Botpress Customer Support Chatbot

Botpress WhatsApp Human Handoff (HITL)

Connect using WhatsApp Business API or QR Code

Seamless conversation hand over from your Botpress WhatsApp chatbot directly to your agents.

botpress WhatsApp human handoff

Respond to Botpress WhatsApp customers from a shared team inbox

Transfer Botpress WhatsApp chats between agents

Send WhatsApp Bulk messaging campaigns to contact lists

Use your existing Meta credentials
or simply scan a QR code to connect

Enable Botpress WhatsApp Handoff

Also available for webchat

Botpress human handoff works across both WhatsApp and Webchat (ie. website chat widget)

Explore Botpress Webchat Handoff

Choose how to connect Botpress to WhatsApp

OPTION 1

WhatsApp Business API

Best for high production workloads and high message volume.

Official Meta-supported WhatsApp Business API

Requires registering a phone number with Meta

Supports manual config or Meta embedded signup

Scales reliably for high-volume messaging (eg. bulk campaigns)

Agents reply using the official hitlchat inbox

OPTION 2

QR Code connection

Best for connecting instantly, pilots/demos, smaller implementations.

Does not require WhatsApp Business API approval

Simply scan a QR code like you do for WhatsApp Web

No Meta credentials required - uses WhatsApp mobile app

Best for small teams and lower message volumes

Agents reply directly from the WhatsApp mobile app

Start with QR code for instant testing, move to WhatsApp Business API when you’re ready

Respond to customers on the go with the hitlchat Mobile app or within the WhatsApp mobile app directly

botpress WhatsApp
botpress WhatsApp hitl

Add live human support to your Botpress WhatsApp chatbot in minutes

Connect your Botpress chatbot to hitlchat and automatically hand WhatsApp conversations from your bot to a live agent when escalation is needed

Enable Botpress WhatsApp Handoff

Botpress Live Agent Hand-Off For WhatsApp

Automatically route Botpress conversations to a live agent when needed. Customers get instant human support without leaving WhatsApp

AI Chatbot Human Handoff

Shared WhatsApp Team Inbox

Manage all WhatsApp conversations from a shared team inbox. Assign and transfer WhatsApp chats between agents. Send rich media, templates and more

Instant Setup

Connect your hitlchat account to WhatsApp, paste your Botpress webhook URL into your hitlchat account, and start intercepting bot conversations immediately

Mobile App & Desktop Access

Handle WhatsApp conversations using the hitlchat web app or mobile app (iOS & Android), or respond directly from the WhatsApp mobile app when using QR connection

Connect via API or QR Code

Use the official WhatsApp Business API for production workloads, or connect instantly with a QR code for demos, testing, and smaller implementations without Meta approval

botpress

WhatsApp Conversation Visibility

Track all Botpress WhatsApp conversations from a single dashboard to review interactions, improve flows, and support customers more effectively

What people say about hitlchat

Voiceflow WhatsApp Business APIVoiceflow WhatsApp Business APIVoiceflow WhatsApp Business APIVoiceflow WhatsApp Business APIVoiceflow WhatsApp Business API

Jason Marks

Botpress Bot builder

“Game changer. Finally a human hand-off solution for Botpress WhatsApp bots. We specialize in building complex Botpress chatbots for our clients. We finally have the ability to intercept the bot's chats and respond to customers using WhatsApp. Also, no need to use an additional marketing tool for broadcast campaigns as hitlchat has it all built in.”

Voiceflow WhatsApp Business APIVoiceflow WhatsApp Business APIVoiceflow WhatsApp Business APIVoiceflow WhatsApp Business APIVoiceflow WhatsApp Business API

Kavish Bhatt

AI Agency

“Quick setup, works incredibly well. Our clients generally have teams of 3 to 6 agents currently responding to their customers using the hitlchat team inbox. The ability to intercept Botpress conversations and respond directly to customers via WhatsApp was much needed”

Voiceflow WhatsApp Business APIVoiceflow WhatsApp Business APIVoiceflow WhatsApp Business APIVoiceflow WhatsApp Business APIVoiceflow WhatsApp Business API

Michael Ensling

eCommerce Owner

“We use WhatsApp as our main sales / service channel for our ecommerce store  combined with a Botpress chatbot. For our complex customer enquiries hitlchat allows us to provide customers with a 'live chat' experience using WhatsApp. This has resulted in more sales and a more personalized customer experience.”

