WhatsApp automation guide: triggers, workflows and webhooks, with a form-to-template example

Three automation tools, three jobs

WhatsApp automation workflows are one of three tools, and most frustration comes from using the wrong one. Before building anything, decide what starts the job:

Workflows are the glue between WhatsApp and the rest of your business. A workflow begins with one trigger, then runs steps in order: CRM updates, messages, delays, lookups, calls to other apps. This guide explains the parts and then builds a complete example.

The parts of a workflow

Triggers. A workflow can start from:

• Custom Webhook (Webhook app): a unique URL any system can call with GET, POST, PUT, PATCH or DELETE, with a JSON, form-encoded or multipart body up to 1 MB.
• Trigger on New Contact Creation, Trigger on Any Custom Field Update and Trigger on Specific Custom Field Update (CRM app): react to changes in your contacts.
• New Payment Order Created, Transaction Completed and Transaction Fail (Paymentz app): react to payments collected through Broadchat.

There is no scheduled (time-of-day) trigger. For "every morning at 9" jobs, have an external scheduler call the Custom Webhook, for example a Google Apps Script time-driven trigger as shown in sending WhatsApp messages from Google Sheets, or use a scheduled or repeating campaign.

Actions. The CRM app sends messages (Send Template Message (V2), and session messages such as Send Text Message (V2) for contacts inside the 24-hour window), manages contacts (Create / Update Contact, Update a Custom Field, tag actions, Assign Chat Agent) and more. Tools include Delay, Iterator, Goto, Workflow Counter, Data Forwarder and External API Call; native apps include Google Sheets, Google Drive, Zoho Books, Razorpay, Shopify and OpenAI.

Mapping. Each step's output is available to later steps as {{<step number>.<field>}}. Step 1 is the trigger, so a form field phone is {{1.phone}}, and nested data uses dots: {{1.billing.phone}}. Small functions help clean data: parseNumber() keeps only digits, slice(text;-10) keeps the last ten characters, and addDays(date;n) shifts a date.

The example: Sunrise Clinic's appointment request form

Sunrise Clinic in Pune has an appointment request form on its website. Reception used to copy each request into WhatsApp by hand. The workflow below sends an instant confirmation on WhatsApp, saves the patient in the CRM with tags, and routes dental requests differently. The form posts this JSON:

{
  "name": "Meera Joshi",
  "phone": "919812345678",
  "department": "Dental",
  "preferred_date": "15 Oct 2026",
  "request_id": "APT-30418",
  "whatsapp_consent": "yes"
}

The confirmation is a utility template, approved in advance in CRM → WhatsApp Templates:

Step 1: create the workflow and Custom Webhook trigger

1. Open Automations → Workflow and click Create Workflow. Broadchat creates an Untitled workflow and opens the builder; rename it "Website appointment form".
2. Click Add Trigger, choose the Webhook app and its Custom Webhook trigger.
3. Enter a Webhook Title, click + Generate Hook and copy the Webhook URL. It looks like https://<your panel domain>/api/automations/hook/<token>.
4. Paste the URL into your form tool's webhook setting (most WordPress form plugins and website builders have one), or ask your developer to POST the form data to it from the server.

Step 2: capture a real sample

Click Capture Incoming Webhook (it shows Waiting for data...) and submit the form once with test values. When "Data received" appears, click Show Received Data. The sample is stored for mapping and does not run the workflow. Capturing works even before the workflow is active.

Step 3: create or update the contact and tag it

Click + after the trigger and add the CRM app:

1. Create / Update Contact: WhatsApp Number {{1.phone}}, Name {{1.name}}. Existing contacts are updated, new ones created.
2. Assign Tags to Contact (Creates Tag if Tag not exist): tags src-website, appointment-request.

If your form collects 10-digit numbers without the country code, map the number as 91slice(parseNumber({{1.phone}});-10): it strips spaces and symbols, keeps the last ten digits and adds 91. Use this only if all your patients have Indian numbers.

Step 4: branch with a router and filters

Dental requests go to a different receptionist. Click the wrench on the connection after the tag step and choose Add Basic Router. On each path, Set up filter:

A Basic Router runs every path whose filter passes; a path without a filter always runs. Text filters offer is, is not, Contains, Start with, Match pattern and their opposites (including case-insensitive versions); number filters offer greater than, less than and equals; Exist and Not Exist check whether a field is present.

Step 5: send the approved template

Since both paths send the same confirmation, the simplest place for it is just before the router, after the tag step; if paths need different templates, add one send step at the end of each path. Add CRM → Send Template Message (V2):

Only approved templates for the selected channel appear in the list. If the template has an image or document header, the step shows a header field; leave it empty to use the template's own media. URL buttons with a variable get their own field.

Step 6: test, activate and monitor

1. Run and Save on a step runs that one step against the captured sample, and it is real: a CRM step changes the contact and a Send Template step sends the message. Submit the test form with your own phone number before you use it.
2. Click Save Workflow and switch the workflow on with the toggle in the top bar. An inactive workflow answers callers with 409 "workflow is inactive".
3. Submit the form again. The caller gets {"accepted":true,"runId":"…"} and the workflow runs in the background.
4. Open the workflow's History from the list: each run shows its status (Success, Failed, Queued, Running, Waiting) and each step's request and response. History is kept for 30 days, and Retrigger Workflow re-runs a past run.

Costs and limits to plan for

• Meta charges. Utility templates are charged per delivered message even inside an open 24-hour window since 1 Oct 2026 (₹0.115 per utility message to India, Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026, excl. GST), from the channel's messaging wallet. A low balance makes the send fail.
• Tasks. Every processed step counts as a task; External API Call and app steps such as Google Sheets, Shopify or OpenAI also use one paid task each from your plan's allowance.
• Delays. A Delay step can wait minutes to weeks (relative delays up to 30 days) or until a fixed date-time; waiting runs survive restarts, but turning the workflow off cancels them.
• Loops. One run stops after 400 steps, which matters if you iterate over long lists.

For the reverse direction, sending WhatsApp events to your own server, see WhatsApp webhooks. For order notifications from a store, follow WooCommerce WhatsApp order notifications, and for multi-step follow-ups see WhatsApp drip campaigns with workflows. New to the platform? Start with what the WhatsApp Business API is. Agencies can build and sell automations like this under their own brand with the white-label platform.