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A Template Bot reacts to the same trigger rules as a Message Bot, but instead of sending a plain text reply it sends an approved WhatsApp template with parameters filled in.
Templates can be sent even outside the 24-hour customer service window. That makes Template Bots the right tool whenever the message needs to feel more formal, include a header image, or land regardless of session timing.

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What a Template Bot does

On an incoming message that matches its trigger, the bot:
  1. Looks up the approved template you configured.
  2. Substitutes parameters into the header, body, and footer from the values you supplied.
  3. Sends the template to the contact.
That’s one template send per trigger. Template Bots, like Message Bots, are stateless — they don’t continue the conversation afterwards.

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Create a Template Bot

Go to Automations → Template Bots and click Create.
Template bot creation form
1

Name it

Internal name only — e.g. “Welcome template for new leads”. Customers never see this.
2

Pick who it applies to

Lead or Customer. The bot only fires when the contact has that relationship type.
3

Pick the trigger type

Same four reply types as Message Bots — see the table below.
4

Enter keywords

Required for reply types 1 and 2. Leave empty for types 3 and 4.
5

Choose the template

Pick one of your approved WhatsApp templates. Only approved templates show up in the list.
6

Fill in parameter values

For each variable in the header, body, and footer, provide a value. You can use merge fields ({contact_first_name} etc.) to personalise per contact.
7

Save

The bot is live as soon as it’s saved and active.

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The four trigger types

Same rules as Message Bots:
IDNameWhen it firesKeywords field
1On exact matchThe incoming message equals a keyword exactlyRequired — comma-separated keywords
2When message containsThe incoming message contains any of the keywords as a substringRequired — comma-separated keywords
3On first messageThe contact is messaging your business for the first timeIgnored
4If no keyword matchesNothing else caught this message — the fallbackIgnored

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Template parameters

A Template Bot stores parameters as three JSON fields — one for each section of the template:
FieldPurpose
header_paramsValues for variables in the header (or the header media URL for a media header)
body_paramsValues for the {{1}}, {{2}}, … variables in the body
footer_paramsValues for variables in the footer (if the template has any)
Each field is a list of values matched to the variables in the approved template, in order.
Template variables use {{1}}, {{2}}, … syntax. These are not the same as the {contact_first_name}-style merge fields. You can put a merge field inside a parameter value so that a different contact gets a different {{1}}.

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Example

Suppose the approved template body is: 
Hi {{1}}, your order {{2}} is on the way.
Your Template Bot’s body parameters might be:
  1. {contact_first_name}
  2. ORD-{contact_id}
When the bot fires for a contact named “Asha” with ID 482, WhatsApp receives: 
Hi Asha, your order ORD-482 is on the way.

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Merge fields you can use in parameter values

{contact_first_name}
{contact_last_name}
{contact_id}
{contact_company}
{contact_email}
{contact_phone_number}
{lead_status}
{lead_source}
{lead_assigned}
Custom fields are not available as merge fields inside Template Bot parameters at the moment.

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Why use Template Bots instead of Message Bots?

You need…Use
A quick text reply with at most three buttonsMessage Bot
A branded message with a header image or videoTemplate Bot
To reply to a message that came in outside the 24-hour session windowTemplate Bot
A reply longer than a short message, with formattingTemplate Bot
A structured call-to-action button that opens a URLTemplate Bot
Template Bots are the only way (without building a Bot Flow) to answer a customer with an approved template.

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Active / inactive

Each Template Bot has an active toggle. Inactive bots keep their configuration but don’t fire on incoming messages.

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Cloning

Clone duplicates an existing bot — useful to fork one for Lead vs Customer, or as a starting point for a near-identical bot with a different template.

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Permissions

PermissionAllows
tenant.template_bot.viewSee the Template Bot list
tenant.template_bot.createCreate new Template Bots
tenant.template_bot.editEdit existing Template Bots
tenant.template_bot.deleteDelete Template Bots
tenant.template_bot.cloneClone an existing Template Bot
The workspace owner has all of them automatically.

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Feature availability

Template Bots require the template_bots feature on the workspace subscription. If the link is missing from the sidebar, your plan doesn’t include them.

Message Bots

Plain text keyword replies.

Bot Flows

Branching multi-step conversations.

Templates

How to get templates approved by Meta.