How to Set Up Human Handoff Keywords & Bot Settings

In HitlChat’s Bot Settings you can control when your bot hands a conversation to a human. Add HITL keywords so customers can ask for a live agent, and set an inactivity timer to return idle chats to the bot. It works the same whether your bot is built in Botpress or Voiceflow.

Before you start

  • A connected bot (Botpress or Voiceflow). Bot Settings stay disabled until you’ve created an integration.
  • A HitlChat account with access to Bot Settings.
1

Open Bot Settings

From the left menu, click Bot Settings. The page has two tabs:

  • Human Hand-off Settings — your HITL keywords and notifications (Step 2).
  • General Settings — turn the bot on/off and set the inactivity timer (Step 3).
2

Set up your HITL keywords

On the Human Hand-off Settings tab, fill in the fields you need, then click Save:

  • Phrases to trigger human hand-off (applies to incoming messages only): the words a customer can send to reach a person — e.g. transfer to human, speak to agent. When a customer’s message contains one, the bot pauses and waits for a human agent to take over, and the chat is flagged Human Requested.
  • Phrases to hand control back to Bot (applies to outgoing messages only): when an agent sends a message containing one of these (e.g. Thank you for contacting us. Have a great day!), control is handed back to the bot and it resumes replying.
  • Email notifications (sent on every hand-off request): one or more email addresses (comma-separated) that get an alert whenever a customer requests a human.
  • Webhook URL (called on every hand-off request): a URL that receives a POST request on each hand-off, if you want to wire it into your own systems.
Handed-off chats land in the Human Req tab of your Inbox, where an agent can pick them up. See Take Over a Chat & Pause Your Bot.
3

General Settings: bot on/off & the inactivity timer

Switch to the General Settings tab for two controls:

  • Bot Active — toggle your Botpress or Voiceflow bot on or off for the whole integration. When set to Inactive, the bot will not respond to any incoming messages. This is how you completely deactivate the bot (different from pausing a single chat in the Inbox).
  • Auto-reassign to bot after inactivity — if a conversation has no activity for the number of minutes you set, it’s automatically handed back to the bot. Enter 0 to disable it; the maximum is 1440 (24 hours). Click Save to apply.

HITL keywords & bot settings FAQs

How do I set up human handoff for a Botpress or Voiceflow bot?

It’s the same for both. To set up human handoff for a Botpress bot or a Voiceflow bot, open Bot Settings → Human Hand-off Settings and add your HITL trigger phrases — when a customer sends one, the bot pauses and the chat is flagged Human Requested for an agent to pick up.

What are HITL keywords?

HITL (human-in-the-loop) keywords are phrases that trigger a hand-off. When a customer’s incoming message contains one, the bot pauses and the chat is flagged Human Requested so an agent can take over.

Where do triggered chats show up?

In the Human Req tab of your Inbox. An agent opens the chat and takes it over from there — see Take Over a Chat & Pause Your Bot.

How does control go back to the bot?

Three ways: an agent re-assigns the chat to Bot in the Inbox; an agent sends one of your hand-back phrases (outgoing keywords); or the Auto-reassign after inactivity timer returns idle chats to the bot.

How do I completely turn the bot off?

On General Settings, set the Bot Active toggle to Inactive. The bot then won’t respond to any incoming messages across your integration. (Pausing a single chat in the Inbox is separate and only affects that conversation.)

What does the inactivity timer do, and how do I disable it?

Auto-reassign to bot after inactivity returns a conversation to the bot if there’s no activity for the minutes you set. Enter 0 to disable it; the maximum is 1440 minutes (24 hours).

Can I be notified when a customer asks for a human?

Yes. Add email addresses under Email notifications and/or a Webhook URL — both fire on every hand-off request.

Does this work the same for Botpress and Voiceflow?

Yes. HITL keywords, the inactivity timer and the Bot Active toggle work identically whether your bot is built in Botpress or Voiceflow.

Related guides

Inbox

How to Take Over a Chat & Pause Your Bot

Take over a live chat in the Inbox — pause the bot, reply as a human, and hand control back.

Read guide →

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Conversational AI Agency

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Voiceflow Developer

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