Send a Message

Send free-form text — with several attachments if you need them, on the customer's own channel or a named one — inside the messaging window that channel currently has open.

Getting here

Automate → Workflows, open a workflow, click + on the canvas, then pick Send a Message under Add Steps.

Before you start

An owner, admin or agent can add this step and save the workflow. Publishing that workflow — the thing that makes it run on live conversations — is an owner or admin action.
Building and running workflows depends on your plan; see pricing.
Nothing outside Inchat has to be connected. The step sends on whichever channel the conversation is already using, or a channel you name.

Set up

Open the workflow and click + where the message belongs.
Pick Send a Message.
Choose a channel under the channel picker — the last one the customer used, or a specific connected channel.
Write the text under Message Content · Default. Insert {{contact.name}}, {{answer.text}} or another field token where you want it personalised.
Optional: attach up to 5 files under Attachment (Attachments (n/max) once more than one is added), add per-channel text under Channel Response for a channel that needs different wording, tick Also send on other channels or Track links, and open Advanced Settings to add a failure branch.
Save the step, then publish the workflow.

Fields

Field	What it means	Default	Limits
Channel	Where the message is sent: the conversation's last-interacted channel, or one you name.	Last interacted channel	—
Message Content · Default	The text sent on every channel that has no per-channel override, up to 2,000 characters. Field tokens like `{{contact.name}}` are filled in at send time.	—	Goes with the first attachment when media is attached: inline under a WhatsApp image, video or document; as a separate text message right after the file for a WhatsApp voice note or any attachment on Messenger or Instagram.
Attachment / Attachments (n/max)	Up to 5 files (image, video, audio or document), sent in the order listed.	—	Turns off Also send on other channels — the fan-out is text-only.
Also send on other channels	Sends the same text on up to three other channels belonging to the same person, matched by a shared phone number or email on their contact records.	off	Not available with an attachment on this step. One send per channel even if more than one of that person's contact records share it.
Track links	Rewrites links in the text to short links, so taps count toward link-click stats and can fire a Link clicked trigger.	off	—
Channel Response	Different wording for a specific channel type, used instead of the default text when the step actually sends on that channel type.	—	—
Add Message Failure Branch	Adds an onFailure arm that runs instead of the steps that would otherwise follow, when this send fails.	off	Without it, a failed send is recorded and the run moves on to the next step as if nothing happened.

Channel: Where the message is sent: the conversation's last-interacted channel, or one you name.; Default: Last interacted channel
Message Content · Default: The text sent on every channel that has no per-channel override, up to 2,000 characters. Field tokens like {{contact.name}} are filled in at send time.; Limits: Goes with the first attachment when media is attached: inline under a WhatsApp image, video or document; as a separate text message right after the file for a WhatsApp voice note or any attachment on Messenger or Instagram.
Attachment / Attachments (n/max): Up to 5 files (image, video, audio or document), sent in the order listed.; Limits: Turns off Also send on other channels — the fan-out is text-only.
Also send on other channels: Sends the same text on up to three other channels belonging to the same person, matched by a shared phone number or email on their contact records.; Default: off; Limits: Not available with an attachment on this step. One send per channel even if more than one of that person's contact records share it.
Track links: Rewrites links in the text to short links, so taps count toward link-click stats and can fire a Link clicked trigger.; Default: off
Channel Response: Different wording for a specific channel type, used instead of the default text when the step actually sends on that channel type.
Add Message Failure Branch: Adds an onFailure arm that runs instead of the steps that would otherwise follow, when this send fails.; Default: off; Limits: Without it, a failed send is recorded and the run moves on to the next step as if nothing happened.

How it works

On a windowed channel (WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram) the step checks whether the customer's last message — or, on WhatsApp, their last call — was within the last 24 hours, before it calls the channel's send API at all. Outside that window the send is refused and nothing reaches Meta.
Field tokens are filled in, and links are shortened if Track links is on, before the message is sent. On WhatsApp the text is then converted from this product's own light markdown into WhatsApp's formatting dialect (**bold** becomes *bold*, and so on) right before the Graph call — the row saved to the conversation holds the pre-conversion text, not the exact characters WhatsApp rendered on the customer's screen.
A voice note attached here goes out mono OGG/Opus if you recorded it through the step's own uploader (it is converted); a pasted MP3 or M4A URL marked as a voice note is refused before it reaches Meta, because WhatsApp only accepts mono OGG/Opus voice notes.
A pasted /api/media/<message>/<index> link — Inchat's own login-gated inbox proxy — is first tried for redemption: if it points at an attachment this workspace actually stored, it is swapped for a short-lived signed URL before the send, and goes through. Only a link that cannot be redeemed (an unknown or foreign /api/media shape) then hits the shape check below and fails.
Past that, the attachment URL is checked for its SHAPE only, before the send — it has to be https and a well-formed URL. It is never actually fetched to confirm the file is really there: a well-formed https URL that is dead, private, or simply wrong still passes this check, reaches Meta, and can fail at Meta's own download — a failure this step does not see, so it is logged as sent even though the customer received nothing.
With more than one attachment, each file is sent as its own message in the order listed, and the message text goes with the first file only — inline for a WhatsApp image, video or document, otherwise as a separate text message right after it.
Also send on other channels looks up other contact records in this workspace that share this contact's phone number or email, takes up to three of their most recently active conversations — one per CHANNEL, never two on the same channel even from two matching contact rows — and sends the same text there after the primary send succeeds. It can only deliver on Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp or the website widget — a sibling record whose most recent channel is anything else (email, Telegram, …) fails that one send with unsupported channel type and moves on to the next target; the step itself is not affected. This fan-out send has no messaging-window check of its own, unlike the primary send.
Every delivered send is written to the conversation as a reply from the workflow, which is what keeps the thread showing Awaiting reply as answered rather than stuck.

