Skip to main content

Creating a webhook bot and giving it team access

Create the bot with the right message types, then add it to the team whose tickets it should follow.

A webhook bot is an integration you or a partner connect to your Unified Inbox by giving Bookboost a URL to call. Setting one up to work alongside your operators takes two steps: create the bot with the right message types selected, then add it to the team whose tickets it should follow.

If you are not sure what a webhook bot can and cannot do once it is on a team, read What a webhook bot can do in the Unified Inbox first.

Before you start

  • You need admin access to Inbox settings. Operators without admin access do not see the settings sections used below.

  • You need the URL your bot listens on. It has to start with https://.

  • Have somewhere secure ready to store a secret. Creating the bot produces a signing key you can only see once — see Webhook bot credentials before you start.

  • If a partner supplies your bot, they provide that URL and handle the technical side. Whoever builds the bot will want the Bot API documentation.

Creating the bot

  1. Go to Messaging > Inbox Settings > Bots.

    The Bots section in Inbox Settings

  2. Select the arrow beside New BB Bot, then choose Webhook.

    This part is easy to get wrong. New BB Bot is a split button: selecting the button itself opens the AI Agent templates, which is not what you want here. The webhook option is behind the small arrow on its right.

    Choosing Webhook from the arrow beside New BB Bot

  3. Enter a Name. This is how you tell this bot apart from the others in your organisation, so use something a colleague would recognise a year from now.

    The bot Name field

  4. Enter the Webhook URL Bookboost should call when new messages become available.

    The Webhook URL field

  5. Under Webhook Events, tick what the bot should receive. The event name in brackets is what your bot will see in the payload:

    • User Messages (Message) for messages from guests.

    • Operator Messages (OperatorMessage) for messages your own operators send.

    The Webhook Events options, User Messages and Operator Messages

  6. Select Create Bot.

Tick Operator Messages if the bot should keep working after a handover. Without it the bot never sees what your team wrote, so it cannot follow a conversation an operator has picked up, and the main benefit of team access is lost. You can change the events later using Edit on the bot's Info block.

Copy the signing key before you go any further

As soon as the bot is created, a Bot Created screen appears with a Signing Key (HMAC). Bookboost signs every webhook call with this key so your bot can confirm the request really came from us.

This is the only time you can see it. Reveal it, copy it, and put it wherever your team keeps secrets. Once you select Continue it is gone, and if you lose it you have to generate a new one and update your bot to match.

Your bot will also need an API key to call back into Bookboost, which you create on the bot's own page afterwards. Both are covered in Webhook bot credentials: the signing key and API keys.

The bot gets its own Operator

Creating the bot also creates an Operator for it, named after the bot with (Bot) on the end — so a bot called Concierge appears as Concierge (Bot). That is the identity attached to anything the bot sends or drafts, and it is what your team sees in the Inbox.

You will find it listed under Operator on the bot's settings page, with a link out to the operator settings page if you want to change it.

Adding the bot to a team

  1. Go to Messaging > Inbox Settings > Teams.

    The Teams section in Inbox Settings

  2. Open the team you want and select Edit, or create a new team.

    Opening a team for editing

  3. Find the Bot Access section.

    The Bot Access section on a team

  4. Select the bots that should have access to this team, up to three.

  5. Select Save.

    Saving the team with bot access set

After you save

The bot appears in the list under Inbox Settings > Bots with its status. From this point it receives every ticket assigned to that team, including tickets an operator has already picked up, and it can propose draft replies on them.

It cannot yet send anything to a guest. Team access covers reading and drafting only. To let it reply, see Letting a webhook bot reply, not just draft.

Common variations

  • Several teams, one bot. A bot can be on more than one team. Add it in each team's Bot Access section.

  • One team, several bots. A team can have up to three bots, for example one handling pre-arrival questions and another handling in-house requests.

  • A bot that only listens. Tick only User Messages if you want a bot that reacts to guests and stops as soon as a human is involved.

What can go wrong

  • You ended up looking at AI Agent templates. You selected the New BB Bot button instead of the arrow beside it. Cancel and use the arrow.

  • Nothing reaches the bot at all. Check the webhook URL is right and starts with https://.

  • The bot reacts to guests but ignores your operators. Operator Messages is not ticked. Open the bot under Inbox Settings > Bots, select Edit on the Info block, and tick it.

  • The bot cannot send. That is expected. It has to be assigned to the ticket, not just to the team.

  • You lost the signing key. It cannot be recovered. Generate a new one and update your bot.

What to do next

To let the bot send rather than only draft, see Letting a webhook bot reply, not just draft. If something is not working, see Why your webhook bot is not responding.

Getting help

Open Help at the bottom of the left menu and choose Talk to Us, or email support@bookboost.io.

Related Articles
Did this answer your question?