A webhook bot can read the conversation, but on its own it does not know which stay the guest is writing about. That is the difference between a bot that answers "check-in is at 15:00" and one that answers "your room is ready from 15:00 on Thursday". The Bot API sends the booking reference along with messages, so your bot, or your integration partner's, can identify the reservation and pull the rest of the detail from your property management system.
Nothing about this appears in the Unified Inbox. It is part of what the Bot API sends, so it has an effect only once whoever built your bot reads the field.
What gets sent
Each message in the Bot API includes an info object.
The object can be empty, or it can contain a bookingReference.
The booking reference is the external reference from your PMS, the same booking number your team already recognises in your property management system.
It is filled in for proactive messages sent in relation to a booking. If a message is not linked to a reservation, the object stays empty.
Your bot reads the field the same way it reads the message text. The full schema is in the Bot API documentation.
What you can do with it
Fetch the reservation from your PMS. With the booking reference the bot can look up arrival date, room type, rate, and folio, and answer with real detail instead of a generic reply.
Stop the "I do not know who I am talking to" replies. When a guest replies to a pre-arrival or in-stay message, the bot already knows which stay the thread belongs to.
Hand over cleanly between systems. The booking reference is a value your hotel, your PMS, and your bot vendor all recognise, so it travels well between them.
What this does not do
It is the booking reference, not the internal reservation ID. Bookboost exposes the external PMS reference. Bookboost's own internal reservation identifier is not sent.
It is not on every message. The reference is added for proactive messages related to a booking. On other messages the info object is empty.
Older reservations may not have one. Where no booking reference was stored, the field is left empty. Your bot should handle an empty info object without failing.
It does not change anything in the Inbox. Operators see no new field on the ticket. This only affects what the Bot API sends to your bot.
It does not update your bot for you. Your bot or your vendor has to read the field before any of this has an effect.
Common questions
Do I need to do anything in Bookboost to switch this on?
No. The field is sent automatically. The work sits with whoever built your bot, who needs to read the info object.
Why is the info object empty on some messages?
Either the message is not linked to a reservation, or the reservation has no booking reference stored, which happens with some older bookings.
Can the bot get the full reservation from Bookboost instead?
Not through this field. The booking reference is a key you use against your PMS. The bot does the lookup on its side.
Is this the same as the AI Agent?
No. This is about webhook bots connected through the Bot API. The Bookboost AI Agent is a separate product, set up under Messaging settings.
What to do next
If you have not set a bot up yet, start with What a webhook bot can do in the Unified Inbox.
Getting help
Open Help at the bottom of the left menu and choose Talk to Us, or email support@bookboost.io.