Automations

Direct Reply Node

4 min readnode-logic-direct-reply

Immediately send a reply to the contact that triggered the automation — over WhatsApp or email — without configuring a separate send node.

Direct Reply Node

The Direct Reply node sends a message back to the contact who triggered the current automation. It automatically determines the sender's address and reply-to context from the trigger event, so you don't need to hard-code phone numbers or email addresses.

---

Fields
FieldTypeRequiredDescription
channelenumYeswhatsappemaillog
messagestringYesReply text. Supports {{variables}} and {{lead.*}}
subjectstringNoEmail subject (email channel only). Default: "Message"
tostringNoOverride recipient. Default: inferred from trigger event (triggerEvent.phone or triggerEvent.from)

---

Channel behaviour
WhatsApp channel

Sends the reply to the phone number that triggered the whatsapp.received event. Uses the workspace's linked WhatsApp account automatically.

Email channel

Sends the reply from the workspace's active mailbox (the first active mailbox in Settings → Mailboxes). The to address defaults to the sender's address from the email.replied trigger.

Log channel

Writes the message to the automation run log without sending anything. Useful for testing and debugging before going live.

---

Example: instant WhatsApp acknowledgement

json { "channel": "whatsapp", "message": "Hi {{lead.firstName}}! Thanks for reaching out 👋 I'll get back to you within 1 hour." }

---

Example: email auto-response

json { "channel": "email", "subject": "Re: {{email.subject}}", "message": "Hi {{lead.firstName}},\n\nThanks for your message. I'll review and reply within 24 hours.\n\nBest,\nYour team" }

---

When to use vs Send Email / WhatsApp Send nodes
Direct ReplySend Email / WA Send
RecipientInferred from triggerExplicitly configured
Use caseInstant acknowledgement botsScheduled outreach
MailboxAuto-selectedManually chosen