💬 Chat Interface

---

The inbox is split into two columns: a sidebar with all your chats on the left, and the active chat window on the right.

4.1 Sidebar & Chat List

The sidebar shows every chat for the connected number, sorted by most recent message.

• Search — Search for chats using the contact name, group name, WhatsApp display name, phone number, or words from the latest message. Search works with chats already loaded in the browser and also searches the server, so you can find older conversations.

• Filters — Quickly filter chats by All, Mine, Unread, Favourites, or Archived.

  • All — Shows all available chats.
  • Mine — Shows chats assigned to you.
  • Unread — Shows chats with unread messages.
  • Favourites — Shows chats marked as favourites.
  • Archived — Shows archived chats.

  Favourites and archived status are managed in the platform and are not synced with WhatsApp.

• Infinite scroll — Older chats load automatically as you scroll down. You do not need to click a Load More button.

• Chat actions — Move your mouse over a chat to see actions such as Favourite and Archive or Unarchive.

• Assignee — Assign a chat to a team member. The chat will then appear in that team member's Mine filter. Admins can assign or remove assignments. Team members can work on the chats assigned to them.

• Profile pictures — The platform uses the WhatsApp profile picture when it is available. If no picture is available, the contact's first letter is shown instead.

• Unread count — A green badge shows the number of unread messages in each chat. If a chat is muted, a mute icon is shown. The mute status is synced from WhatsApp.

🔍 SEARCH IS SERVER-SIDE

You can search for chats even if they are not currently loaded on the page. The search also checks the server, so you can find older conversations even when there are many newer chats.

4.2 Chat Window

Clicking a chat opens it on the right. The window has three areas:

• Header — avatar, contact name, phone number, the assignee selector, and a ⋯ menu with Clear chat and Delete chat actions.
• Message history — messages newest at the bottom, oldest at the top. Scroll up to load older messages on demand.
• Composer — the message input bar at the bottom.

🧹 CLEAR VS. DELETE CHAT

• Clear chat empties the message history but keeps the chat in your sidebar.
• Delete chat removes the chat and its messages from your platform entirely.

Both act only on your stored copy — they don't delete anything on the recipient's phone.

Message Bubbles

Each message bubble shows:

• Sender name and avatar (in groups)
• Message body, formatted with WhatsApp markdown (*bold*, _italic_, ~strike~)
• Media preview (images / videos play inline; documents show as a download tile; voice notes get a play button)
• Reaction emojis if anyone reacted
• Reply context if it's a reply to an earlier message
• Status ticks and timestamp

Bubble Actions

Hovering a bubble reveals a ⋯ menu with two actions:

• Reply — Adds the selected message to the message box so you can reply to it.

• Delete for everyone — Deletes your own message for everyone in the chat. This option is available only within WhatsApp's allowed deletion time.

😀 REACTIONS & FORWARDS ARE DISPLAY-ONLY

• Reactions — Reactions received from customers are shown in the chat as an emoji on the related message.

• Forwarded messages — Messages received as forwarded messages are shown with the WhatsApp forwarded indicator.

You can view both reactions and forwarded messages in the inbox, but you cannot send a reaction or forward a message from the inbox.

4.3 Message Composer

The message composer is the message box at the bottom of the chat window. It includes several buttons for sending different types of messages.

Click the + button to open the attachment menu. You can then choose from:

• Image
• Document
• Video
• Location
• Contact

Button	What it does
+ (attach)	Open a menu to attach an image, video, audio file, document, location, or contact card.
Formatting	Toolbar that wraps the selected text in WhatsApp markdown for bold (*), italic (_), or strikethrough (~).
😀 (emoji)	Full emoji picker with search.
@ (merge fields)	Type @ to open the merge-field autocomplete and drop a CRM token like {contact_first_name} or {company_name} into the message. Resolved per recipient when sent.
Canned replies	Popover of saved reply templates you can insert into the composer.
🎙️ (microphone)	Record a voice note that sends as a true WhatsApp voice message.
Shift + Enter	Insert a newline without sending.
Enter	Send the message.

🧩 MERGE FIELDS RESOLVE PER RECIPIENT

A merge token such as {contact_first_name} is replaced with the customer's actual information when the message is sent.

The value comes from the contact's CRM record. If the contact does not have a value for that field, the merge token will be replaced with a blank value.

Tip: Check that the contact information is available before sending personalised messages.

🔒 READ-ONLY USERS

You can give a team member read-only access to the inbox.

With read-only access, the team member can:

• Open and view all chats.
• Read messages and conversation history.
• Search and browse chats.

They cannot send messages because the message box is disabled.

To give read-only access, enable the appropriate inbox permission in the team member's role settings.

4.4 Message Types You Can Send and Receive

Type	Send	Receive	Allowed Extensions	Max Size	Notes
Text	✓	✓	—	—	Up to 4096 characters. Markdown formatting supported.
Image	✓	✓	.jpeg, .png, .jpg	5 MB	MIME types: image/jpeg, image/png.
Video	✓	✓	.mp4, .3gp	16 MB	MIME types: video/mp4, video/3gpp.
Audio	✓	✓	.mp3, .m4a, .amr	16 MB	MIME types: audio/mpeg, audio/mp4, audio/amr.
Voice note	✓	✓	—	—	Recorded straight in the browser, sent as a true WhatsApp voice message (not a generic audio file).
Document	✓	✓	.pdf, .doc, .docx, .txt, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx	100 MB	All standard Office and PDF MIME types accepted.
Sticker	—	✓	.webp	0.1 MB	MIME type: image/webp. Animated WebP supported on receive.
Location	✓	✓	—	—	Pin a point on a map; optionally add a name and address.
Contact card	✓	✓	—	—	Pick one or more contacts from your CRM. Sent as vCard.
Reaction (emoji)	—	✓	—	—	Incoming reactions are shown as an emoji on the target bubble. Sending reactions isn't supported.
Reply / quote	✓	✓	—	—	Includes a snippet of the original message above the reply.
Forward	—	✓	—	—	Forwarded messages are flagged with WhatsApp's standard arrow icon.
Delete for everyone	✓	n/a	—	—	Only your own messages, only within WhatsApp's deletion window.

📎 FILE VALIDATION

File type and size limits are checked when you upload a file.

If the file type is not allowed or the file is larger than the maximum size, the upload will be rejected. An error message will appear in the message box, and the file will not be sent.

4.5 Message Status

Each outgoing message goes through a series of states, shown as ticks on the bubble:

Status	Icon	What it means
Pending	🕐	The message is being prepared and has not been sent to WhatsApp yet.
Queued	🕐	The message is waiting to be sent. This is used when messages are sent in the background.
Sent	✓	WhatsApp has accepted the message, but it has not reached the customer's phone yet.
Delivered	✓✓	The message has reached the customer's phone, but the customer has not opened it yet.
Read	✅	The customer has opened the chat and read the message. This status may not appear if read receipts are disabled.
Failed	❌	WhatsApp could not send the message. Hover over the error icon to see the reason.

👁️ READ RECEIPTS ARE OPT-IN ON THE RECIPIENT'S SIDE

If a customer has read receipts disabled in their WhatsApp settings, you will not see the blue double-tick when they read your message.

This is controlled by WhatsApp's privacy settings. The platform cannot change or override this setting.

---

Now that you know the inbox, head to Managing Your Connection for connection statuses and reconnect flows.