How to set up auto replies on the WhatsApp Business API
Auto replies let your WhatsApp business number respond the instant a customer messages you — a warm greeting on first contact, an away message outside working hours, and instant keyword answers for common questions like "price", "hours" or "order status". On the official WhatsApp Business API with InfiQ, these run inside the free 24-hour service window, so replying to an inbound message costs you nothing per delivered message. This guide walks you through building each type of auto reply, wiring the fallbacks, testing on your own number, and going live — plus the mistakes that quietly break automations in production.
What you'll do
Set up greeting, away and keyword auto replies in the InfiQ dashboard, order your rules so the most specific match wins, add a fallback to a human, test on your own number inside the 24-hour service window, then go live. Replies to inbound messages within 24 hours are free per delivered message; only proactive template messages after the window carry a category rate.Step 1 — Prepare: confirm your number and window are ready
Before you build a single rule, make sure the foundation is in place. Auto replies only fire on a live, verified WhatsApp Business API number connected to InfiQ, and they behave differently depending on whether a conversation is inside the free 24-hour service window. Getting these basics right first saves you from debugging phantom failures later, when a reply 'silently doesn't send' simply because the window has closed.
- Confirm your WhatsApp Business API number is active and verified in your InfiQ dashboard, and that your Meta Business Manager is verified.
- Check the number's quality rating is Green or Yellow — a Flagged rating can throttle or block sends.
- Understand the window: replies to a customer who messaged you in the last 24 hours are free per delivered message; sending after 24 hours needs an approved template and carries a category rate.
- Decide your business hours and time zone up front — the away-message logic depends on them.
Step 2 — Build the three core auto replies
Most businesses need three replies working together, not one. In InfiQ's no-code Auto Reply builder you create each as a separate rule with its own trigger. Keep the copy short, human and specific to your brand — a generic 'Thanks for your message' converts far worse than 'Hi! You've reached [Store] — reply 1 for order status, 2 to talk to a person.' Because all three fire inside the service window on inbound messages, none of them add a per-message cost.
- Greeting message: fires on the customer's first message in a fresh conversation. Set it to introduce your business and offer 2–3 quick menu options.
- Away message: fires when a message arrives outside your configured business hours. Set expectations honestly ('We reply between 10am–7pm IST, Mon–Sat').
- Keyword replies: map trigger words like 'price', 'catalogue', 'hours' or 'track' to instant answers. Add common misspellings and Hindi/regional variants your customers actually type.
Step 3 — Order your rules and add a human fallback
The order of your rules decides which one wins when a message could match more than one. Put your most specific keyword rules at the top and your catch-all greeting or away message at the bottom, so 'what's the price of order #204' triggers the price keyword rather than the generic greeting. Every automation should also have an escape hatch: an obvious way for a frustrated customer to reach a person. Auto replies deflect the easy questions; they should never trap someone in a loop.
- List keyword rules from most specific to least specific — the first match should be the best match.
- Add a 'talk to a human' keyword (and mention it in your greeting) that routes the chat to your team's shared inbox in InfiQ.
- Set a fallback for unmatched messages so a real teammate is notified instead of the customer hearing silence.
- Avoid replying to your own outbound template with an auto reply — scope rules to inbound customer messages only.
Step 4 — Test end-to-end on your own number
Never ship an auto reply straight to customers. Message your business number from your personal WhatsApp and walk every path: the first-contact greeting, each keyword, a deliberate typo, and a message sent after hours to trigger the away reply. Watch the delivery and read ticks, and confirm the handoff to a human actually lands in your team inbox. Testing inside the 24-hour window is free, so there's no reason to cut it short.
- Send a fresh 'Hi' to trigger the greeting, then each keyword one by one.
- Send an unmatched, gibberish message to confirm your fallback and human handoff work.
- Change your device clock or test after hours to verify the away message fires on the right schedule.
- Confirm delivered/read status appears in the InfiQ dashboard for each test reply.
Step 5 — Go live and monitor
Once every path behaves, enable the rules for real traffic and keep an eye on the first few days. Auto replies are not 'set and forget' — the questions customers ask evolve, seasonal keywords appear, and a wrong template category on any proactive follow-up can drive up cost or trigger rejections. Review your unmatched-message log weekly and promote the recurring questions into new keyword rules. This tight loop is what turns auto replies from a novelty into a real deflection engine for your support team.
- Enable the rules and monitor delivery, read rates and response quality for the first week.
- Review unmatched messages regularly and add new keyword rules for anything that recurs.
- Keep away-hours copy accurate around festivals and holidays so you never promise a reply you can't give.
- If you follow up outside the 24-hour window, use the correct template category — utility for order/service updates, marketing for promotions — to control cost and pass review.
Frequently asked questions
Do auto replies to inbound messages cost anything?+
Do I need a developer to set up auto replies?+
How long does it take to set up?+
Why isn't my auto reply sending?+
Can I set different auto replies for different keywords?+
Will auto replies work in Hindi and regional languages?+
How do I hand a conversation over to a human?+
Where do I get help if I get stuck?+
Turn every inbound message into an instant reply
Set up greeting, away and keyword auto replies on the official WhatsApp Business API with InfiQ's no-code builder and India-based support — book a demo or start today.