Run WhatsApp workflows in the background. An automation starts from an event, a webhook from another app, a CRM change, a new order, a missed call, or a schedule, then sends messages, updates records, and calls other systems on its own. This is where WhatsApp stops being just a chat tool and becomes part of how your business runs.
The automation builder is the workflow engine inside WA.Expert. Like the bot builder, you join steps on a canvas. The difference is what sets it off and where it runs.
These two tools look similar and share many steps, but they solve different problems. Knowing which to reach for saves a lot of rework.
| Bot builder | Automation builder | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts from | A customer message in a chat | An event, webhook, field change, or schedule |
| Needs a chat first | Yes, the customer opens it | No, it can message first via a template |
| Best for | Menus, FAQs, bookings, lead capture in chat | Order alerts, reminders, drip sequences, app-to-WhatsApp |
| Typical trigger | Hot keyword, click-to-WhatsApp ad | Inbound webhook, CRM field change, new order |
A bot can hand data to an automation to run a larger workflow, and an automation can start a bot flow. Most mature setups use both: the bot handles the live conversation, the automation handles everything that happens around it.
A workflow waits for one of these, then runs. The inbound webhook is the most flexible, since almost any tool can post to a URL.
This is the core pattern: another app posts data, your workflow catches it and sends a WhatsApp template. Once you have built this once, every integration follows the same shape.
An automation usually messages a customer who has not just written to you, so the outgoing message must be an approved template. Keep your order, reminder, and alert templates approved in advance so workflows have something to send.
A drip campaign sends a planned sequence of messages over time. The pattern uses a CRM field to decide who is in the sequence, a router to branch, and delays to space the messages out.
The datastore is a database that lives inside the automation builder, backed by MongoDB. A workflow can add a record, find or get a record by its ID, search records, and update them. Use it when a workflow needs to remember something between runs, for example a booking, a running total, or a lookup table the flow reads from before deciding what to do.
Create a MongoDB database and connect it as a datastore in the dashboard.
Read on help docsAdd a new record, then find or get it later by record ID inside a workflow.
Read on help docsSearch the store and update a record as the workflow runs.
Read on help docsBetween a trigger and a message, you often need to shape data. The automation apps are small utility blocks for exactly that: format a date, do a calculation, generate a unique ID, split or find text, loop over a list, or wait. They keep logic inside the workflow so you rarely need an outside script.
Find, replace, split, change case, URL encode or decode, and parse text.
Read on help docsFormat dates, add or subtract time, and convert time zones and timestamps.
Read on help docsGenerate sequential IDs or numbers, with reset and step options.
Read on help docsRun calculations or generate a random number inside a flow.
Read on help docsLoop over a list and run steps for each item.
Read on help docsPause a flow, or split a value into parts for the next steps.
Read on help docsThe help docs include full walkthroughs for the most common automations. Each follows the trigger then send-template pattern above.
Send a WhatsApp message the moment a new order is placed in Shopify.
Read on help docsFollow up on abandoned Shopify carts with a WhatsApp nudge.
Read on help docsSend invoice due-date alerts and payment reminders on WhatsApp.
Read on help docsMessage someone the moment they submit a Google Form.
Read on help docsTrigger a workflow from a missed-call webhook.
Read on help docsSend scheduled greetings on customer milestones.
Read on help docsConversation flows that start inside a chat, the companion to automations.
Read guideWire WhatsApp into your CRM, store, payments, and AI providers.
Open Connect hubCall any outside API from inside a workflow, field by field.
Read guideAdd an AI step so a workflow can answer in plain language.
View on WA.ExpertZapier, Make, n8n, and Pabbly recipes for 1,000+ apps.
Open Connect hubEvery trigger, block, and recipe, with screenshots, on our help docs.
Read on help docsFor the complete step-by-step walkthrough of any workflow, with screenshots, see the automation builder section of our help docs.
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