have an active run on that number. A second trigger is ignored until the first run ends (troubleshooting).
• The flow stopped halfway. An agent replied from the inbox, or the run timed out after 24 hours. The Runs page shows which one.
• The AI bot is silent. A flow or automation handled the message, a teammate is assigned, the bot was paused after a handoff, the reply cap was reached, or the workspace is out of AI credits.
• Answers ignore your documents. Split long documents into focused ones and click Reindex.

When your demo-requested list grows, follow up with a campaign, after reading how to send bulk WhatsApp messages without getting blocked.

How do I get started?#

Clone the built-in Lead capture template or start blank, build the coaching flow above in one sitting, and test it from your own phone before you switch on AI replies. Start your free Relay trial. No card is required.