This guide gets you from zero to handling real customer conversations in four straightforward steps. If you've already completed the onboarding wizard, some of these may already be done — feel free to skip ahead to wherever you left off.
The goal: within 30 minutes, you'll have an AI agent answering customer messages on WhatsApp, with your team ready to jump in when needed.
Step 1: Set Up Your AI Agent
Your AI agent is the first line of support. It handles incoming messages automatically, answers common questions, and only escalates to a human when it needs to. Getting this set up first means you're covered from the moment you connect a channel.
Create a New Agent
- In the sidebar, navigate to AI Agent.
- Click the Create New Agent button.
- A popup modal appears. Fill in:
- Agent Name — Give it a clear name like "Customer Support" or "Sales Assistant"
- Agent Template — Pick a starting template that matches your use case. Available templates include Customer Support, Sales Assistant, Technical Support, and more. Each template comes with pre-configured behavior that you can customize later.
- Click Create Agent.
Configure the Agent
You'll be redirected to the AI Agent setup page with three tabs: General, Knowledge Base, and Tools & Integrations.
General Tab
This is where you define your agent's personality and behavior.
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Agent Name and Description — Already filled from the previous step. You can adjust them here.
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Behavior Prompt — This is the most important field. Write a detailed prompt that tells the agent how to behave, its personality, and communication style. For example:
Code -
Welcome Message — The first message customers see when starting a conversation. You can also upload a Welcome Image (optional, supports PNG/JPG/WebP up to 5MB).
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Agent Transfer Conditions — Define when the AI should hand off the conversation to a human agent. For example: "When the customer wants to make a complaint" or "When the customer explicitly asks to speak to a human." You can also toggle:
- Stop AI after Handoff — Prevents the AI from sending more messages after transferring
- Silent Agent Handoff — Transfers without any AI response message
Click Save Changes when you're done.
Knowledge Base Tab
Switch to the Knowledge Base tab to give your agent information to work with.
There are three ways to add knowledge:
| Source | Best For |
|---|---|
| Files | Upload PDF, DOC, DOCX, TXT, or CSV documents (max 10MB each). Great for product catalogs, FAQs, and policy documents. |
| Website | Enter a URL and Chatmo will scrape the content. Useful for pulling in existing help pages or product listings. |
| Text | Write or paste text directly. Perfect for quick FAQ entries or specific business information. |
Start lean. You don't need to upload every document you have. Begin with your top 10 most frequently asked questions and the basics — business hours, shipping info, return policy. You'll see what customers actually ask about in the first few days, and you can refine the knowledge base from there.
Tools Tab
Switch to the Tools & Integrations tab to enable additional capabilities for your agent.
Available tools you can activate:
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Ecommerce & Order Agent | Allows the AI to check order status, product availability, and manage order-related inquiries |
| Web Search | Enables the AI to search the web for up-to-date information |
| Check Ongkir | Check shipping costs between cities using logistics APIs |
Toggle each tool on or off as needed, then click Configure to set up the details for each enabled tool.
After configuring everything, click Save Changes to finalize your agent setup.
The AI agent won't go live until you assign it to a channel, which happens in the next step. So there's no risk of it responding to customers before you're ready.
You can also test your agent right away using the Chat Simulation panel on the right side of the setup page (visible on desktop). Type sample questions to see how your agent responds before connecting it to a live channel.
Step 2: Connect WhatsApp
WhatsApp is the most popular channel for customer communication in many regions, and it's the fastest to set up in Chatmo. This process involves two parts: creating a device and connecting it as a channel.
Part A: Create a WhatsApp Device
Before connecting WhatsApp as a channel, you need to register the WhatsApp device first.
- Go to WA Devices in the sidebar.
- Click the Add Device button.
- A popup modal appears. Enter a Device Name that your team will recognize — for example, "Sales Team" or "Customer Support".
- Click Create.
- You'll be redirected to the QR code scanning page. A QR code appears on screen with a "Waiting for scan" status.
- On your phone, open WhatsApp, then go to Settings > Linked Devices > Link a Device.
- Scan the QR code displayed on the Chatmo screen.
- Wait a few seconds. Once connected, you'll see a green Connected status, and the device's profile photo, name, and phone number will appear on screen.
- Click Go to Devices to return to the device list.
With the QR code method, your phone acts as the bridge for WhatsApp. It needs to stay powered on and connected to the internet. If you need a setup that runs independently of your phone, look into the WhatsApp Business API option instead.
