Chatbot: set it up, switch it on, and why it may not reply

Set it up

1. Open Dashboard → Chatbot and click New Flow. (The separate Flows menu is for WhatsApp forms, not for the chatbot.)
2. Choose how it starts: Customer sends a keyword, Customer replies to a template or First-ever message (Welcome). In the builder you can also pick Any message.
3. Drag blocks from the left (Send Message, Ask a Question, Condition, Send Template, Transfer to Human and others) and connect the first one to Start.
4. Click Test to try it on screen. The test sends nothing and costs nothing.
5. Set the status dropdown to Active and click Save changes. A new flow is a Draft, and a Draft or Inactive flow never replies.

Each message the chatbot sends costs the ₹0.20 PayPerWA fee, also inside the 24-hour window. Meta's own fee, if any, is separate.

The bot does not reply: check these in order

1. Status. The flow card must show ACTIVE, and the flow belongs to the WhatsApp number that was selected when you created it.
2. Wallet. With less than one platform fee in the wallet the bot stays silent and the chat shows a note "Chatbot did not reply: insufficient wallet balance". Recharge and it resumes.
3. Trigger. Keywords are not case-sensitive. The default match is Contains word, so "price" matches "what is the price" but not "prices". A Welcome flow runs only for a contact's very first message. A template reply flow starts only when the customer taps a Quick Reply button of that template; website, phone and form buttons do not start it.
4. Run rules. "Run once per contact" or "Once every…" stops a second run for the same person, which is the usual surprise when you test from one phone.
5. Human mode. After you (or a teammate on the WhatsApp Business app) reply to a customer by hand, or after a Transfer to Human block, the bot stays quiet in that chat for 24 hours unless the customer sends a trigger keyword.
6. Notes in the Inbox. When Meta refuses a bot message, the chat shows a note that starts with "Chatbot message not sent" and gives Meta's error number and what to do.

Meta error 131070: another app controls the chat

If the note shows error 131070, Meta's Conversation routing is switched on for your number and another app owns the conversation, so Meta refuses bot and inbox replies from PayPerWA (templates still go). Only you can change it: in Meta Business Suite open Settings → Accounts → WhatsApp accounts, select the account, open Conversation routing and give thread control to PayPerWA, or remove the other app.