> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.watx.in/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Node types > Every node a WhatsApp flow can contain, what it sends or asks, and where it can go next. A flow is built from 21 node types, grouped in the palette by what they are for. Every node stores the key of the node it continues to, which is what the arrows on the canvas draw. Text in a node is interpolated before it is sent, so `{{ vars.name }}` and `{{ contact.name }}` work anywhere a message does. `{{ contact.name }}`, `{{ contact.phone }}`, `{{ contact.email }}` and `{{ contact.company }}` are available on every run that has a contact, and `{{ vars. }}` reads anything the flow has captured or set. ## Message types | Node | What it does | Settings | Goes to | | ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | | **Send message** | Sends a plain WhatsApp text message. | Text sent to the customer | One path | | **Send buttons** | Sends up to 3 quick replies. The customer taps one. | Body text, Footer, and each button's title and id | One path **per button** | | **Send list** | Sends a tappable list of options, up to 10 rows across sections. | Body text, tap-to-expand button label, Footer, and the sections with their rows | One path **per row** | | **Send media** | Sends an image, video or document. | Media type, the file (uploaded to the [media library](/contacts/media-library) or a URL), Caption, and a filename for documents | One path | | **Template** | Sends an approved [template](/whatsapp/templates) — the only message that will send outside the 24-hour window. | Template name, Language code, and the template's own values: body variables, header variable or media, location header, button values, carousel cards | One path | | **Products** | Sends one catalogue product, or a multi-product list. See [Catalog and orders](/whatsapp/catalog-and-orders). | One product or a list, catalogue id (optional — the workspace's is used otherwise), the product ids, Header, Body, Footer | One path | A **Products** node in single mode with more than one product sends only the first, and the validator warns. A multi-product message needs body text; WhatsApp rejects the send without it. ## Ask and capture These are the nodes that stop and wait for the customer. | Node | What it does | Settings | Goes to | | ------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Ask a question** | Sends a prompt and stores the customer's next reply. | Prompt sent to the customer, Variable key, and where to go after capturing | One path | | **Ask location** | Asks the customer to share their location and stores the pin — latitude, longitude, name and address. | Prompt, Variable key | One path | | **Ask for a file** | Asks for a photo or document and stores the file's URL. | Prompt, Variable key, and **Accept**: any file, photos only, videos only, documents only, voice notes only | One path | | **Take a payment** | Sends a [Razorpay payment link](/integrations/razorpay) and parks the run until it is paid or the link expires. | Amount, Currency, What the payment is for, Message sent with the link, Template for closed chats, Link expires after (hours) | **Two paths**: *When they pay, go to* and *If they don't, go to* | A variable key must start with a letter or underscore and use letters, numbers and underscores only — it is read back as `{{ vars. }}`. **Ask for a file**'s **Accept** narrows what counts as an answer: a run waiting for a document should not be satisfied by a sticker. Anything else the customer sends goes through the flow's unmatched-reply handling. The media URL an **Ask for a file** stores is served by us, not Meta's short-lived one, so a value captured today is still fetchable tomorrow. ## Actions and data | Node | What it does | Settings | Goes to | | ------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | **If / else** | Branches on a rule. | Subject — a flow variable, a contact field, or whether the contact has a tag — with an operator (**equals**, **contains**, **present**, **absent**) and a value | **Two paths**: *If true → advance to*, *If false → advance to* | | **Tag contact** | Adds or removes a [tag](/contacts/fields-and-tags). | Action (add / remove), Tag | One path | | **Segment contact** | Adds or removes them from a saved audience. Static [segments](/contacts/segments) only. | Action (add / remove), Segment | One path | | **Set attribute** | Saves a value onto the contact or into a flow variable. | Save to — a contact field, a custom field, or a flow variable — the key, and the value (interpolated, so `{{ vars.answer }}` is the common case) | One path | | **API request** | Calls your endpoint mid-flow and stores `{ status, body }` for a later **If / else** to branch on. | Method, URL, Headers, Body, Save the response as, and whether a non-2xx response stops the run | One path | A failed **Tag contact**, **Segment contact** or **Set attribute** does not abandon the customer mid-conversation — the failure is recorded on the run and the flow carries on. An **API request** with *fail on error* switched on does end the run. The URL of an **API request** goes through the same protection as an AI agent's custom actions: private, loopback and internal addresses are refused, and redirects are re-checked at every hop. ## Flow control | Node | What it does | Settings | Goes to | | -------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------- | | **Start** | The entry marker. | Advances to | One path | | **Wait** | Parks the run and continues later. | Pause for (a number) and a unit — minutes, hours or days | One path | | **Connect flow** | Hands the customer to another flow. The current run **ends** and the target starts fresh. | Continue in (the flow) | Terminal | | **Handoff to agent** | Hands the conversation to a person. Terminal. | Internal note for whoever picks it up, and optionally who to assign it to | Terminal | | **Hand to AI agent** | Lets an [AI agent](/ai-agents/overview) take the conversation. Terminal. | Agent — leave it unset for whichever agent normal routing would pick — and a note | Terminal | | **End** | Ends the run. | — | Terminal | A **Wait** of 24 hours or more closes [WhatsApp's messaging window](/whatsapp/messaging-window). After it, only a **Template** node will send unless the customer has written again in the meantime. The validator warns rather than blocking, because a template after a long wait is perfectly valid. **Connect flow** does not nest, and that is deliberate: a contact can only be in one flow at a time, so ending first is also what makes an accidental loop between two flows terminate instead of growing. Leaving **Hand to AI agent** without a specific agent is the right default — routing order is a setting the workspace already made, and pinning one agent in a flow would quietly outrank it. ## What a node needs before you can activate Every non-terminal node must point somewhere real, every message node needs its text, and every capture node needs a prompt and a variable key. The editor's validation bar lists what is missing and jumps to the node. See [The flow editor](/flows/editor).