Rivet Bot Builder User Guide
A complete reference for the WhatsApp commerce automation platform — from workspace setup and bot flows to billing, analytics, and diagnostics.
🏢Workspaces
A workspace is your organisation's account on WhatsAppOS. All data — flows, contacts, catalog, messages — belongs to a workspace.
Workspace Lifecycle
| Stage | Description |
|---|---|
| Pending Review | Submitted for approval — awaiting platform verification. |
| Approved | Verified. Ready to connect WhatsApp and configure features. |
| Trial | Active trial with limited quotas. |
| Active | Fully active on a paid billing plan. |
| Grace Period | Payment overdue. Features restricted until payment is made. |
Onboarding Verification
Before your workspace is approved, submit your business details. This information is used to verify your business with Meta's WhatsApp API requirements.
- Business name and industry
- Country and website
- Contact number
- Expected monthly message volume
👥Team Members & Roles
Inviting Members
Workspace Owners and Admins can invite team members. Each invite includes a role (Admin or Operator) and an optional expiry time in hours. The invitee receives a link with a token to accept the invite.
Managing Members
| Action | Who Can Do It |
|---|---|
| Invite members | Owner, Admin |
| Change member role | Owner only |
| Remove member | Owner only |
| View member list | Owner, Admin, Operator |
Roles Summary
| Role | Access Level |
|---|---|
| Owner | Full control — billing, members, all settings. |
| Admin | Flows, templates, integrations, catalog. |
| Operator | Daily operations — messaging, catalog, limited settings. |
| Viewer | Read-only access across the workspace. |
🔗WhatsApp Connection
To send and receive WhatsApp messages, your workspace must be connected to a Meta Business Account with an approved WhatsApp Business phone number.
What You Need
- A Meta Business Account
- A WhatsApp Business API (Cloud API) phone number
- A permanent system user token from Meta
Setting Up the Connection
Navigate to Workspace → WhatsApp Integrations and provide the following:
- Your Meta App ID and App Secret
- Your WhatsApp Business Account ID
- Your phone number ID
- A system user token (encrypted and stored securely)
⚡Bot Flows
Bot flows are the core of WhatsAppOS. They define automated conversation logic — what the bot says, what it asks, and how it responds based on user input.
Flow Lifecycle
Use Promote to advance a flow to the next stage, and Rollback to revert to a previous version.
Creating a Flow
- Go to Bot Flows in your workspace
- Click New Flow and give it a name
- Open the visual graph editor
- Add nodes and connect them with edges
- Save the draft
Flow Versioning
Every time you save a draft, a new version is created. You can view the full version history and see exactly what changed. Deploying promotes a specific version through the stages.
Default Flow
One flow can be set as the default flow. This runs when a user contacts your number and no keyword route matches their message.
Testing a Flow
- Open a flow version
- Start a Preview session
- Send test events to simulate a conversation
- Inspect the bot's responses and variable state
Flow Node Types
Flow Variables
Flows can read and write variables stored on the conversation thread. Use ${'$'}{variableName} in message text to insert a variable value. Variables persist across the entire conversation with a contact.
Collect Input
The collect_input step pauses the flow and waits for the user to type a free-text reply. The reply is captured into a named variable. After the user replies, the flow resumes from where it paused.
📋WhatsApp Templates
Templates are pre-approved message formats required for sending the first message to a user (outside a 24-hour service window) or for marketing campaigns.
Template Categories
| Category | Use Case |
|---|---|
| Marketing | Promotions, offers, campaigns |
| Utility | Transactional notifications, order updates |
| Authentication | OTP codes, login verification |
Template Lifecycle
Creating a Template
- Go to WhatsApp → Templates
- Click New Template
- Choose a category and language
- Write the body text — supports variables like
{{1}},{{2}} - Optionally add a header (text or image) and footer
- Add call-to-action or quick reply buttons if needed
- Click Submit for Approval
Quality Ratings
Meta assigns a quality rating (High, Medium, Low) to approved templates based on user engagement. Low quality templates may be paused by Meta.
Syncing Templates
Use Sync from Meta to pull the latest status updates for all your templates — approvals, rejections, and quality rating changes — from Meta's platform.
🔑Keyword Routes
Keyword routes let you trigger a specific bot flow when a user sends a message that starts with a keyword.
How It Works
- User sends a message starting with your keyword — e.g.
ORDER,HELP,MENU - The system matches the keyword to a route
- The associated bot flow activates for that conversation
Creating a Route
- Go to WhatsApp → Keyword Routes
- Click Add Route
- Enter the keyword (letters, numbers, dashes, underscores; max 64 characters)
- Select the bot flow to trigger
- Enable the route
- Keywords are case-insensitive
- Routes can be enabled or disabled without deleting them
- If no keyword matches, the default flow runs (if configured)
📱WhatsApp Native Flows
WhatsApp Native Flows are interactive forms built directly into the WhatsApp app using Meta's Flow Builder format. They allow users to fill forms, browse options, and submit structured data — all within the WhatsApp interface.
Use Cases
- Lead capture forms
- Appointment booking
- Customer surveys
- Order configuration
Workflow
- Create a draft native flow definition
- Upload the JSON flow definition (Meta's format)
- Submit to Meta for review
- Once approved, link the native flow to a bot flow node
Syncing
Use Sync from Meta to pull existing native flows from your Meta Business Account.
