Actions are the steps that carry out a task within a messaging flow — sending a message, asking the customer something, saving a value, or handing the conversation off. Each action has an Action Name, which identifies the step in the flow and in Cradle to Grave. Actions marked as terminating hand off or end the conversation, so no steps can follow them.

Action	Description	Terminating
Send Message	Sends a text message	No
Reply Menu	Offers choices the customer picks from	Yes
Collect Contact Info	Asks for the customer's name, phone number, and email	No
Collect Responses	Asks questions and saves each answer to a session parameter	No
Set Parameter	Sets a session parameter	No
Data Dip	Looks up data through a Data Dip profile	No
Transfer	Transfers the conversation to a skill or another messaging flow	Yes
AI Messaging Bot	Hands the conversation to an AI agent	—
Offer Email	Shows an email address to contact instead	Yes
End Conversation	Ends the conversation	Yes

Reply Menu, Collect Contact Info, and Collect Responses wait for the customer's reply, so they can be added to Conditions and Actions only, not to Fallback.

Send Message

Sends a text message to the customer.

Field	Description
`Action Name`	Identifies the step
`Message`	The message the customer will see, up to 2,000 characters. Line breaks are kept. Text only — no links or buttons

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SMS Segments
Below the message, the editor estimates how many SMS segments the message uses when sent on SMS.

Reply Menu

A terminating action that offers the customer a set of choices. Each choice either transfers the conversation or replies with a message.

Field	Description
`Action Name`	Identifies the step
`Save chosen labels to`	The session parameter each chosen label is saved to. Defaults to `menu_choice`. Each pick is added; nothing is replaced
`Descriptive text (optional)`	Text shown above the choices — for example, `What can we help you with?`. Line breaks are kept

Each choice row has the following fields. Select Add choice to add a row, or the trash icon to remove one.

Field	Description
`Button label`	The text of the choice
`Type`	What the choice does. `Transfer` sends the conversation to the destination selected in the next field
`Destination or message`	For a transfer, the skill or messaging flow to send the conversation to
`SMS synonyms`	Other words the customer can reply with on SMS to pick this choice — for example, `bill, invoice`. Separate synonyms with commas

Choices are shown as buttons in web chat and as a numbered list on SMS. On SMS the customer can also reply with a choice's label or synonym, in any case. No choice continues to the next action.

Collect Contact Info

Asks the customer for their contact details. Answers are saved to the contact's name, phone number, and email.

Field	Description
`Action Name`	Identifies the step
`Name`	Select `Ask` to request the customer's name, then choose `Required` or `Optional`
`Phone Number`	Select `Ask` to request the customer's phone number, then choose `Required` or `Optional`. Never asked on SMS or WhatsApp, where the number is already known
`Email`	Select `Ask` to request the customer's email address, then choose `Required` or `Optional`

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Replaces the Pre-Chat Form
A flow that starts with Collect Contact Info replaces the web chat's pre-chat form.

Collect Responses

Asks the customer one or more questions and saves each answer to a session parameter.

Field	Description
`Action Name`	Identifies the step
`Questions`	The questions asked, in order. Drag a question by its handle to reorder it. Select `Add question` to add one
`Customer can skip these questions`	Lets the customer skip the questions. Web chat shows a `Skip` button; on SMS and WhatsApp the customer replies `SKIP`

Each question has the following fields:

Field	Description
Question	The question the customer is asked
`Save to`	The session parameter the answer is saved to
Answer type	The kind of answer expected — for example, `Single line`
`Required`	Whether the customer must answer

Set Parameter

Sets a session parameter on the conversation.

Field	Description
`Action Name`	Identifies the step
`Session Parameter`	The name of the session parameter to set
`Show to the agent`	Shows the parameter to the agent who handles the conversation. Selected by default
`Save to historical logs`	Saves the parameter with the conversation for reporting. Selected by default
`Censor the value`	Hides the value. Not selected by default
`Value`	The value to set — for example, `Fixed text` with the text entered below it

See Parameters for how session parameters are used.

Data Dip

Looks up data from an external source through an existing Data Dip profile.

Field	Description
`Action Name`	Identifies the step
`Data Dip profile`	The Data Dip profile to run. Profiles are created in `Routing Configuration > Data Dip Profiles`; when none exist, `There are no Data Dip profiles yet.` is shown

Transfer

A terminating action that transfers the conversation.

Field	Description
`Action Name`	Identifies the step
`Transfer to`	The type of destination — for example, `A skill or messaging flow` — and the destination itself

AI Messaging Bot

Hands the conversation to an AI agent.

Field	Description
`Action Name`	Identifies the step
`AI agent`	The AI agent that takes the conversation. Only published AI agents enabled for messaging are listed; when none exist, `No published AI agent is enabled for messaging.` is shown

See AI Agent Profiles.

Offer Email

A terminating action that shows the customer an email address to contact instead. The conversation ends once the email offer is shown.

Field	Description
`Action Name`	Identifies the step
`Title`	The heading of the offer. Defaults to `Email us`
`Message`	The message shown with the offer. Defaults to `Unfortunately no agents are available to assist you by chat. However, you can reach us by email and we'll respond as quickly as we can.`
`Email address`	The address offered. Web chat shows the address with a `Copy` button so the customer can paste it into their own email; on SMS and WhatsApp the address is sent as text

End Conversation

A terminating action that ends the conversation. The web chat ends as if an agent ended it; on SMS or WhatsApp, any later reply starts a new conversation.

Field	Description
`Action Name`	Identifies the step
`Closing message (optional)`	A message sent to the customer before the conversation closes