Priced plans for teams of all sizes

Save 25% with our annual plan

Annual

Monthly

Solo Agent (1 user)

$29

/ Per Month

Human handoff for Botpress and Voiceflow chatbots across WhatsApp and Webchat for one user

Live agent handoff for Botpress & Voiceflow (WhatsApp & Webchat)

Shared inbox for two-way customer conversations

Automation rules & contact management

Mobile & desktop inbox access

Send Bulk WhatsApp campaigns

Developer API access for custom integrations

1 user included

Usage:

8,000 contacts

20k broadcasts per month

15 automations

20 tags & 20 lists

5 custom fields

Try Hitlchat For Free

Small Business (5 users)

$47

/ Per Month

Everything in Solo Agent, as well as multi-agent collaboration for 5 users

Multi-agent human handoff for Botpress & Voiceflow (WhatsApp & Webchat)

Shared inbox for two-way customer conversations

Automation rules & contact management

Mobile & desktop inbox access

Send Bulk WhatsApp campaigns

Developer API access for custom integrations

5 users included

Usage:

15k contacts

40k broadcasts per month

30 automations

40 tags & 40 lists

10 custom fields

10k API calls per month

Try Hitlchat For Free

Growth

Most popular

$89

/ Per Month

Everything in Small Business, with larger contact database and support for 10 users

Multi-agent human handoff for Botpress & Voiceflow (WhatsApp & Webchat)

Shared inbox for two-way customer conversations

Advanced automation rules & contact management

Mobile & desktop inbox access

Send Bulk WhatsApp campaigns (faster send speeds)

Developer API access for custom integrations

10 users included

Usage:

35k contacts

80k broadcasts per month

Unlimited automations

Unlimited tags & lists

Unlimited custom fields

50k API calls per month

Try Hitlchat For Free

Enterprise (30 users)

$210

/ Per Month

Everything in Growth, with enterprise-scale contact limits, ultra-fast broadcast sending and support for 30 users

Enterprise-grade human handoff for Botpress & Voiceflow (WhatsApp & Webchat)

Shared inbox for two-way customer conversations

Advanced automation rules & contact management

Mobile & desktop inbox access

Send Bulk WhatsApp campaigns (ultra fast send speeds)

Developer API access for custom integrations

30 users included

Usage:

300k contacts

500k broadcasts per month

Unlimited automations

Unlimited tags & lists

Unlimited custom fields

300k API calls per month

Try Hitlchat For Free

Solo Agent (1 user)

$37

/ Per Month

Human handoff for Botpress and Voiceflow chatbots across WhatsApp and Webchat for one user

Live agent handoff for Botpress & Voiceflow (WhatsApp & Webchat)

Shared inbox for two-way customer conversations

Automation rules & contact management

Mobile & desktop inbox access

Send Bulk WhatsApp campaigns

Developer API access for custom integrations

1 user included

Usage:

8,000 contacts

20k broadcasts per month

15 automations

20 tags & 20 lists

5 custom fields

Try Hitlchat For Free

Small Business (5 users)

$62

/ Per Month

Everything in Solo Agent, as well as multi-agent collaboration for 5 users

Multi-agent human handoff for Botpress & Voiceflow (WhatsApp & Webchat)

Shared inbox for two-way customer conversations

Automation rules & contact management

Mobile & desktop inbox access

Send Bulk WhatsApp campaigns

Developer API access for custom integrations

5 users included

Usage:

15,000 contacts

40k broadcasts per month

30 automations

40 tags & 40 lists

10 custom fields

10k API calls per month

Try Hitlchat For Free

Growth

Most popular

$115

/ Per Month

Everything in Small Business, with larger contact database and support for 10 users

Multi-agent human handoff for Botpress & Voiceflow (WhatsApp & Webchat)

Shared inbox for two-way customer conversations

Advanced automation rules & contact management

Mobile & desktop inbox access

Send Bulk WhatsApp campaigns (faster send speeds)