Part B: Connect WhatsApp Channel
Now that your device is registered, connect it as a messaging channel.
- Go to Channel in the sidebar. Select the WhatsApp channel category from the left panel.
- Click Add WhatsApp Account.
- A popup modal appears with three fields:
- Channel Name — A descriptive name for this channel (e.g., "Main Support Line")
- WhatsApp Device — Select the device you just created from the dropdown
- AI Agent — Select the AI agent from Step 1 (or choose "AI Agent Off" for manual-only handling)
- Click Create Channel.
- You'll be redirected to the WhatsApp channel configuration page where you can review and adjust settings.
That's it — any message sent to this WhatsApp number will now appear in your Chatmo inbox, and your AI agent will respond automatically.
Test the connection immediately. Grab a second phone (or ask a friend) and send a WhatsApp message to your connected number. You should see it appear in the Chatmo inbox within seconds, and the AI agent should respond automatically.
Step 3: Start Chatting with Customers
With your AI agent live on WhatsApp, conversations will start flowing into your inbox. Here's how to work with them.
- Click Chat in the sidebar to open the unified inbox.
- You'll see all incoming conversations listed on the left panel. Each entry shows the customer's name (or phone number), the channel icon, and a preview of the latest message.
- Click on any conversation to open it in the center panel. You'll see the full message history, including what the AI agent has already replied.
- To take over from the AI agent and reply manually, simply type your message in the input field at the bottom and press Enter (or click Send).
- Use the right panel to view customer details — contact info, conversation history, tags, and notes.
Here are a few things worth exploring in the inbox:
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Assign to a teammate | Click the assignment dropdown at the top of the conversation and select a team member. |
| Add a tag | Click the tag icon and type a tag name (e.g., "VIP," "Refund Request," "Hot Lead"). |
| Add internal notes | Switch to the Notes tab in the right panel to leave comments only your team can see. |
| Create a ticket | Click the ticket icon to escalate a conversation into a trackable support ticket. |
| Send an attachment | Click the paperclip icon to share images, documents, or other files. |
Pay attention to conversations where the AI agent hands off to a human. These are flagged with a notification badge and usually mean the customer's question goes beyond what the agent's knowledge base covers. These handoffs are great signals for what to add to the knowledge base next.
Step 4: Add Your CS Team
Handling every conversation alone isn't sustainable, especially as volume grows. Bring your customer service team into Chatmo so they can share the workload.
- Go to Human Agent in the sidebar. You'll see three tabs: Agents, Teams, and Invitations.
- Click on the Invitations tab.
- Click the Invite Member button.
- A popup modal appears with two fields:
- Email — Enter your team member's email address
- Role — Select their role from the dropdown:
| Role | Best For |
|---|---|
| Owner | Business owners or managers who need full control over settings, billing, and team management. |
| Manager | Team leads who need to monitor agent performance, view analytics, and manage conversation queues. |
| Agent | Frontline CS team members focused on handling customer conversations. |
- Click Send Invitation. They'll receive an email with instructions to join your organization.
- Repeat for each team member you want to add.
Once your team members accept their invitations and log in, they'll see the shared inbox and can start responding to conversations immediately.
You can track invitation status (Pending, Accepted, Expired, Revoked) from the Invitations tab. For pending invitations, you also have the option to Resend or Revoke them.
Before your team goes live, spend 10 minutes with them walking through the inbox interface. Show them how to pick up conversations, add notes, and use tags. A quick onboarding session avoids confusion and helps everyone hit the ground running.
You're All Set
With these four steps complete, you have a working customer communication setup:
- An AI agent handling first-line responses automatically
- WhatsApp connected and receiving live messages
- A unified inbox where your team can manage conversations
- Team members invited and ready to collaborate
From here, there's a lot more you can do. Here are some natural next steps:
- Connect more channels — Add Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, or web chat to capture conversations from every platform your customers use.
- Import your contacts — Bring in your existing customer list so you have rich profiles from day one.
- Send your first broadcast — Reach out to customer segments with targeted WhatsApp campaigns.
- Explore the dashboard — Get a bird's-eye view of your conversations, response times, and team performance.
- Refine your AI agent — Expand the knowledge base based on real customer questions you've seen coming in.
The Dashboard Overview is a great next page to visit — it gives you a clear picture of how your customer communications are performing at a glance.