Quick replies and canned responses on the WhatsApp API: set up a library your agents will use

What canned responses are on the WhatsApp API

WhatsApp canned responses are saved answers an agent inserts with a couple of keystrokes: the fee structure, delivery times, the return policy, the bank details for payment. They make replies faster and keep the business sounding like one voice, whoever is on shift.

If you came from the WhatsApp Business app, you know its quick replies (type / and pick one). On the WhatsApp Business API there is no app, so those app quick replies do not carry over; even with coexistence, Meta lists quick replies among the app features not supported through the API. Your saved replies live in the team inbox software instead, where they are shared by the whole team. In Broadchat they are managed in CRM → Canned Replies and used in CRM → Live Chat.

Step 1: collect the questions you answer most

Do not write replies from imagination. Take a week of real chats and list the questions that come up again and again, with the best answer any agent gave. A coaching institute, a D2C brand and a clinic will have different lists, but most businesses find 15 to 25 replies cover the bulk of their routine messages. Questions that come up very often are also candidates for a chatbot (see the no-code chatbot guide); canned responses are for the human part of the conversation.

Step 2: choose a naming scheme

Agents find replies by typing / and part of the name, so names are the search index. Use a short topic prefix and a plain word:

Names must be unique in your workspace. Keep them lowercase and short; "fee-instal" beats "Fee instalment options for JEE batch (updated)".

Step 3: create send-as-is Canned Replies

Open CRM → Canned Replies and click Add New Canned Reply. Enter a Canned Reply Name, choose the Channel (WhatsApp) and set Reply Type to Canned Reply ("Send messages directly without any editing"). Then add messages, each with a Message Type:

• Text, with Insert variable for {{name}}, {{phone}} or {{email}}, or any Super Field key such as {{city}}.
• Media: an image, video or document with a caption, for example the price list PDF.
• Interactive: a header, body, footer and up to three buttons, for example "Book a demo / Call me / Not now".
• Contact (a contact card), Location (your store pin) and Location request (asks the customer to share theirs).

One Canned Reply can hold up to ten messages sent in order, which is useful for "the price list PDF, then a line about instalments, then three buttons". Variables are filled from the contact's record when it is sent, so a reply to Priya reads "Hi Priya".

Step 4: create editable Quick Replies

Some answers are almost the same every time but need a detail changed: a delivery date, an amount, a name of a technician. For these, choose Reply Type Quick Reply ("Edit message body before sending"). It holds one text message, and picking it places the text in the message box so the agent can edit before pressing Enter.

Step 5: use them in Live Chat

In CRM → Live Chat, open a conversation with an Active Session. Then either type / at the start of the message box followed by a few letters (/ship) to search, or click the canned replies button in the composer, and pick the reply. A Canned Reply is sent at once; a Quick Reply drops into the box for editing.

Canned responses are normal (free-form) messages, so they work only inside the 24-hour customer service window. When the header says No Session, the inbox blocks them and the agent must send an approved template first. Every reply sent inside the window is a service message: 1,000 free per business phone number per month, then charged by Meta (₹0.115 per service message to India, Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026, excl. GST). A three-message Canned Reply counts as three messages.

A starter library of 15 replies

Adapt the wording and keep the prefixes. Examples are for a home-decor brand, Rangoli Home; change the details to yours.

Hinglish or Hindi versions of the most-used replies (hi-intro-hi, ship-time-hi) are worth adding if many customers write that way.

Step 6: review the library monthly

Canned responses go stale quietly: an old price, a changed return window, a festival offer that ended. Once a month, have the support lead open CRM → Canned Replies, update anything with a date or price, delete replies nobody uses, and add the questions agents still type by hand. Creating and editing replies needs a role with the Canned Replies permission (managers have it by default); agents can use them without being able to change them, which keeps the library consistent.

For the rest of the inbox set-up see how to set up a WhatsApp shared team inbox, and for basics read what the WhatsApp Business API is. The team inbox and CRM page shows the features together; agencies can roll out reply libraries for clients under their own brand with the white-label platform.