Developer API access for custom integrations

10 users included

Usage:

35k contacts

80k broadcasts per month

Unlimited automations

Unlimited tags & lists

Unlimited custom fields

50k API calls per month

Try Hitlchat For Free

Enterprise (30 users)

$265

/ Per Month

Everything in Growth, with enterprise-scale contact limits, ultra-fast broadcast sending and support for 30 users

Enterprise-grade human handoff for Botpress & Voiceflow (WhatsApp & Webchat)

Shared inbox for two-way customer conversations

Advanced automation rules & contact management

Mobile & desktop inbox access

Send Bulk WhatsApp campaigns (ultra fast send speeds)

Developer API access for custom integrations

30 users included

Usage:

300k contacts

500k broadcasts per month

Unlimited automations

Unlimited tags & lists

Unlimited custom fields

300k API calls per month

Try Hitlchat For Free

What Is Human Handoff? And How Does It Work With Your Botpress WhatsApp Chatbot?

Human handoff — sometimes called human-in-the-loop (HITL) — is the process of transferring a conversation from an AI chatbot to a real person, without the customer repeating themselves or switching channels.

With a Botpress WhatsApp chatbot, that means a customer chats with your bot as usual — and the moment the conversation needs a human touch, a live agent steps in and replies in the same WhatsApp thread.

Why it’s necessary

Botpress is built to automate the majority of customer conversations — but no chatbot, however advanced, can close every sale or resolve every support ticket on its own. A human needs to take over for:

  • Pricing negotiations
  • Account-specific issues
  • Frustrated customers
  • Anything outside the bot’s training data

Without a human handoff layer, those moments end in a customer lost to another channel, a missed message, or a bot stuck looping the same response.

How Hitlchat works

hitlchat sits between your Botpress bot and WhatsApp, listening for handoff triggers — a customer typing a HITL keyword like “talk to a person,” or an agent taking over from the inbox. When one fires:

  1. The bot is paused on that conversation only — every other chat keeps running on autopilot.
  2. The conversation is routed to your shared team inbox, where an agent replies (or directly from the WhatsApp app on QR connections).
  3. Once resolved, control goes back to the bot — manually, via a hand-back keyword, or automatically after an inactivity timer.
Because this all happens inside the same WhatsApp number and thread, customers never notice a handoff happened technically — they just experience it as the conversation getting more helpful.

Why Add Human Handoff to your Botpress WhatsApp Bot?

A human layer on top of your automated flows keeps the customer experience high-quality even when automation reaches its limits.

Stop losing complex conversations

Bots are excellent at FAQs and routing, but weak at judgment calls, objection handling, and edge cases — handoff means those conversations don’t dead-end.

Keep everything inside WhatsApp

Customers don’t get pushed to email or a separate live chat widget, which keeps response times fast and conversion higher.

Give your team full conversation context

Agents see the entire bot conversation history before they reply, so customers never have to repeat themselves.

Use WhatsApp as a real sales and support channel

Once agents can intervene, WhatsApp stops being “just the bot” and becomes a genuine live support and sales line.

Train and improve the bot over time

Reviewing where handoffs happen most often highlights gaps in your Botpress flows worth fixing.

Botpress WhatsApp Business API vs QR Code: Which Should You Use?

hitlchat supports two ways to connect Botpress to WhatsApp. Some teams start with QR code for quick testing, but then move to the WhatsApp Business API before moving into production.

Feature WhatsApp Business API QR Code
Best for Production, high message volume, bulk campaigns Pilots, demos, small teams, lower volume
Where agents reply hitlchat inbox (web & mobile app) hitlchat inbox or directly from the WhatsApp mobile app
Message volume limits Scales reliably for high-volume use Best suited to small/moderate volume
WhatsApp number used Dedicated Business API number Existing personal or business WhatsApp number
Bulk broadcast campaigns Fully supported Supported at lower send volume
Our general recommendation: start with QR code to validate the human handoff flow quickly, then move to the WhatsApp Business API once you’re ready to scale message volume or run broadcast campaigns at production levels. Switching later doesn’t require rebuilding your Botpress flows — only the WhatsApp connection inside hitlchat changes.

