Send a Chat message from an automation

Configure an automation bot to send a Chat message to one or more Chat spaces based on an event by using the Send a Chat messagetask.

For example, if an employee sends a request for a new chair (the event), you can configure the bot to send a Chat message to their manager requesting approval before fulfilling the request.

Before you can build automations for your Chat apps, you must Configure your Chat app with AppSheet , including granting IAM access to run automations if you selected manual configuration to configure you Chat app.

Add and configure the Send a Chat messagetask by performing the following steps:

Add the Send a Chat message task to a bot, as described in Add a task to a bot .
Configure the Send a Chat message task by using the settings described in the table below.
When you are done, save the app by selecting one of the following:
- Save - Save the app.
- Save & verify data - Save the app and verify that it is runnable based on external dependencies.

Configure the Send a Chat message task by using the settings described in the following table.

Setting

Description

Linking

Enable or disable reuse of this component by expanding the Linkingpanel and toggling the Linkingsetting. See Reuse automation components .

Expand the Linking panel and toggle the Linking setting to enable or disable component reuse

Table name

Table defined in the event and used by the task.

To view or edit the structure of the selected table, position your cursor in the field and click Edit icon . See Tables: The Essentials for more information.

Note: To use a table that is different from the table defined in the event, add a Call a process step.

Message content

Select one of the following in the drop-down:

Select chat spacesto explicitly select the Chat spaces, group Chats, or direct messages (using the Space IDs field) to which you want to send the Chat message.
Respond to same threadto respond to the originating Chat space thread.

Note: If you select Respond to same thread:

For the parent process, don't set linking on. The originating Chat space thread can't be identified when the process is used by multiple bots. See Reuse automation components .
The parent event must be a Chat event. See Configure Chat events .

Space IDs

Note: This setting is available if you choose Select chat spacesin the Message content drop-down.

Specify the IDs for the Chat spaces, group Chats, or direct messages to which you want to send the Chat message. Click Addand select an item from the drop-down list. Repeat to add additional IDs.

Message text

Chat message text. Specify text, variables , and expressions .

Send an app view (optional)

Optionally, you can send an app view to the Chat space as a Chat card .

Note: For preview, only deck and detail views are supported from Send a Chat message tasks. For more information, see Supported view types and settings .

Expand and customize the Advancedsettings, as described below.

Setting

Description

Inputs

Add inputs to dynamically configure a task. For details, see Set input values dynamically in tasks .

Expand the Advancedsection.
Click Add under Inputs.
Enter the name of the input value in the Namefield.
Select the data type from the Typedrop-down.
Only a subset of data types are supported for inputs.
To add an initial value or edit any fields:
1. Click to open the Input dialog.
2. Add a value or expression in the Initial valuefield.
  If you don't specify an initial value, then the input value will be required. If an initial value is specified, then the input value is optional.
  
  Use of [_THIS] or [_INPUT] are not supported in the Initial value field.
3. Edit other fields, as required.
4. Click Done.
Repeat to add additional input values.

Then, use the following expressions to access the input values from the current step: [_INPUT].[ inputname ]

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Send a Chat message from an automation

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