Automations: Overview

What are Automations in Keaz?

Automations let Keaz answer WhatsApp messages for you, following rules you set once. Three functions sit side by side: Keywords, Conversation Starter and Default Reply. Together they cover the three moments where an automatic answer helps — a contact writes a defined trigger word, a contact writes something you did not plan for, or a conversation needs reopening after it has closed.

Where do I find the Automations?

They live inside the Inbox. The Automation button sits at the top right of the conversation panel and opens the Automations area, where a sidebar lists Keywords, Conversation Starter and Default Reply. You never leave the Inbox to adjust them — see the Inbox overview for the rest of that screen.

What does each of the three functions do?

• Keywords are word-based triggers. When a contact writes a word you defined, Keaz replies automatically with the answer stored for it. Three keywords are mandatory and cannot be removed, which keeps your opt-out and data requests handled without extra effort.
• Conversation Starter is a structured message template used only for one purpose: reopening a conversation whose reply window has closed.
• Default Reply is an optional fallback. When an incoming message matches no keyword, it answers instead of leaving the contact without a response. You switch it on and off with a toggle.

The mandatory keywords are what a contact uses to stop receiving messages from you. How you collect that permission in the first place is a separate question — our guide to collecting WhatsApp opt-ins the GDPR-compliant way covers the legal side in depth.

Which automation fires when two of them could apply?

The three functions follow a fixed hierarchy, so a single incoming message never produces two answers:

1. A contact sends you a message.
2. Keaz checks whether a keyword trigger matches. If one does, the keyword response goes out.
3. If no keyword matches, the Default Reply goes out — but only if it is switched on, and at most once every 24 hours per contact.
4. If the Default Reply is switched off, nothing is sent and the message simply waits for you in the Inbox.

Keyword logic always takes precedence. The once-per-24-hours cap on the Default Reply also prevents repeated sends when a contact writes several messages in a row.

What happens when the 24-hour reply window closes?

A conversation closes automatically 24 hours after the contact's last message. This window is set by WhatsApp, not by Keaz, so it applies to every business on the platform. In the Inbox the closed conversation offers an Unlock button; unlocking it sends your Conversation Starter as the opening message and the chat is active again.

That reactivation is a paid message, which is why the Conversation Starter is worth writing carefully rather than leaving it generic.

How do Automations differ from Flows and newsletters?

Automations react to what a contact writes inside a conversation. Flows react to an event — a purchase, an abandoned checkout, a webhook, or a contact starting a chat, as in the Chat-in flow trigger. Newsletters are campaigns you create and send to a segment yourself. Use Automations for the answers that should never depend on someone being at a desk.