When it fails

Messaging window closed: on WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram, past the window, the send is refused before Graph is called. The execution log's line for this step reads Messaging window closed — free-form send blocked. Use a send_template step (approved WhatsApp / utility template) instead.
No Add Message Failure Branch: the step is recorded failed and the run continues to the next step in the flow — a tag, an assignment or a close placed after it still happens, on a conversation that never received this message.
With the failure branch on, the branch's own steps run instead of the ones that would have followed, and nothing after the branch runs on this path.
A voice note pasted as MP3/M4A and marked as a voice note fails outright: the execution log names the fix (a mono OGG/Opus file, or upload through the step so it is converted).
A non-https or malformed attachment URL fails the step before any send is attempted — but this check never fetches the URL, so a well-formed https link that is dead or private still passes it, reaches Meta, and can fail there instead, invisibly to this step's own logged outcome. A pasted /api/media/… link fails only when it cannot be redeemed to a file this workspace actually stored; a redeemable one is swapped for a signed URL and sends normally.
When the primary send's delivery cannot be confirmed one way or the other, the run stops after this step even with no failure branch set — later steps are not attempted on a conversation whose last send is unconfirmed.

Limits

It does not open a closed conversation on its own and does not reopen a closed WhatsApp/Messenger/Instagram window — that is what Send WhatsApp Template is for.
Also send on other channels is a fan-out of the SAME text to up to three sibling channels; it cannot carry an attachment or per-channel wording, it does not run at all when this step also sends media, and — unlike the primary send — it carries no messaging-window check of its own.
The attachment URL check never fetches the file — it only checks the URL's shape (https, well-formed). A dead or private https link is not caught here; it reaches Meta and can fail at Meta's own download instead, with this step still logged as sent. Only an unredeemable /api/media/… link is refused outright; one that resolves to a real stored attachment is swapped for a signed URL and sent.
It does not wait for a reply. The run continues to the next step immediately after the send is confirmed (or fails), the same turn — pair it with Ask a Question for a step that pauses for an answer.
It sends on the CHANNEL, not to a stored phone number you type in — to reach a number you have not messaged before, use Start a WhatsApp Chat.

Best practices

Turn on Add Message Failure Branch on anything that leads to money or a deadline — a payment link, a booking confirmation — so a closed window or a malformed attachment URL does not leave the flow behaving as if the customer was told. It cannot catch a dead-but-well-formed https link — that one reaches Meta and is logged as sent regardless.
Keep Track links on for links you want a Link clicked trigger to react to later in the same workflow or a different one.

Use cases

Confirm an order was received, with the receipt image attached as media.
Send a short answer straight after AI Reply on the path where the AI could not answer, with a failure branch that falls back to a plain text version if the channel rejects the first attempt.

FAQ and troubleshooting

Why did my message never arrive, with no error shown to the customer?: Most often the messaging window had closed. On WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram, a free-form Send a Message outside the window is refused before it reaches Meta — nothing is sent, and the step is marked failed in the workflow's Activity tab. Use Send WhatsApp Template to reach a WhatsApp customer outside the window.
The step failed. Does the rest of the workflow still run?: Yes, unless you turned on Add Message Failure Branch. Without it, the run continues to the next step regardless — a tag or an assignment placed after it still happens. With it, the branch's steps run instead and nothing after the branch runs on this path.
Can I send to a number the contact has not messaged from?: Not with this step — it sends on the conversation's own channel or one you name for THIS conversation. To reach a WhatsApp number this conversation has not messaged from, use Start a WhatsApp Chat.
Does adding an attachment change what Also send on other channels does?: It turns it off. The fan-out to sibling channels only ever sends the text, so it is disabled while an attachment is set on this step.

Send WhatsApp Template — Reach a WhatsApp customer with an approved Meta template regardless of whether the messaging window is open, checked for approval and marketing consent before anything is sent.
Send a File (voice / image / video) — Send up to 5 voice notes, images, videos or documents from a public URL, in numbered order, inside the channel's current messaging window.
AI Reply — Hand this one turn to the thread's AI agent — the same generation and confidence gate as an inbound auto-reply — then continue the flow with what it decided.
Start a WhatsApp Chat (new number) — Open a WhatsApp thread with a number a flow just learned — a Messenger lead who typed it, a form, a webhook — using an approved template, since no messaging window is open yet on that number.
Workflow triggers — The 34 events a workflow can start from — what each one actually watches, what it exposes to conditions and messages, and where it quietly does nothing.
Workflows: how a flow runs — A workflow is one trigger, optional conditions and an ordered list of steps; only a published workflow runs, and this article explains how a run starts, forks, pauses, fails and stops.

Reading this with an AI assistant? Plain Markdown version.