Open the WhatsApp Business record's Workflow editor. Connect Incoming WhatsApp Message with behavior Background (Custom Agent Takes Priority) to Throttled Message (Background).
The background trigger does not set the flags that hold or override the custom-agent pipeline. The reminder runs independently; the custom agent need not wait for the WhatsApp workflow job. Keep this path limited to background actions, without No AI Response or assistant-routing nodes.
The delayed reminder is cancelled if the custom workflow is still running or has handled the request with a No AI Response outcome (for example, sending the requested First Timers form). Cancelled reminders do not start a cooldown. Ordinary messages remain eligible for reminders.
Settings
| Setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Message type | Text reminder or Secure web chat link |
| Message | Up to 4,000 characters for text, or 1,024 for the secure-link button body |
| Destination widget | Active widget in the sender's tenant/company, using the conversation's assistant |
| Link button label | Up to 20 characters; default Open CChat |
| Migration link validity | 1–168 hours; default 24 hours |
| Delay | 1–300 seconds; default 30 seconds |
| Once per contact | 1–720 hours; default 24 hours |
| Skip incoming phrases | Comma-separated, case-insensitive phrases that suppress this reminder |
| Skip visitors who already migrated | Suppresses reminders after a successful channel handoff |
The incoming trigger currently follows the WhatsApp text-message workflow path. It does not run on website widget messages. No extra Source node is required; the custom-agent editor separately already provides a Channel condition.
Reliability and limits
- A unique database row and row lock prevent bursts from reserving multiple reminders for the same workflow/node/contact.
- The cooldown starts when the outgoing reminder is created, not when the timer starts. It persists across Redis/cache restarts.
- Duplicate timer jobs do not create duplicate messages. Actual WhatsApp transport uses the existing delivery queue, retry and billing path; this is not a guarantee of exactly-once delivery by Meta.
- Delays are minimum scheduling delays, not exact arrival times: a busy queue or Meta can deliver later.
- Disabling the workflow or WhatsApp workflow rules, deleting the node, or deactivating the sender suppresses pending reminders. Delivery rechecks ownership and visitor source.
- Jobs whose triggering message is more than 23 hours old are dropped conservatively instead of attempting a free-form message outside the customer-service window.
- If delivery fails, its existing message is retried by the delivery worker. The cooldown remains in place to prevent another reminder being generated.
- In Secure web chat link mode, the node uses the same secure channel handoff service as the assistant workflow. It sends a personal URL button directly; the visitor does not need to type another command. The link includes
source=whatsappfor browser-opening guidance. - Link generation happens when the delayed reminder is created, not at scheduling. The link and outgoing message share the cooldown transaction; timer retries cannot create multiple links. No migration or fork happens until the visitor redeems the link. An unavailable destination cancels that reminder without starting a cooldown.
- Keep explicit migration commands in Skip incoming phrases if the assistant workflow already handles them, to avoid sending a second link for the same request. The existing assistant handoff command remains available.
Configure the reminder on the intended WhatsApp sender and test the excluded phrases and cooldown. Administrators can edit its message and timing or disable the workflow from the dashboard; disabling the reminder workflow does not turn off ordinary AI replies.