Meta Flows

A Meta Flow is a WhatsApp-native interactive experience built using WhatsApp Business Flows. Instead of a text conversation, users see rich screens with forms, buttons, carousels, date pickers, and more — all rendered natively inside WhatsApp.

Meta Flows are ideal for collecting structured information (e.g., booking a service, completing a registration form, or running a survey) without leaving WhatsApp.

When to Use a Meta Flow

Use a Meta Flow when you need:

Structured data collection — forms, checkboxes, date pickers, file uploads
Rich interactive screens — carousels, selectable lists, embedded links
A polished in-app experience — no back-and-forth text messages; users tap through screens

For standard conversational scripting, use Conversation Flows instead.

Creating a Meta Flow

Inside your chatbot, click Flows in the sidebar, then Meta Flows.
Click Create Meta Flow (or New Meta Flow).
Enter a name and optional description.
Click Create.

The flow opens in the Meta Flow Editor.

Note: Your plan limits how many flows a chatbot can have. See Billing & Plans.

The Meta Flow Editor Layout

Area	Purpose
Canvas (centre)	Visual graph of screens and their connections
Property Panel (right)	Edit the selected screen or component
JSON IDE (tab)	Edit the raw WhatsApp Flow JSON
Chat Preview (tab)	Simulate the flow interaction

The toolbar provides Undo, Redo, Save, Validate, and Publish buttons.

Working with Screens

A screen is a single page that the user sees in WhatsApp. A Meta Flow is made up of one or more screens that the user navigates through.

Adding a Screen

On the canvas, click + Add Screen.
A new screen node appears.
Click the screen to select it and configure it in the Property Panel.

Screen Settings

In the Property Panel for a selected screen:

Screen ID — A unique identifier in UPPERCASE_SNAKE_CASE format (e.g., BOOKING_FORM). Used in routing.
Title — Optional title shown at the top of the screen in WhatsApp.
Components — The UI elements displayed on the screen.

The Initial Screen

One screen must be marked as the first screen — this is what users see when the flow starts. By default the first screen you create becomes the initial screen. You can change this in the routing settings.

Adding Components to a Screen

Components are the building blocks of a screen. Select a screen, then use the Property Panel to add components.

Text Components

Component	Description
Heading	Large bold title
Subheading	Medium-weight section title
Body	Regular paragraph text
Caption	Small descriptive text
Rich Text	Formatted text with basic markdown

Input Components

Component	Description
Text Input	Single-line text field
Text Area	Multi-line text field
Date Picker	Calendar date selector
Calendar Picker	Full calendar view
Time Picker	Time selector
Photo Picker	Upload a photo from the device
Document Picker	Upload a document from the device
Radio Buttons	Select one option from a list
Checkboxes	Select multiple options from a list

Interactive Components

Component	Description
Button Group	A row of buttons for navigation or actions
Footer	A persistent action button at the bottom of the screen
Selectable List	A scrollable list of items the user can tap
Embedded Link	A tappable hyperlink
Carousel	A horizontally scrollable set of cards

Layout Components

Component	Description
Divider	A horizontal line to separate sections
Spacer	Vertical white space

Adding a Component

Select a screen on the canvas.
In the Property Panel, click + Add Component.
Choose the component type from the list.
Configure the component's properties (label, placeholder, options, etc.).

Routing Between Screens

Routing defines how users move from one screen to another. Each interactive component (button, footer, selectable list) has a click action that can:

Action	What it does
Navigate	Move the user to another screen in the flow
Complete	End the flow and return control to the chatbot
Data Exchange	Submit data to your backend and receive a response (e.g., validate a form)
Open URL	Open a URL in the user's browser
Update Data	Update a variable within the session without navigating

Select a button or footer component.
In the Property Panel, set the Click Action to Navigate.
Choose the Target Screen from the dropdown.

An arrow is drawn on the canvas between the two screens.

Undo and Redo

The Meta Flow Editor supports undo and redo with up to 50 steps of history.

Undo: Press Ctrl + Z (Windows/Linux) or Cmd + Z (Mac)
Redo: Press Ctrl + Y (Windows/Linux) or Cmd + Y (Mac)
Or use the Undo / Redo buttons in the toolbar

Tip: Undo history is session-based — it resets when you reload the page. Save your work frequently.

JSON IDE

The JSON IDE tab shows the complete WhatsApp Flow JSON. Advanced users can edit it directly.

Live validation — Errors are highlighted as you type
Error markers — Hover to see details on any error
Format: Must conform to the WhatsApp Business Flows JSON specification

Changes in the JSON editor sync to the canvas.

Chat Preview

The Chat Preview tab lets you interact with your Meta Flow as if you were a WhatsApp user.

Click the Chat Preview tab.
Tap through screens, fill in inputs, and click buttons.
Verify that navigation works correctly and screens display as expected.

Save, Validate, and Publish

Meta Flows follow the same three-step workflow as Conversation Flows:

Step 1: Save

Click Save to save your draft. This does not affect the live version.

Step 2: Validate

Click Validate to check your flow against the WhatsApp Flow specification. Errors appear in the JSON IDE and in the toolbar. Fix all errors before continuing.

Step 3: Publish

Click Publish to make the Meta Flow live. Confirm in the publish dialog. The live version is what WhatsApp users see.

Flow Status Badges

Badge	Meaning
Draft	Saved but not published
Published	Live and active
Invalid	Failed validation; cannot be published

Conversation Flows — Text-based state-machine conversations
Integrations — Connect to WhatsApp to deploy Meta Flows
Chatbots — Managing chatbots and their flows