Trigger
The event that starts an automation: a keyword, a comment, a story reply or an ad link. Without a trigger a flow never runs on its own.
Glossary
The Instagram and WhatsApp automation glossary
Forty terms you run into in panel screens, Meta documentation and agency proposals — defined in plain English with examples. Use your browser's in-page search (Ctrl+F) to jump to one.
Last updated: September 2026 • 40 terms
Four ideas first
Everything else in this list orbits these four.
Flow
The chain of steps that describes what happens after the trigger: send a message, wait for a reply, check a condition, add a tag, hand over to a human. Think of it as a map of a conversation.
Messaging window
The period in which you can reply freely after a user writes to you. It is 24 hours on both Instagram and WhatsApp, and it restarts whenever the user writes again.
Opt-in
The permission a person gives to be messaged. Platform rules and national law ask for consent separately; keeping the two apart saves a lot of trouble.
A – F
Assignment
Giving a conversation to a specific team member. It can be manual or rule-based (round robin, least loaded agent, one fixed person). An assigned conversation removes the ambiguity about who owns the reply.
Authentication template
A WhatsApp template category used for one-time codes and login verification. It has its own approval path and its own price.
Auto reply
A single, unconditional response to an incoming message. The simplest form of automation; most common for out-of-hours notices.
BSP (Business Solution Provider)
A Meta-approved intermediary that provides access to the WhatsApp Business Platform. Number registration, template approval and billing can run through a BSP. It is not mandatory for businesses using the Cloud API directly.
BSUID
The identifier that represents a person on WhatsApp for one specific business. The same person appears under a different identifier for a different business, which is why a contact list cannot be carried from one business to another.
Button (quick reply / interactive button)
A reply the user taps instead of typing. Instagram calls it a quick reply, WhatsApp an interactive reply button. Counts and title lengths are limited per channel.
Carousel (gallery)
A row of swipeable cards, typically used to list products. Instagram can send a carousel in a single message; WhatsApp delivers the cards one after another.
Condition
The step that splits a flow in two. It can look at a tag, the channel, the hour, the weekday, the last reply or who the conversation is assigned to.
Conversation category
The purpose of a WhatsApp template: marketing, utility or authentication. The category determines both the approval path and the price.
CTWA (Click to WhatsApp Ads)
An ad format that opens a WhatsApp chat when tapped. Because the user starts the conversation, a messaging window opens. The Instagram equivalent is Click to Instagram Direct.
Default reply
The fallback message that fires when no trigger matches. It usually offers a menu or routes the conversation to a person.
Draft / publish
The version you are editing versus the version customers see. Nothing you change in a draft reaches anyone until you publish it.
Exit (port)
A connection point on a flow step. A message step may have one exit; a button step has one per button. An unconnected exit means the conversation ends in silence.
G – O
Handover
The moment automation stops and a person takes the conversation. In well-built flows the automation falls silent as soon as an agent starts typing, and stays out until it is handed back.
Human agent tag
A tag defined by Meta for Messenger and Instagram that extends the reply window up to 7 days. Per Meta's policy it may only be used for messages written by a person; it cannot be attached to automated sends.
Inbox (shared inbox)
The screen where messages from different channels land in one list. Its real benefit is not merging channels but stopping two people from answering the same message.
Keyword
A word or phrase that starts a flow when it appears in an incoming message. “Price”, “catalogue”, “booking” are typical. The match type — contains, exact, starts with — decides which messages get caught.
List message
A WhatsApp-specific message type that offers options as a menu. Instagram has no equivalent, so the rows are usually downgraded to quick replies.
Marketing template
The WhatsApp template category for promotional content. It is the most tightly reviewed category and the one where consent records matter most.
Media message
An image, video, audio file or document sent inside a conversation. Size and type limits differ per channel, and Instagram sends the caption as a separate message.
Messaging window
The 24-hour period after a user's last message during which you can reply freely. WhatsApp documentation calls it the “customer service window”; Meta's Messenger and Instagram policy calls it the “standard messaging window”. It restarts when the user writes again.
Opt-in / opt-out
A person accepting, then later declining, to receive messages. The platform rule and the national regulation are two separate obligations: one protects your account, the other protects you from a fine.
P – Z
Postback
The invisible payload returned to the system when a user taps a button. It is how the flow knows which button was chosen.
Rate limit
The number of messages that can be sent in a given period. There is one on the platform side and usually one in your tool as a safeguard. A message that hits the limit is queued, not lost.
Ref link
A chat link with source information embedded in it (ig.me, wa.me or an ad link). It lets you tell which campaign a conversation came from.
Re-entry rule
Whether the same person can enter the same flow again: every time, once, once a day, or on a chosen cadence. Set wrong, it sends the same message to the same person over and over.
Role
The permission level that decides who can see and change what. Channel settings and billing usually stay with the highest roles.
Run (session)
A single instance of a flow executing for one person. It starts with a trigger and ends with an end step or a timeout. How many runs a person can have at once depends on the tool.
Saved reply
A prepared text an agent recalls with a shortcut. It is not a bot: a human decides to send it. Unlike a flow it has no conditions and no waits.
Segment
The list of people who satisfy a set of conditions — “asked about price in the last 30 days, did not buy”. Think of it as a saved filter.
Simulator (test screen)
The screen where you run a flow in the browser without touching the real channel. It is the cheapest way to catch logic mistakes before publishing.
Story reply
A message a user sends in response to your story. It lands in the direct inbox and opens the messaging window. Being mentioned in a story is a separate event.
Tag
A short marker attached to a person or a conversation: “asked price”, “waiting on shipping”, “wholesale”. Used later for filtering, segments and flow conditions.
Template message (HSM)
The pre-approved message you can send on WhatsApp after the window closes. It has variable fields, and the wording cannot be changed freely once approved.
Trigger
The event that starts a flow: a keyword, a comment, a story reply, a shared post, a ref link or a first message.
Utility template
The WhatsApp template category for order, booking and delivery notifications. Per Meta's pricing documentation it is free when sent inside an open customer service window.
WABA (WhatsApp Business Account)
The account under Meta Business Manager that holds your phone numbers and your templates. Quality rating and sending limits are tracked against it.
Wait for reply
The step where a flow pauses and waits for the user to type. It is given a timeout; when the timeout expires the flow takes another path or ends.
Webhook
The live notification a platform sends to your server when something happens (a message arrives, a comment is posted). It is how automation learns what is going on: you don't poll, the platform tells you.
Comment to DM
Sending a private message in response to a post or Reel comment. Per Meta's rules the first message arising from a comment is delivered as a private reply and is limited to once per comment.
24-hour rule
The common name for the messaging window. For the full explanation and a decision table, see the WhatsApp 24-hour rule guide.
About this glossary
A term is missing — can I have it added?
Yes. Write to us from the [contact page](/en/contact) with the term and where you ran into it. When we add it we also move the update date on this page.
Can I use these definitions in my own training material?
You can. If you quote a definition verbatim we would appreciate a link back to this page; if you rewrite it in your own words, no attribution is needed.
What happens when platform terminology changes?
Meta renames things from time to time — conversation-based pricing becoming per-message pricing, for example. We keep the old name inside the definition and move the new name to the heading, so readers arriving from older documentation can still find the term.
You know the words. Now build the thing.
Every concept in this glossary has a screen behind it. Build the flow, try it in the simulator, publish it.