> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.apyconnect.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Bots

> Automated conversations for every channel: menus, questions, business hours and handoff to your team.

A **bot** handles the first part of a conversation: it greets the customer, asks what it needs, splits in-hours and after-hours and, when needed, hands the conversation to a person.

You'll find them in **Automation → Bots**.

## Create a bot

**1. Pick the channel and a template**

Click **New bot**, choose the channel (only channels that support bots are listed) and start from a template or from scratch.

**2. Build the flow**

In the visual builder you add steps and connect them. Each step shows what it does and where it goes next (for example "Replied", "Invalid answer" or "No reply").

**3. Test it**

**Test bot** opens a test conversation: nothing is sent and no real data changes. You can simulate in or out of business hours, skip waits and choose what an external system or the AI answers to walk every path. You can also test with a real contact's data (sends and changes are simulated).

**4. Publish it and choose when it starts**

A published bot runs when an inbox entry rule picks it. In the **Order of service** tab you decide which bot goes first in each inbox.

## Available steps

| Type | Steps |
| - | - |
| Messages | Send message (text, image, video or document), Buttons, Option list (up to 10), Question with validation |
| Logic | Condition, Save value, Wait, Wait for reply, Business hours |
| Contact and CRM | Add or remove tag, Update contact, Add note, Assign owner, Create ticket, Create deal, Create task |
| Team | Notify the team, Hand off to a person, Close conversation, End |
| External systems | Call external system (uses a saved [credential](https://docs.apyconnect.io/en/automatizacion/herramientas-http.md)) |
| AI | Classify intent, Extract data, Smart question, Answer from knowledge base, Sentiment or urgency, Draft message |

## Bot states

* **Live**: published and connected to an inbox.
* **Published but idle**: ready, but no conversation reaches it (the card explains why, for example another bot goes first in that inbox).
* **Draft**: serves nobody until you publish it.
* **Paused**: new conversations go to the next item in the order of service; the ones it was handling go to a person.
* **Archived**: stops serving and the rules that used it fall back to the inbox queue. It can be restored.

## Versions

Every publish saves a version. From **Versions** you can roll back (it runs right away for new conversations; ongoing ones keep theirs) or load it into the draft to review it.

> [!TIP]
>
> For work that doesn't depend on a conversation (for example, alerting when a deal stalls), use [Automations](https://docs.apyconnect.io/en/automatizacion/automatizaciones.md).


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