Understanding the New Channel Assignment Experience

We’ve redesigned how Conversation AI bots are assigned to channels. This article explains how the previous setup worked, what’s changing, and what you need to do after migrating.

How the Previous Experience Worked

In the previous experience, every sub-account had a Primary Bot.

Primary Bot

The Primary Bot automatically responded to conversations on the channels assigned to it, as long as the bot was in Auto Pilot mode.

Non-Primary Bots

Non-primary bots could not respond automatically based on channel assignment alone.

To make a non-primary bot respond, you had to:

  1. Create a Workflow.

  2. Use the Update Conversation AI Bot and Status action.

  3. Assign the desired bot through the workflow.

  4. Configure the appropriate workflow triggers.

  5. Read more : https://help.leadconnectorhq.com/en/support/solutions/articles/155000004431-automating-ai-bot-assignment-and-status-using-workflows

This meant that channel routing for non-primary bots was typically managed through workflows rather than directly through bot configuration.

How the New Experience Works

The concept of a Primary Bot has been removed.

Every bot can now respond independently based on its channel assignment and filters.

Assign Bots Directly to Channels

You can assign channels directly to any bot.

For example:

  • Bot A → WhatsApp

  • Bot B → Facebook

In this setup:

  • Messages received on WhatsApp are handled by Bot A.

  • Messages received on Facebook are handled by Bot B.

There is no need to designate a primary bot.

You can create multiple bots and configure each one to handle a different set of channels.

Add More Granular Routing Rules

In addition to channel assignment, you can apply filters such as:

  • Has Tag

  • Does Not Have Tag

  • Specific Phone Number

  • Other channel-specific conditions

This allows you to route conversations to the appropriate bot without relying on workflows.

Channel Assignment Logic

To avoid conflicts, channel assignments follow these rules:

Rule 1: Duplicate Configurations Are Not Allowed

Two bots cannot have the exact same channel configuration.

Rule 2: More Specific Assignments Take Priority

When multiple assignments could match a conversation, the more specific assignment wins.

Example: Live Chat

  • Bot A → All Live Chat conversations

  • Bot B → Live Chat B conversations 

If a message comes from Widget B, Bot B responds.

Example: Facebook with Tags

  • Bot A → Facebook

  • Bot B → Facebook + Tag = VVIP

If the contact has the VVIP tag, Bot B responds.

Otherwise, Bot A responds.

Workflow-Based Bot Assignment

The Update Conversation AI Bot and Status workflow action continues to be supported.

However, it now works differently.

The action is now channel agnostic.

When the workflow action executes:

  • The selected bot is assigned to that contact.

  • The bot will respond to the inbound message across any channel for that specific contact

    • users dont need to assign any channel for the workflow action

    • it will straightaway reply to the inbound message irrespective of channel 

  • The assignment is based on workflow execution, not channel assignment.

Important

If you want a bot to be activated only through a workflow:

Do not assign any channels to that bot.

If channels are assigned to the bot, it can start responding to incoming conversations directly through channel routing, which may bypass the workflow-driven behavior you intended.

Use channel assignment when:

  • You want a bot to automatically respond on specific channels.

Use workflow assignment when:

  • You want a bot to be activated only after a workflow condition is met.

What Happens After Migration?

When migrating from the previous experience:

Existing Primary Bot

The channels assigned to the Primary Bot are preserved.

This helps maintain existing behavior after migration.

Existing Non-Primary Bots

Channel assignments are removed from non-primary bots.

If you want these bots to respond through channel routing, you must configure their channel assignments again using the new experience.

Snapshot Migration Behavior

During snapshot migration:

  • All bots are migrated in Off mode.

  • All channel assignments are cleared.

  • Users must configure channel assignments again after the snapshot is installed.

Exception

If the sub-account contains only one bot:

  • The bot’s existing mode is preserved.

  • Existing channel assignments are preserved.

This ensures behavior remains unchanged for single-bot setups.

Transfer Bot Behavior

Transfer Bot continues to work with the new channel assignment system.

When a bot transfer occurs:

  • The transfer applies only to the specific contact.

  • The transfer applies only to the channel where the conversation is occurring.

  • The transferred bot does not need to have that channel assigned globally.

For this reason, a bot can successfully respond after a transfer even if it has no channel assignments configured.

This allows Transfer Bot workflows to continue functioning without requiring additional channel setup.