Channel & Delivery: How to Write Instructions That Adapt by Platform

Your chatbot might answer a website visitor, a Facebook DM, a text message, and a phone call all in the same day, and each of those conversations should feel different. A website reply can show buttons and images. A text message has a strict length limit. A phone call is heard, not read. The Channel & Delivery helper lets your instructions branch based on where a conversation is happening and how your reply will be delivered, so you write one set of instructions that adapts automatically instead of maintaining a separate chatbot for every channel.

Where to find it #

The Channel & Delivery helper lives in the Instructions tab of a chatbot project, in the toolbar directly above the instructions editor. Look for the circled “i” (info) icon, positioned between the variable lookup icon and the backup icon.

1. Open your chatbot project.
2. Go to the Instructions tab.
3. In the toolbar above the editor, click the Channel & Delivery icon (circled “i”).

This opens the Channel & Delivery panel: “Your bot knows which outlet it is answering on and how its reply will be delivered. Open a value to see what it means and copy a ready made rule into your instructions.”

The two variables: noem_channel and noem_mode #

Every conversation carries two pieces of context you can write instructions against:

• noem_channel, where the conversation came from (web chat, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Slack, SMS, phone, or email).
• noem_mode, how your reply will be delivered (voice, plain text, or rich).

These are not the same thing. A WhatsApp conversation (channel) is always delivered as plain text (mode), while a web chat conversation (channel) can be delivered in rich mode. Channel tells your chatbot where it is. Mode tells it how the words will reach the person.

Channel values (noem_channel) #

The panel lists eight channel values, each with a short description and a ready made rule you can copy:

1. Web Chat (noem_channel = “web”): the chat widget on your website. The only channel that can show rich cards, buttons and images.
2. Facebook (noem_channel = “facebook”): Facebook Messenger direct messages. Plain text only, and replies should be short.
3. Instagram (noem_channel = “instagram”): Instagram direct messages. Plain text only, very short replies, and links are often ignored.
4. WhatsApp (noem_channel = “whatsapp”): WhatsApp messages. Plain text only, conversational and brief.
5. Slack (noem_channel = “slack”): a Slack workspace, usually your own team rather than a customer. Plain text only.
6. Text Message (SMS) (noem_channel = “sms”): a text message to a phone. Plain text only and the tightest length limit of any channel.
7. Phone Call (noem_channel = “phone”): a live phone call. The caller is listening, not reading, so never use lists or formatting.
8. Email (noem_channel = “email”): an email reply. Longer answers are fine here, unlike every other text channel.

Delivery values (noem_mode) #

The panel lists three delivery values:

1. Voice (noem_mode = “voice”): your reply is spoken out loud. Never use markdown, bullets or emoji, and say numbers the way a person would.
2. Plain Text (noem_mode = “text”): your reply is delivered as plain text. Cards and buttons will not appear, so put everything in the words.
3. Rich (noem_mode = “rich”): your reply can include rich cards, buttons and images that the visitor can click.

Writing a rule #

Every value in the panel has a ready made rule you can copy straight into your instructions. Click a value to expand it, then click Copy rule. The rule for Web Chat looks like this:

When noem_channel = “web”

• Use cards and buttons to present options instead of listing them in a paragraph.
• You may use short formatting (bold, bullets) where it helps them scan.

This is pasted directly into your Instructions editor as markdown. The heading line scopes the bullets below it to that one condition. Paste it anywhere in your instructions. Most people add a dedicated “Channel & Delivery” section near the top.

Worked example: keeping SMS replies brief #

This is the kind of question the feature was built to answer: “I want the chatbot to be very brief in SMS mode. How do I do that?” Open Text Message (SMS) in the panel and copy:

When noem_channel = “sms”

• Keep every reply under 300 characters.
• Never send more than one link.

Paste that under your existing instructions, save, and publish. From then on, any conversation your chatbot detects as coming in over SMS follows those two extra rules on top of everything else you have already told it.

Worked example: keeping Instagram replies link free #

Instagram is the one channel where a link in your reply usually gets ignored, so it is worth writing a rule that skips links entirely and points people somewhere they will actually see it. Open Instagram in the panel and copy:

When noem_channel = “instagram”

• Keep replies to 3 sentences or fewer.
• Do not include links. Tell them to use the link in your bio instead.

Worked example: showing a menu as cards on web chat #

Web chat is the only channel that can render rich cards, so it is the one place where “show it, do not describe it” pays off. Since web chat is delivered in rich mode by default, you can combine the channel and the mode in one rule:

When noem_channel = “web” and noem_mode = “rich”

• Use cards and buttons to present options instead of listing them in a paragraph.
• You may use short formatting (bold, bullets) where it helps them scan.

Worked example: reading a schedule out loud #

A block of business hours reads fine on a screen but turns into a wall of numbers the moment it is spoken. Open Voice in the panel and copy:

When noem_mode = “voice”

• Never read a list aloud. Summarize it in one sentence.
• Say prices, dates and phone numbers the way a person would speak them.

Applying a rule to more than one channel #

If you want identical behavior on two channels, Facebook and Instagram for example, you do not need to duplicate the whole block. Because your instructions are read by the chatbot as plain language rather than executed as literal code, combining both conditions under a single heading is a reasonable way to write it:

When noem_channel = “facebook” or noem_channel = “instagram”

• Keep replies to 3 sentences or fewer.
• Do not include links. Direct them to your website or bio link instead.

Just as valid: paste two separate “When” blocks with the same bullets, one per channel. Both approaches work. Combining is more compact, and duplicating is easier to edit independently later if the two channels’ rules ever need to diverge.

Combining channel and delivery conditions #

You can combine a channel and a mode in the same condition when you want to be extra specific. A phone call is always voice, but you could still write:

When noem_channel = “phone” and noem_mode = “voice”

• Never read a list aloud. Summarize it in one sentence.
• Offer to text the details instead of reading a long number aloud.

Tips #

• Add as many “When” blocks as you need, one per channel or mode you want to customize. Any channel without a dedicated rule just follows your default instructions.
• Rules stack. If a WhatsApp conversation also matches a plain text rule, both sets of bullets apply, so keep each block’s bullets short and specific so they do not contradict each other.
• Save and publish after adding rules, exactly like any other instructions edit.
• Keep a dedicated “Channel & Delivery” heading in your instructions so future rules are easy to find and update.