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Fires when a contact sends a message through any connected messaging channel. Use this to react to inbound SMS, WhatsApp, Email, Instagram DMs, Messenger messages, or voice transcripts.

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When it fires

The trigger fires immediately when a contact sends an inbound message through:
  • SMS — An incoming text message to one of your workspace phone numbers
  • WhatsApp — An incoming WhatsApp message to a connected number
  • Voice — A transcribed turn from a contact during a voice call
  • Instagram — A direct message on your connected Instagram account
  • Messenger — A message on your connected Facebook Page
  • Email — An incoming email to one of your agent’s inbound email addresses
The trigger does not fire when a chat conversation is finalized (use Conversation Ended for that) or for outbound messages sent by your team or AI.

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Configuration

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Filters

Filter fieldOperatorsDescription
Reply channelsms, whatsapp, voice, instagram, messenger, emailOnly fire when the reply comes from a specific channel. Select the channel directly — no value field needed.
Messageequals, not equals, contains, not contains, is empty, is not emptyMatch against the message content. Comparisons are case-insensitive.
All filters use AND logic.

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Examples

Only SMS replies:
  • Filter: Reply channel → sms
Instagram messages containing “pricing”:
  • Filter: Reply channel → instagram
  • Filter: Message → contains → pricing
Any reply with content (not empty):
  • Filter: Message → is not empty
Any reply from any channel:
  • No filters. Leave it empty.

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Data available

VariableDescriptionExample
{{contactId}}The contact’s IDa1b2c3d4-...
{{firstName}}Contact’s first nameJohn
{{lastName}}Contact’s last nameDoe
{{phone}}Contact’s phone number+14155551234
{{email}}Contact’s emailjohn@example.com
{{trigger.reply.message}}The message text the contact sentYes, I'm interested
{{trigger.reply.channel}}Which channel the reply came fromsms

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Deduplication

Uses the contact ID + conversation ID as the dedup key. Default window: 1 minute. If a contact sends multiple messages quickly in the same conversation, only the first one triggers the workflow.

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Use case examples

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Notify sales on any SMS reply

Every inbound SMS gets posted to Slack so the team can follow up.
  1. Trigger: Contact replied → Reply channel: sms
  2. Action: Slack message — #sales channel
    • Message: “SMS from {{firstName}} {{lastName}} ({{phone}}): {{trigger.reply.message}}”

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Auto-tag engaged contacts

When a contact replies on any channel, mark them as engaged.
  1. Trigger: Contact replied (no filters)
  2. Action: Update contact — Add “engaged” tag

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Route by channel

Different channels get different handling.
  1. Trigger: Contact replied (no filters)
  2. Action: Condition
    • Path: SMS — {{trigger.reply.channel}} equals sms → Slack message to #sms-replies
    • Path: Instagram — {{trigger.reply.channel}} equals instagram → Slack message to #social
    • Default → Slack message to #general

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Re-engage after reply

When a contact replies, schedule a follow-up call.
  1. Trigger: Contact replied → any channel
  2. Action: Update contact — Add “engaged” tag
  3. Action: Wait — 10 minutes
  4. Action: Voice call — Follow-up agent