💬Inbox & Conversation Management
Thread State
Each conversation with a contact has a thread state that stores:
- Active bot flow
- Flow variables
- Pending input details
- Bot paused/active status
Pausing the Bot
You can pause the bot for a specific contact, allowing a human agent to take over the conversation manually. Use Resume to hand back control to the bot.
Return to Menu
The Return to Menu action resets the contact's conversation state and restarts them at the default bot flow. Useful when a conversation gets stuck or a human agent is done.
Managing Bot State
Admins can override the active bot flow for any conversation — useful for testing specific flows with real contacts or for customer support scenarios.
📦Catalog & Products
The catalog stores the products your bot can display, add to a cart, and sell.
Adding Products Manually
- Go to Catalog → Products
- Click Add Item
- Fill in: SKU, name, description, price, currency, image URL
- Save
Importing via CSV
Bulk-upload products from a CSV file using Import. The file should include columns for: SKU, name, description, price, and image URL.
Syncing from Shopify or WooCommerce
- Go to Catalog → Integrations
- Click Add Connection
- Select the provider (Shopify or WooCommerce)
- Enter your store credentials
- Click Test Connection to verify
- Click Sync to pull products
Sync Status
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Queued | Sync job is waiting to start |
| Running | Actively syncing products |
| Succeeded | All products synced successfully |
| Failed | Sync encountered an error — view details for reason |
| Canceled | Sync was manually stopped |
Managing Connections
Provider connections can be enabled, disabled, or deleted. Disabling a connection pauses automatic syncs but keeps the existing catalog data intact.
🛒Commerce & Orders
WhatsAppOS supports a full e-commerce flow via WhatsApp conversations.
E-Commerce Pack
The quickest way to get started is to install the E-Commerce Pack:
- Go to Packs → E-Commerce
- Click Install
- The system creates pre-built bot flows for browsing, cart, and checkout
The pack includes: a main menu flow, product browsing flow, cart management flow, checkout and payment flow, and an abandoned cart campaign.
Shopping Cart
Each conversation thread has its own cart. The bot can add/remove items, display the cart summary, calculate subtotals, and apply abandoned cart logic.
Abandoned Cart Campaigns
If a user adds items to the cart but doesn't check out, an automated nudge message can be sent after a configurable delay to remind them.
Orders
When a user confirms their order:
- An order draft is created
- A payment link is generated and sent via PayFast
- Payment status is tracked via webhook
- Order is fulfilled if connected to Shopify or WooCommerce
📊Analytics
Go to Analytics to view performance metrics for your workspace. All reports support a date range filter.
Available Reports
| Report | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Message Summary | Total inbound and outbound messages, success rate |
| Message Volume | Time-series chart of message traffic |
| Template Performance | Delivery, open, and failure rates per template |
| Bot Flow Performance | Activation count, completion rate, abandonment rate per flow |
Bot Flow Performance Metrics
- Activations — how many times the flow was triggered
- Completions — conversations that reached the end node
- Abandonment Rate — conversations that dropped off mid-flow
Use this to identify where users get stuck and optimise your flow.
💳Billing & Plans
Plan Limits
| Limit | Description |
|---|---|
| Max Members | Number of team members allowed |
| Max Bot Flows | Number of active flows |
| Max Catalog Items | Number of products in the catalog |
| Max Messages/Month | Monthly message volume cap |
| Max WhatsApp Numbers | Number of connected phone numbers |
| Max Provider Connections | Shopify/WooCommerce connections allowed |
Subscribing (PayFast)
- Go to Billing → Subscribe
- Select a plan
- You will be redirected to PayFast to complete payment
- On success, your workspace upgrades immediately
Managing Your Subscription
| Action | Who Can Do It |
|---|---|
| View subscription status | Owner, Admin |
| Pause subscription | Owner, Admin |
| Resume (unpause) | Owner, Admin |
| Cancel subscription | Owner, Admin |
| Cancel at period end | Owner, Admin |
Billing Summary
The Billing Summary shows your current plan, usage against limits, and the current billing period dates.
🔧Operations & Diagnostics
These tools are for Admins and Owners to inspect and troubleshoot the system.
Audit Log
Every significant action in your workspace is recorded in the Audit Log. Each entry captures who did it, what action was taken, and when it happened. Use this to track changes and investigate issues.
Outbox Management
The outbox is the queue of outbound messages waiting to be sent to WhatsApp.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | Queued, not yet sent |
| Processing | Currently being sent |
| Succeeded | Delivered to Meta's API |
| Failed | Could not be sent |
Failed messages can be requeued to retry sending, or canceled if they are no longer needed.
Webhook Receipts
All inbound webhooks (from WhatsApp, Shopify, WooCommerce) are logged as receipts. You can browse recent webhook events, inspect the raw payload, and Replay a webhook to reprocess it — useful after fixing a bug.
Catalog Sync Operations
From the Operations panel you can trigger a manual catalog pull from a provider, rerun the last sync, or cancel a running sync.
🛡Roles & Permissions Reference
| Feature | Owner | Admin | Operator | Viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| View workspace details | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Update workspace settings | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Delete workspace | Yes | No | No | No |
| Invite members | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Change member roles | Yes | No | No | No |
| Remove members | Yes | No | No | No |
| View billing summary | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Manage subscription | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Create / edit bot flows | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Publish / deploy flows | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Manage WhatsApp templates | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Manage keyword routes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Manage catalog items | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Manage catalog integrations | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Trigger catalog sync | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Manage WhatsApp connection | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| View analytics | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Access audit log | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Manage outbox | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Replay webhooks | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Install / uninstall packs | Yes | Yes | No | No |