System guide
Agent workbench
The agent workbench is a dedicated platform for agents to work from. After logging in, agents can receive messages from users and interact with them.
The agent workbench and the admin console are two separate apps. Agent accounts are created and configured by administrators in the admin console, while agents themselves log in to the workbench to work. This page walks through what the workbench looks like and how agents use it, so you can support your team and explain the daily flow to them. You can find a link to the agent workbench in the top-right corner of the admin console. The link URL already includes your organization's account ID, so the organization account ID field is pre-filled automatically at login.
What the workbench looks like
The workbench is laid out in three columns, left to right:
- Navigation rail(far left) — the agent's avatar and status, the inbox and settings buttons, and indicators for notification permission settings and connection status.
- Conversation list (middle) — a search box at the top, followed by the agent's conversation list split into an Active group (conversations in progress) and a Recentgroup (closed conversations), each shown as a card with the customer's name, the last message, a timestamp, and an unread badge.
- Chat window(right) — the selected conversation: a header with the customer's name and number, the message history, and the reply box at the bottom.
Signing in
Agents sign in with three pieces of information you give them when you create their account:
| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| Organization Account | Your organization account ID — the code that identifies your organization (for example 123456) |
| Username | The login name you set for the agent |
| Password | The agent's password |
The agent ticks the terms checkbox and clicks Sign in; on success they land on the workbench home. The login page remembers the last organization account used on that device, so returning agents come straight back to your sign-in page.
Online status
An agent's status decides whether new conversations are routed to them. It is shown as a colored dot on the agent's avatar in the navigation rail, and the agent changes it from the menu under that avatar.
| Status | Meaning | How it is set |
|---|---|---|
| Online (green) | Available; new conversations can be routed to the agent | Chosen by the agent |
| Busy (red) | Agent has marked themselves unavailable; no new conversations | Chosen by the agent |
| Away (amber) | Inactive; set automatically after a few minutes with no activity | Set automatically by the system |
| Offline (gray) | Not connected (the agent is not in the workbench) | On sign-out / disconnect |
The agent switches between Online and Busy from the avatar menu; the current one is marked with a check. Away is set by the system, not chosen by hand, and only conversations are routed to agents who are Online — never to Busy or Away agents.
The dot at the bottom of the navigation rail shows the workbench connection status: green means connected, red means disconnected. A second indicator shows whether the browser has granted notification permission, which lets the workbench play a sound and show a desktop alert on new messages.
Going idle
If an online agent stops touching the keyboard, mouse, or screen for a few minutes, the workbench shows an Are you still there? banner with a short countdown and an I'm here button. Clicking it keeps the agent online. If the countdown runs out, the agent is switched to Away and a banner reading You're away takes over the top of the conversation list, explaining that new chats will not be routed until they are back. The agent clicks I'm back to return to Online.
Dropping the connection
If the agent's network blips or the browser crashes, they do not lose their conversations right away. The system keeps the conversations bound to that agent for a few minutes — a grace period — during which any new customer messages are still kept for them. When the agent reconnects within that window, the workbench quietly catches up on anything that arrived while they were away, so no messages are lost. Only if the agent stays gone past the grace period are their conversations released and put back for re-assignment.
Handling and replying to conversations
New conversations land in the Active group. The agent selects a card to open it in the chat window; closed conversations move to Recent, ordered by when they were closed. The search box at the top of the list filters by customer name, phone number, or recent message text.
To reply to a user message, the agent types in the box at the bottom and sends with Enter (Shift+Enter adds a line break) or the send button. A sent message first appears immediately as pending, then updates through the delivery states as WhatsApp confirms them:
| State | Meaning | How it shows |
|---|---|---|
| pending | Message is being sent and has not yet reached WhatsApp servers | Status label “pending” |
| accepted | WhatsApp servers have received the message | Status label “accepted” |
| sent | Message has been successfully sent | Status label “sent” |
| delivered | Message has arrived on the customer's phone | Status label “delivered” |
| read | The customer has read the message | Status label “read” |
| failed | The message failed to send | Status label “failed” with a red error message below |
The header above the chat has a search button that opens the chat history search, and the agent can jump to the matching message with Locate in chat.
Service time window
Meta enforces a "service conversation window" restriction: a business account can only reply freely within 24 hours of the customer's last inbound message. During this window, the business can send any message type — templates, plain text, images, and more. Once the "service conversation" ends, the business can only send template messages. An indicator above the reply box shows the service window status. After the window expires, the agent can no longer send free-form replies; the customer has to message again to reopen it, or the agent uses an approved template.
Images, files, and quick replies
Above the reply box is a small toolbar:
- Add attachment — select an image, video, audio clip, or document.
- Quick replies — insert a saved quick-reply snippet to speed up responses. Type
/at the start of the input box to bring up the list, filter by the preset shortcut code, then pick one with the arrow keys and Enter.
Quick replies are the agent's own saved snippets — a title, an optional shortcut code, and the content. An agent can create, edit, and delete them from the quick-reply manager.
Closing a conversation
When the agent is done, they close the conversation from the Close conversation control on the right of the chat toolbar. A confirmation dialog appears, noting that this ends the conversation and that any new message from the customer will start a new conversation and trigger reassignment. After the agent confirms:
- the conversation moves from Active to Recent;
- the workbench selects the next active conversation automatically;
- the closed conversation's reply box is disabled and shows "Session closed — re-assignment required to continue".
A closed conversation cannot be reopened — its history stays readable, but to talk to that customer again the customer has to send a fresh message, which starts a new conversation and routes through the rules again. An agent can only close a conversation that is currently assigned to them.