Adding and removing a bot for a messaging channel

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This functionality is part of AI agents.

If you have created a conversation bot, you need to publish that bot before it appears in any of your messaging channels. You can later disconnect a bot from a channel if you need to do so. You must be an admin to add or remove a bot from a messaging channel.

This article contains the following sections:

• Publishing a bot to add it to a channel
• Removing a bot to disconnect it from a channel

Publishing a bot to add it to a channel

You can publish a bot to any messaging channel where you want to add that bot. Publishing a bot to a channel means that any other messaging response – either the default messaging response or another bot – is removed from that channel and replaced with the newly published bot.

Until you publish a bot:

• If you have not yet published a bot, the default messaging response remains active.
• If you have published a bot, the last published version of that bot remains active.
• Any unpublished answers remain until they’re published or altered.

Both out-of-the-box and customized bots are published through the bot builder.

To publish a bot to a channel

1. In Admin Center, click Channels in the sidebar, then select AI agents and automation > AI agents.
2. Click Manage conversation bots.
3. Click the bot you want to publish.
4. Make any changes necessary to the flow, then click Publish bot in the upper-right corner.
   • If the bot is not currently published to a channel, in Choose where your bot appears, select one or more channels, then click Publish to selected channels.
   • If the bot is already live in a channel, the bot is updated in that channel.

Removing a bot to disconnect it from a channel

You may find you need to disconnect a bot from a channel because you want to use a different bot or you no longer want to offer bot functionality through that channel.

When you disconnect a messaging bot from a channel, it is replaced by the default messaging response until and unless another bot is connected to that channel. Before disconnecting a bot, make sure you have another bot ready to replace it or check that your default messaging response is properly configured.

To disconnect a bot from a channel

1. In Admin Center, click Channels in the sidebar, then select AI agents and automation > AI agents.
2. Click Manage conversation bots.
3. Click the bot you want to disconnect.
4. In the Settings tab, expand the Channels section and deselect the channel you want to disconnect.

   Your changes are automatically saved. The bot is disconnected and the default messaging response is activated.