Summary
This guide walks you through connecting Wati with Astra using the Bring Your Own AI (BYOA) option. Once integrated, Astra can learn from your historical Wati conversations and deliver more accurate responses. You’ll also be able to escalate chats smoothly to human agents through the Wati Team Inbox.
Note: Astra integration via BYOA is available only for Wati customers on the Pro and Business plans.
Instructions
Connecting Wati to Astra through BYOA lets you use Astra as your AI agent while keeping Wati as your main communication platform. Before integrating, make sure your Astra account is set up and ready.
What the integration includes
Conversation sync for intelligent training
Astra automatically pulls your historical Wati chat data. This improves training and helps your agent respond with higher accuracy.
Seamless human agent escalation
When a conversation needs human support, it can be handed off from Astra to the Wati Team Inbox without disruption.
Steps to integrate Wati with Astra
Follow these steps to complete a smooth setup.
Step 1: Log into Astra
Sign in using your Wati credentials.
If you’re already logged in to Wati, go to User Management → Bring Your Own AI and select Build with Astra. You’ll be redirected to the Astra login page, where you can sign in using your Wati credentials.
Step 2: Choose an agent template
Select the template that best fits your use case.
Step 3: Set up the WhatsApp channel
Choose WhatsApp as the channel and customize the agent instructions based on your needs.
Step 4: Add the assignment rule in agent instructions
Under Escalation to Human Support, add the instruction for the agent to use an action. E.g. “Use this action:”
Then click on actions button to add the action for the assignment.
Select Assign to user action and click on Confirm.
Next select a user to assign from the dropdown list and Save action.
Next you should see the action added under My Actions. Click on it to add it in the agent instructions.
Click on Save changes once you are done updating the agent instructions.
Step 5: Install the agent
When you’re ready, select Install agent and choose the WhatsApp number connected to your Wati account. If you have multiple numbers, use the dropdown menu to pick the one you want to connect.
You can also sync up to 60 days of your Wati conversation history so the agent can provide more helpful and context-aware responses.
When you’re finished, click Save and deploy.
Step 6: Log into your Wati account
Log into your Wati account.
Click on Astra in the main menu.
You will see an Astra AI agent created automatically. When you click Install agent in Astra, the agent is automatically created in Wati.
For assignment purposes, an automation rule based on your Astra agent configuration - is automatically created under Rules in Wati.
Step 7: Enable the Astra AI agent
The Astra AI agent created automatically in Wati is disabled by default. To enable it, click the pencil icon under Actions and toggle the Status switch to turn the agent on.
After completing these steps, Wati and Astra will be fully connected. Astra will begin learning from your historical chats, and escalations to human agents will flow smoothly into the Wati Team Inbox.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
General questions
1. What is the Wati and Astra integration?
It allows you to connect Wati with Astra using the Bring Your Own AI (BYOA) option so Astra can act as your AI agent while Wati remains your main communication platform.
2. Who can use the Astra integration via BYOA?
This integration is available only to Wati customers on the Pro and Business plans.
3. What do I need before starting the integration?
You must have an active Astra account that is already set up and ready to use.
Integration capabilities
4. What happens to my existing Wati conversations after integration?
Astra can sync your historical Wati conversations and use them for training to provide more accurate responses.
5. How far back can conversation history be synced?
You can sync up to 60 days of Wati conversation history during setup.
6. Can Astra transfer chats to human agents?
Yes. Conversations can be escalated seamlessly from Astra to human agents in the Wati Team Inbox.
Setup and configuration
7. How do I start connecting Wati to Astra?
Log in using your Wati credentials and navigate to User Management → Bring Your Own AI → Build with Astra to begin the setup.
8. Why do I need to select an agent template?
The template helps define the agent’s behavior and use case before connecting it to WhatsApp.
9. Why is an assignment action required in agent instructions?
The assignment action allows Astra to escalate conversations to a specific user or agent when human support is needed.
Deployment and activation
10. How do I connect the agent to a WhatsApp number?
During installation, select the WhatsApp number linked to your Wati account from the dropdown list.
11. Is an Astra agent created automatically in Wati?
Yes. Once you install the agent in Astra, an Astra AI agent is automatically created in your Wati account.
12. Why is the Astra AI agent disabled by default in Wati?
The agent is disabled by default so you can review the setup first. You must manually enable it from Actions by toggling the status switch.
13. Are any automation rules created automatically?
Yes. An automation rule based on your Astra agent configuration is automatically created under Rules in Wati for assignment purposes.