# Sending automated messages with Automation

The **Send a Message** automation action sends a message for you when a rule fires — a thank-you after a conversation resolves, a follow-up when a label is added, or an alert to your own team's WhatsApp.

By default the message is posted in the same conversation that triggered the rule. Pick an inbox on the action instead, and the message goes out on that channel — even when the conversation started somewhere else. Email, WhatsApp (both Normal WhatsApp and WhatsApp API), and SMS inboxes can all be picked.

![The Send a Message action targeting a WhatsApp inbox](../../.gitbook/assets/guides/automation-send-message.jpg)

## Setting it up

1. Go to **Settings → Automation** and create or edit a rule.
2. Add the **Send a Message** action.
3. Next to the action, keep **Same conversation** or choose one of your inboxes.
4. Write the message. The editor supports variables, so the message can quote the contact's details or answers your AI agent collected.

## Setting the recipient

When you pick an inbox, a recipient field appears beside it:

* **Leave it blank** to message the contact the rule fired for, using their saved email address or phone number.
* **Type a recipient** to send somewhere specific — handy for notifying a teammate. On a WhatsApp inbox, enter a phone number with the country code (like `60123456789`) or a WhatsApp username (like `@john.doe`). On an email inbox, enter the email address.
* **Insert a variable** with the braces button — for example `{{contact.phone_number}}`, a custom attribute, or an answer your AI agent collected during the chat.

If the recipient can't be worked out — for example the field is blank and the contact has no phone number — the action quietly skips, and the rest of the rule still runs.

## Email subject, Cc and Bcc

When the inbox you picked is an email inbox, three more fields appear under the recipient: **Subject**, **Cc** and **Bcc**.

![Subject, Cc and Bcc on a Send a Message action going out through an email inbox](../../.gitbook/assets/guides/automation-send-message-email-fields.jpg)

* **Subject** names the email your contact receives. Leave it empty and the email arrives under a general heading about new messages in the conversation.
* **Cc** and **Bcc** copy other people on the send — one address, or several separated by commas. Everyone on the email can see who is in Cc; Bcc stays hidden.
* All three accept variables, so the subject can carry the detail that matters — like `Your booking on {{contact.custom_attribute.booking_date}}` — and a copy can go to an address saved on the contact.

The subject also names the conversation the email starts, so replies your team sends in that thread keep it as `Re: …`, and you can see the subject on the message inside your inbox.

## Good to know

* If the recipient already has a conversation on that inbox, the message is added there; otherwise a new conversation is started.
* On WhatsApp API inboxes, messages sent outside the 24-hour customer service window may not be delivered. Normal WhatsApp inboxes don't have this restriction.
* WhatsApp usernames work for people already in your contacts.
* An address in Cc or Bcc that isn't a valid email address is left out, so a typo or an empty variable never stops the email from going out.

## Related

* [Labels, attributes and automation](/settings/labels-attributes-and-automation)
* [Connecting a WhatsApp inbox](/settings/connecting-a-whatsapp-inbox)
* [Inbound Webhooks](/settings/inbound-webhooks)

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Source: https://help.mampuai.com/settings/automation-send-message