The “Route by intent” step in a flow

Last updated: 2 November 2026 · 5 min read

Steps

1. 1

   Cases

   • A step has 1 to 10 cases. Add one with “Add a case”, reorder them with the arrows on each row or by dragging, and remove one with “×”.
   • “Name”: up to 40 characters, for example “Sales”. The name is the way out’s name on the card. An empty name, or two cases with the same name, is an error and the flow does not publish.
   • “When”: up to 300 characters, optional. The AI reads it, so write it plainly. For example: “asks about a price, an order or a discount”.
   • The card shows the cases by name, with “None of these” last. Connect each way out to the next step.
2. 2

   What the AI reads

   • What the customer wrote last: the latest message the flow has not used yet and a few before it (up to 5 messages and 1000 characters).
   • On channels such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram the customer’s first message starts the flow. When the step is at the start of the flow, the AI reads that first message.
   • When there is nothing to read, the step waits for the customer’s next message. For example: the web chat and the mobile app greet before the customer writes, or the step before took the customer’s message as a menu choice.
   • To ask the customer first, put a “Question” step before this one. The AI reads its answer.
   • If the customer only says hello, the step waits for their next message. A greeting, thanks, “ok” or an emoji counts as hello. The step waits at most 2 times in a row; the third time the flow goes the “None of these” way.
   • Several messages written one after another are read together: the choice is made a few seconds after the last one.
   • When the flow comes back to the same step, the step does not read a message it has read already; it waits for a new one.
3. 3

   The “None of these” way

   The flow goes the “None of these” way when:

   • the customer asked for something, but no case fits;
   • the customer only said hello three times in a row;
   • the customer sent a message with no text (a picture, a sticker);
   • the AI could not answer, or took more than 10 seconds;
   • the Clomni AI credit has run out, or the package has no Clomni AI.

   A way out that is not connected ends the flow. If the customer wrote, the conversation goes to the team. “Check” shows an unconnected way out as a warning, as it does for menu choices.

4. 4

   Example: Sales, Support, None of these

   1. Add a “Route by intent” step with two cases: “Sales” (When: “asks about a price, an order or a discount”) and “Support” (When: “has a problem with something they bought”).
   2. Connect “Sales” to a “Clomni AI” step and pick your sales agent.
   3. Connect “Support” to a second “Clomni AI” step and pick your support agent.
   4. Connect “None of these” to a “Hand to agent” step.
5. 5

   Credit and analytics

   • Each choice is paid from your Clomni AI credit. Waiting after a hello is a choice too. The AI is not called when there is nothing to read or the credit has run out.
   • The flow’s analytics shows which case was chosen, on the step’s ways out.
   • When an operator writes in the conversation, the step and the flow stop.
   • The mobile preview stops at this step, since the way depends on what the customer writes.