Reply to a conversation, leave an internal note, assign

Why it matters

A conversation shared by the whole team carries a risk: everybody reads it, nobody answers. The Genuka Inbox solves this with three actions. Reply to the customer, leave a note the customer can't see, and assign the conversation to the person who must handle it.

Summary

Open Menu › Communication › Inbox and click a conversation. Type in Write a message... and send. The + button (Add attachment) gives access to files, templates, commerce actions (product, cart, payment) and the internal note. If you type / in the input box, you get the same actions as shortcuts (/note, /assign, /template, /product...).

Prerequisites

• inbox.view to read, inbox.messages.send to reply, inbox.conversations.assign to assign.
• Without View every conversation (inbox.conversations.view_all), you only see the conversations assigned to you.
• Archiving, snoozing or marking as spam requires inbox.*. Pinning is personal: everyone pins for themselves.

Steps

Reply to the customer

1. Click the conversation in the list. The Unread, Assigned to, Mentioned and Participated filters help you sort.
2. Type your reply and send. The message goes out on the conversation's channel (WhatsApp or WebChat).
3. To attach an image, a video, an audio or a document: + › Files. You can also drag a file into the conversation.
4. To reply to a specific message, hover over it and click Reply (on a phone, swipe it to the right): your reply will quote it.
5. To save time: + › Templates › Saved message inserts a reply you have saved.

Follow up a customer who hasn't written for more than 24 hours

WhatsApp only accepts a free-form message within 24 hours of the customer's last message. After that, or if the customer has never written yet, Genuka refuses the free-form message before sending it: "The 24-hour reply window is closed: send an approved template." Internal notes and reactions always go through.

1. Click + › Templates › WhatsApp Template (or type /template).
2. In Choose a template, pick a template approved by Meta and fill in its variables.
3. Click Send template. As soon as the customer replies, the 24-hour window opens again.

Leave an internal note

1. Click + › Actions › Add an internal note (or type /note). The input box turns yellow with "Internal note — invisible to the customer".
2. Write the note. Type @ to mention a colleague: they receive a notification.
3. Send. The note shows in the thread, visible only to the team.

Mentioning an AI agent in a note is not just a notification: it is an instruction. The agent carries it out (for example replying to the customer, adding a tag) and reports back in the thread.

Assign the conversation

1. In the conversation header, click Assign (or type /assign).
2. Choose a member under Team members, or an AI agent under Agents. Remove assignment frees the conversation.
3. The chosen member is notified. The header shows Assigned to with their name.

Taking a conversation away from the AI agent that holds it stops it immediately: it no longer replies or acts on that conversation, and the reply it was drafting is not sent. Assigning an agent again gives the conversation back to it.

Tidy the conversation

The Actions menu in the header offers Pin, Archive, Snooze 1h (the conversation comes back later), Mark as spam, and Customer tags to tag the customer.

Fields and options

Edge cases and common mistakes

• "The 24-hour reply window is closed" or "Conversation window expired". The customer hasn't written for more than 24 hours, or has never written. Send an approved template (see above).
• "No approved templates available". None of your templates has been approved by Meta yet. See "Create a message template".
• Templates are only available for WhatsApp conversations. On the WebChat there is no 24-hour window: write freely.
• The message stays in failed state. Click the failed message: Genuka explains the cause (invalid number, blocked WhatsApp account, connection problem) and lets you try again.
• Message status unknown. The connection with WhatsApp dropped during sending, or WhatsApp confirmed nothing after 15 minutes. Genuka does not know whether the message went out and does not resend it on its own, to avoid a duplicate. If WhatsApp confirms later, the status updates.
• "The conversation is busy, try again in a moment." The AI agent was sending its reply when you removed or stopped it. Try again a few seconds later.
• Private conversation. A conversation made private is only visible to its members, administrators included, and can only be assigned to one of them.
• An internal note does not stop the AI agent. To take over, assign the conversation to yourself.

FAQ

Does the customer see who is replying? No. They receive the message from the company's WhatsApp number, whichever member wrote it.

Does replying in a conversation cost credits? No. Free-form replies within 24 hours don't use messaging credits. See "Messaging credits".

How do I know which conversations are assigned to me? Use the Assigned to filter at the top of the list.

See also

• Connect WhatsApp and the Inbox channels
• Send a product in a conversation
• Create a message template
• Configure an AI agent