Skip to main content
The Inbox is where operators handle live WhatsApp conversations. It renders every conversation for the workspace’s connected channels as a real-time thread list, backed by the same append-only message ledger that powers campaigns, journeys, and Margaret. This page covers the day-to-day surface. For media handling, advanced search/filtering, and CRM-sidebar depth, see Advanced Inbox Features.

​
Thread list

Every conversation appears as a row with the contact’s name (or phone number if unresolved), the last message preview, an unread badge, and a service-window indicator. Conversations update live as messages arrive — no manual refresh needed.

Status

Conversations move between Open, Pending, and Resolved states so a team can track what still needs a reply.

Pin & mute

Pin priority conversations to the top of the list, or mute noisy threads (e.g. an automated group) without leaving the inbox.

​
Assignment

Conversations can be assigned to one or more operators, either manually from the conversation header or automatically via routing rules. The assignee list is visible directly in the thread row, so anyone scanning the inbox can see who owns what without opening the conversation.
Filter the thread list by Assignee to see only the conversations a specific teammate is handling — useful for stand-ups or coverage handoffs.

​
Service-window gating

WhatsApp’s Cloud API only allows free-form business replies inside a 24-hour customer-service window that opens when a contact messages you. Switchbord tracks this per conversation and surfaces it as a service-window badge in the conversation header, so operators know at a glance whether they can send a plain-text reply or need to fall back to an approved template message. Once the service window closes, the composer routes you toward template sends automatically rather than silently failing a free-form message that Meta would reject.

​
Tags

Tags are the segmentation primitive shared across Inbox, Contacts, and Campaigns. Add or remove a tag on a contact directly from the conversation sidebar — the change applies to the contact record, so it’s immediately visible everywhere that contact appears (contact list, campaign audience filters, Margaret’s CRM lookups).

​
Notes

Operators can leave internal notes on a conversation that are never sent to the customer — useful for handoff context (“waiting on finance to confirm refund amount”) or flagging something for a teammate. Notes are visible to any operator with access to the conversation, alongside the message history.

​
Groups

Conversations backed by WhatsApp groups are marked through conversations.metadata and exposed with a Groups filter pill. This is a visibility and filtering foundation — full group lifecycle management (participant management, invite-link controls) is tracked as follow-up work; see Advanced Inbox Features for the current scope.

​
Where to go next

  • Advanced Inbox Features — media/attachments, global search, conversation filtering, and CRM sidebar depth.
  • Margaret — the AI assistant that can draft replies and look up contacts directly from an open conversation.
  • Contacts — the CRM record behind every conversation.