How to Connect Botpress to WhatsApp with hitlchat

Setup typically takes a few minutes. The exact steps depend on whether you’re connecting via the WhatsApp Business API or QR code (see comparison above), but the core flow is the same:

1

Create an account

Create a hitlchat account and start a free trial — no credit card required.

2

Choose your integration

In the hitlchat dashboard, open Configuration and select Botpress as your integration type.

3

Link Botpress

Install the Messaging API integration in Botpress Studio, paste the hitlchat webhook URL into its Response Endpoint URL, and republish your bot — no need to rebuild your Botpress Studio workflows.

4

Connect WhatsApp

Connect your WhatsApp number to hitlchat — either by linking your existing WhatsApp Business API credentials, or scanning a QR code to connect your WhatsApp mobile number directly.

5

Define handoff triggers

Add your HITL (human-in-the-loop) keywords — the words or phrases that should automatically trigger a handoff, such as “agent,” “human,” or “speak to someone.”

6

Test the flow

Send a test message to your connected WhatsApp number to confirm the bot replies, then trigger a handoff to confirm it lands in your hitlchat inbox.

7

Invite your team

Each agent gets their own login to the shared inbox, available on desktop and via the hitlchat mobile app (iOS & Android).

Want the full click-by-click walkthrough with screenshots? Read the complete guide: How to Connect Botpress to WhatsApp & Enable Human Handoff.

Managing Botpress WhatsApp Conversations from a Shared Inbox

Once connected, every WhatsApp conversation handled by your Botpress bot — and every handoff — appears inside the hitlchat shared team inbox. From there, agents can:

  • See full conversation history, including everything the bot already said, before replying
  • Reply with text, images, documents, and WhatsApp message templates
  • Transfer a conversation to another teammate without losing context
  • Hand the conversation back to the Botpress bot once it’s resolved
  • Tag, label, and organize contacts for follow-up or reporting

This means your support and sales reps no longer need access to Botpress Studio or your conversation logs to handle WhatsApp — the hitlchat inbox is the single place they work from.

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about human handoff for Botpress WhatsApp.

Does this work with the official WhatsApp Business API?

Yes. hitlchat connects to WhatsApp using the official WhatsApp Business API for production use, and also offers a QR code connection method that doesn’t require any Meta credentials — you just scan a code.

Do I need to rebuild my existing Botpress bot?

No. hitlchat connects to your existing Botpress bot via webhook — there’s no need to rebuild your Botpress Studio workflows. You only need to add the webhook URL into your Botpress Messaging API integration settings.

How does the bot know when to hand off to a human?

Handoff can be triggered automatically using HITL keywords (e.g. a customer typing “agent” or “talk to a human”), or manually by an agent who chooses to take over a conversation directly from the inbox.

Can I hand the conversation back to the bot after a human has replied?

Yes. Agents can return control to the Botpress bot once a conversation is resolved — manually from the inbox, with a hand-back keyword, or automatically after an inactivity timer you set — so the bot continues handling future messages from that customer.

Is there a limit to how many agents can use the shared inbox?

Plans range from a single-user Solo Agent plan up to the Enterprise plan supporting 30 users, so teams of any size can collaborate inside the same WhatsApp inbox.

Can agents reply from their phone, or only from a computer?

Both. Agents can use the hitlchat mobile app (iOS & Android) or the desktop inbox. If connected via QR code, agents can also reply directly from the WhatsApp mobile app itself.

Does hitlchat work with Botpress webchat too, or only WhatsApp?

Both. The same Botpress bot can have human handoff enabled across WhatsApp and your website’s webchat widget, managed from the same shared inbox.

What happens to conversations the bot can already answer well?

Nothing changes — the bot continues to handle those automatically. Handoff only activates when a HITL keyword is triggered or an agent steps in manually, so well-performing bot flows aren’t interrupted.

Can I send WhatsApp marketing messages from the same number?

Yes. hitlchat includes a WhatsApp bulk messaging tool, so you can run broadcast campaigns to your contact list from the same number used for human handoff.

How long does setup take?

QR code connection typically takes under 2 minutes. WhatsApp Business API setup takes a little longer — you connect with Facebook login or paste your Meta API credentials — but it only needs to be done once.

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