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Message Steering

Rapid follow-up messages steer the assistant's in-progress reply, so a burst of quick messages becomes one natural, coherent response.

Feature Overview

People rarely send one tidy message. They think out loud - a question, then a correction, then an extra detail - fired off as separate quick messages. Message Steering lets ChatBotKit assistants follow that natural rhythm.

When a newer message arrives while the assistant is still preparing a reply, the assistant adapts to the latest message and responds once, taking the whole burst into account. Talking to the assistant feels like talking to a person who waits for you to finish your thought.

What You Can Do

  • Let users send rapid follow-ups and corrections and get one reply that accounts for all of them.
  • Have the assistant always answer the most recent message, even when one lands mid-reply.
  • Fold a quick burst of messages into a single, coherent answer.
  • Keep group chats and busy channels calm and readable.
  • Deliver a natural, human conversational feel across every messaging channel.

How It Works

Each incoming message is added to the conversation the moment it arrives. If the assistant is already working on a reply when a newer message comes in, it gracefully wraps up its current step and hands off to the latest message. The reply the user receives reflects everything they have said so far.

This happens automatically and safely. The assistant always finishes its current thought cleanly before adapting, so responses stay coherent and nothing the user typed is lost.

Use Cases

  • Support assistants where customers add context across several quick messages.
  • Team chat bots in Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Chat where people type in bursts.
  • Consumer messaging on WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and Telegram where short, rapid messages are the norm.
  • Email assistants that pick up a fast follow-up before the first reply goes out.

Availability

Message Steering works across ChatBotKit's chat integrations, including Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Google Chat, Microsoft Teams, and email. It is on by default, so your assistants simply feel more natural to talk to.

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