AI agents overview

An AI agent is the set of instructions, capabilities, knowledge and channels that answers your customers on WhatsApp and Website chat. Most workspaces run one agent, created during onboarding and set as the default. Create more when different numbers or sites need different behaviour, for example a sales agent on one WhatsApp number and a support agent on another. Click Agent in the sidebar, under Your agent, to open the Agents page with every agent in your workspace.

​

The Agents page

Use Search agents to filter by name. The page shows 10 agents at a time. On a narrow screen the Status and Conversations columns move under the agent’s name. Click a row to open the agent. The ⋯ menu on each row (More actions) has:

• Edit: opens the agent.
• Set as default: makes this agent the workspace default. It reads Publish to set as default and stays disabled until the agent has a published version. You need a role that can manage agents to see this option.
• Delete: removes the agent after you confirm Delete agent in the dialog. This cannot be undone. The option is disabled for the default agent and reads Set another default to delete.

​

The default agent

Every workspace has one default agent. It handles:

• Every WhatsApp number that is not connected to a specific agent.
• Website chat conversations whose embed code does not name an agent.
• Conversations on a number whose agent is disconnected. When you publish a change that disconnects a number, its open conversations move to the default agent immediately.

Onboarding creates your first agent and sets it as the default. To change the default later, publish the agent you want to use, then choose Set as default from its row menu. You cannot delete the default agent; set another agent as default first.

​

How an agent picks up a conversation

1. A customer writes to one of your WhatsApp numbers or through Website chat.
2. Popcorn routes the conversation to the agent connected to that number, or to the default agent if the number has no agent of its own. Website chat conversations go to the agent named in the embed code you installed.
3. The conversation starts on the agent’s published version and stays on it until you publish a change and choose to apply it to open chats. Unpublished drafts never reach customers.
4. Each customer message the agent answers uses one credit, on WhatsApp, Website chat, the Test agent chat on the agent page and the WhatsApp sandbox alike. Campaign messages are charged separately, through the campaign. The one exception is the chat on Home during setup, which is free (see Test and publish an agent).
5. On WhatsApp, the customer’s message is marked as read and shows “typing…” while the agent works on its reply. The indicator disappears when the reply arrives, or after at most 25 seconds if no reply is coming.

If the workspace runs out of credits, or no valid agent is configured, Popcorn hands the conversation over to your team rather than leaving the customer without an answer. The conversation appears in Unassigned and in the Needs you folder in the Inbox, and the agent’s handover alerts are sent if you enabled them. See Inbox overview.

​

What is on an agent’s page

The header shows the agent’s name, a status badge and, when the agent is live, the version new chats use (“New chats use v3, published Sep 12, 2026.”). Its buttons are Version history, Test agent and Save and review (or Publish changes once a draft is saved). From 1280 pixels wide, the test chat sits beside the settings and the Test agent button is not shown. The settings are on five tabs: Edits are saved as a draft. Customers keep talking to the published version until you click Publish changes. The two follow-up schedules are the exception and apply on save; see Capabilities.

​

Related