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What this does for you

The composer is where you type, attach a file to, and send a message to a bot, and where you watch it start working once you do.

Before you start

  • You have a bot open in a one-to-one conversation (see Start here).
  • You can write to this conversation — a shared team bot's reader accounts can read it but not send to it (see Team bots).

Steps

  1. Type your message. The composer is a single-row pill with the placeholder Message <bot>; what you type is saved as a draft a fraction of a second after you stop, so it is still there if you switch away and come back.
<!-- shot: composer-01-phone.png | Typing into the composer, on a phone --> <!-- shot: composer-01-desktop.png | Typing into the composer, on a desktop -->
  1. Attach a file. The + menu offers exactly two items, Attach files then Teach a task; a picked file becomes a chip above the field, up to six chips per message, each with a × to drop it before you send.
<!-- shot: composer-02-phone.png | A staged attachment chip above the composer, on a phone --> <!-- shot: composer-02-desktop.png | A staged attachment chip above the composer, on a desktop -->
  1. Reply to a message. Once you start a reply from the transcript, the composer grows from the single-row pill into a three-row block: a quote chip carrying a reply glyph and one ellipsised line of the quoted message, the input itself with the placeholder Reply..., and the control row beneath it. The quote's × cancels the reply.
<!-- shot: composer-03-phone.png | The composer's three-row reply state, on a phone --> <!-- shot: composer-03-desktop.png | The composer's three-row reply state, on a desktop -->
  1. Send it. An ↑ button appears once the field holds text; pressing it, or pressing Enter in the field, sends the message and clears the composer straight away.
<!-- shot: composer-04-phone.png | Sending a message, on a phone --> <!-- shot: composer-04-desktop.png | Sending a message, on a desktop -->
  1. Watch it land in the transcript. Your own messages line up on the trailing side, a bot's replies on the other; several messages from the same side in a row sit closer together with one shared timestamp, and a centred label marks the point a new day begins.
<!-- shot: composer-05-phone.png | A sent message grouped in the transcript, on a phone --> <!-- shot: composer-05-desktop.png | A sent message grouped in the transcript, on a desktop -->
  1. Watch the bot work. While a run is active, its own avatar appears alone on a line with no bubble and no name, and its steps arrive live over the connection one at a time as it completes them.
<!-- shot: composer-06-phone.png | The working indicator while a run is active, on a phone --> <!-- shot: composer-06-desktop.png | The working indicator while a run is active, on a desktop -->

A worked example

Draft a reply to the supplier's email in this thread, attach the signed PDF, and hold it for my approval before sending.

What can go wrong

What you seeWhyWhat to do
That file is larger than 25 MB.Documents, images and audio are capped at 25 MB; only a video file gets the higher 200 MB ceiling, decided from the file's own bytes rather than its declared type.Compress or trim the file, or send a link to it instead.
Your organisation has run out of space for files.Every attachment counts against one shared storage allowance for your organisation, checked before the file is written.Ask an administrator to free up space, or remove attachments from old conversations.
A message carries at most 6 attachments.The composer stops offering a seventh chip once six are staged, and the server enforces the same ceiling.Send this message, then attach the rest in a follow-up message.

See also

Last verified against build 71798d4.