Building a guided, no-AI bot with rule-based flows
Set an agent's mode to Guided in Agents settings — the AI fields disappear and no key is needed — then design its buttons, lists and questions in the flow builder. Guided bots suit menu-driven support, lead qualification and fixed-answer FAQs, cost ₹0 in AI tokens, and specific branches can be handed to an AI agent later once you want free-form understanding.
- Guided mode needs no AI key and costs ₹0 in AI tokens — it's pure flow logic.
- It suits structured tasks: menu-driven support, lead qualification, bookings and fixed FAQs.
- Always give the customer an escape hatch — a 'talk to us' option — even in a fully guided flow.
- You can mix modes: keep most of the bot guided and hand one branch to an AI agent for free text.
- Use 'Try it' to click through every button path before publishing, since there's no AI to smooth over a dead end.
When guided beats AI
Guided mode is the right choice when the answers are genuinely fixed and finite: 'Press 1 for order status, 2 for returns, 3 to talk to us', a lead qualification form ('Are you looking to buy or rent?'), a simple booking flow, or FAQs with one correct answer each. It removes AI cost and AI unpredictability at the same time, since the bot only ever says what you wrote. The trade-off is that it can't understand free-form language; a customer typing a paragraph instead of tapping a button will confuse it, which is exactly when you'd reach for an AI agent instead, or a hybrid of the two. A guided bot also publishes and behaves identically every time, which matters if several staff members are involved in approving what the bot says before launch.
Guided mode also removes a category of risk entirely: since there's no AI generating the reply on the fly, there's nothing for it to get wrong or say off-brand. For a business just starting out with automation, that predictability is often worth more than the flexibility an AI agent offers.
Cost is the other clear signal: if a bot only ever needs to answer a handful of fixed questions, paying for AI tokens on every reply adds up for no real benefit over a well-designed menu.
The exact click path
- Go to Agents → New agent and set its mode to Guided. The AI model, temperature and system prompt fields disappear; no AI key is required.
- Open the flow builder and design the conversation with Send Message, Buttons, List Menu and Ask a Question steps.
- Connect it to WhatsApp or the web widget as a channel.
- Publish.
There's no separate approval step for a guided bot the way there is for a WhatsApp template. Once published, it starts responding to new conversations immediately.
Worked example: a restaurant order-status bot
Block order for a guided flow: Send Message (greeting) → Buttons ('Track my order' / 'New order' / 'Talk to us') → on 'Track my order', Ask a Question for the order number → Set Variable to store it → Send Message confirming it's been logged, or a Webhook step if you want to look the order up in an external system. On 'Talk to us', route straight to a message that hands the conversation to Live Chat for a human.
Notice there's no AI Reply block anywhere in this flow. Every response is a pre-written Send Message, and every branch is decided by which button the customer tapped, which is exactly what keeps a guided bot both cheap and predictable.
Designing the fallback message
Every guided flow needs a clear response for input it doesn't recognise, such as a customer typing 'hi' when a button was expected. A good fallback repeats the menu rather than saying nothing: 'Sorry, I didn't get that. Please choose one of: Track order, New order, Talk to us.' Never let a guided bot go silent on unexpected input. That's the single most common reason customers abandon a guided flow.
A second good habit: repeat the fallback no more than twice before offering the human-handoff option automatically, rather than looping the same menu at someone indefinitely. If two attempts have not worked, the customer needs a person, not a third repetition of the same buttons.
Adding AI to one branch later
You don't have to choose guided or AI for the whole bot. Keep the main menu guided for speed and predictability, then route a specific branch — say, a general question that doesn't fit any button — to an AI Reply step backed by a knowledge base. This keeps AI token costs limited to the conversations that actually need free-form understanding, while the bulk of routine traffic runs at ₹0 in AI cost.
This staged approach also gives a natural upgrade path: start entirely guided while validating the business case, then add AI to the branches that prove genuinely hard to script, rather than committing to a full AI agent build before knowing which conversations actually need it.
Troubleshooting and what to test before going live
| Symptom | Likely fix |
|---|---|
| Customer gets stuck repeating the same menu | Add a 'Talk to us' option at every level, not just the top menu. |
| WhatsApp button limits reached | WhatsApp caps how many buttons can show at once; switch to a List Menu for more than three options. |
| Bot goes silent on free text | Add an explicit fallback message rather than leaving the branch with no default step. |
| Flow feels slow to build | Install a close template from the Template Store and edit it, rather than starting from a blank canvas. |
Before publishing, use Try it to click through every path, including the wrong-input case, and confirm the health-check panel shows no dead ends. There's no AI provider bill to check since guided mode costs ₹0 in AI tokens. Your only cost is your Convo360 plan (Starter, ₹999/month, and up, excluding GST).
Step by step
- Set the agent to Guided modeIn Agents, create or edit an agent and switch its mode to Guided — no AI key needed.
- Design the menu in the flow builderUse Send Message, Buttons, List Menu and Ask a Question steps to build the conversation.
- Add a fallback for unexpected inputMake sure every branch has a message for when the customer doesn't tap a button.
- Connect the channelAttach the flow to WhatsApp or the web widget.
- Test every path with Try itClick through each button and the fallback case before publishing.
Example conversation
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Frequently asked questions
Does a guided bot need any AI provider key?
No. Setting an agent's mode to Guided removes the AI model, temperature and system prompt fields entirely, so you never connect an OpenAI, Anthropic or Gemini key. The bot runs purely on the buttons, lists and questions you design in the flow builder, and costs ₹0 in AI tokens.
When should I use guided instead of an AI agent?
For structured, predictable tasks like menu-driven support, lead qualification, bookings and fixed-answer FAQs, where every possible question has one correct, pre-written reply. It also suits businesses that want a fully approved script with no chance of the bot improvising an off-brand or incorrect answer.
Can a guided bot understand free-form typed questions?
Not on its own — it follows a fixed script of buttons and menus. Route a specific branch to an AI Reply step if you need free-form understanding there.
What happens if a customer types something unexpected?
Whatever your fallback message says. Always add one that repeats the menu, such as 'Sorry, I didn't get that, please choose one of the options below', so the bot never goes silent. Repeat it no more than twice before offering a human handoff automatically.
Can I mix guided and AI in the same bot?
Yes. Keep most of the flow guided for speed, predictability and zero AI cost, and route a specific branch, such as a general 'anything else' option, to an AI Reply step backed by a knowledge base when you want free-form understanding for that part of the conversation only.
Related reading
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