Prerequisites
- Whatsable plan: Pro or Agency (shared inbox, seats, AI, and integrations). Bulk Message = broadcast-only — no inbox / seats / assign.
- Connected WhatsApp Business number through Whatsable (Embedded Signup / Coexistence supported — keep the WhatsApp Business app; do not uninstall it after connect).
- Teammates on the account (or extra seats added when you need more people in the inbox). Plan price covers the included team; buy seats when you need more.
- For automation assign: a Zapier, Make, n8n, or API connection authenticated with your Whatsable API key — integrations are Pro/Agency only.
- For keyword / AI assign: labels (and AI chatbot / handoff settings) configured in the console so routing rules and the bot have something to act on.
Canonical seat money: $12 / seat / mo on Pro and Agency. Do not confuse seats with unique-contact overage or Group Messaging ($16 / group, unavailable / waitlist). Live pricing: whatsable.app/pricing.
Assign paths — full inventory
Whatsable does not document a separate named “Assign to” control on every surface the same way. You can assign a chat to a teammate via the paths below, and you can add or remove labels from the same automation partners. Inbox operators often route work with labels (for example a teammate name label or a routing label your automations watch). Treat labels and teammate assignment as related ownership tools.1. Zapier — Update a Contact
From a Zap, use Whatsable Update a Contact. The Zapier action description states you can assign the conversation to someone on your team, add notes, and add/remove labels. Documented fields on this page’s field dictionary: Phone Number, Display Name, Add a Note, Add Label Names or IDs, Remove Label Names or IDs. Update a Contact can assign the conversation to a teammate — confirm any assignee control in your live Zap editor. Typical pattern: a form, CRM stage change, or Lead Ad trigger decides the owner in Zapier, then Update a Contact assigns (and optionally labels) the WhatsApp chat in Whatsable.2. Make — Update a Contact
Make’s Update a Contact description also covers assign to a teammate, notes, and add/remove labels. Documented module fields today: Phone Number, Display Name, Note, Add Labels, Remove Labels. Confirm any assignee control in your live Make module.3. API and Agent Skills
Assignment via API works alongside Zapier and Make. Operator scripts under chat-notifyer Agent Skills update conversation labels on the recipient (assign-label.js / remove-label.js) and can drive handoff by applying the bot’s handoff label. Labels on the Whatsable chat are string names on the recipient record.
Use Agent Skills when you are building or operating from code / an IDE agent — not as a substitute customer mobile app. Point developers to chat-notifyer for script-level label and handoff operations.
4. n8n (partner flow)
From an n8n workflow you can add/remove labels and assign the chat to a teammate the same way as Zapier and Make. Confirm any assignee control in your live n8n node.5. Keywords in chat
Assignment by keywords in chat rides on label keyword rules: when you create a label with keyword rules, Whatsable can automatically apply that label when an incoming message matches. Teams use keyword labels (and teammate / routing labels) so the right people see and own the thread — including label-scoped Team Member visibility in the inbox. Manual label assign from automations or Agent Skills can override auto-applied labels; keyword auto-labelling continues on later messages.6. AI by conversation content
AI can assign by conversation content. The AI chatbot (and ProactiveBot on Pro/Agency) can create, edit, and remove conversation labels from what the customer says — for example applying a routing or handoff label when the conversation matches your plain-language instructions (“if they mention a fleet of 10+ vehicles, hand to a human”). Distinguish carefully:7. Partner-flow owner routing (examples only)
You can build owner routing in Zapier, Make, or n8n — for example round-robin across sales, or map a Facebook Lead Ad / form / ad source to the right teammate — then assign and label the WhatsApp chat in Whatsable. Whatsable does not ship a native “round-robin engine” or built-in Lead-Ad→teammate UI — build that routing in the partner tool, then assign in Whatsable.8. Inbox + mobile (how assignment shows up)
- Shared team inbox (Pro/Agency): teammates collaborate in the Whatsable inbox. Labels organize and scope visibility; see Team inbox for access layers (number · Admin vs chat-only · label scope).
- Native Android / iOS apps (with extra seats): push notifications only for chats assigned to that person. Push-only does not mean the app hides other chats.
Limits and what assignment is NOT
- No CRM ↔ Whatsable bidirectional label / tag mirror product. Labels live on the Whatsable chat; Monday, Pipedrive, Zapier, Make, n8n, Agent Skills, and the AI can read or write Whatsable labels so inbox + mobile + automations stay aligned — that is not a two-way sync of CRM tags as one store.
- On Agency, up to 100 WhatsApp numbers sit on one subscription, and each additional number added to that same subscription is $5. The inbox can show all numbers or one number, and you can limit each teammate to specific numbers.
- Push-only ≠ app hides other chats. Assigned-only push notifies for owned work; it does not claim a visibility lockdown that removes unassigned chats from the app.
- No WhatsApp typing-indicator dots claim. Response Delay 5–60s is a separate AI setting — not assignment.
- A full roles / permissions matrix beyond the locked facts on this page (super-admin creates templates; Admin vs chat-only / label scope on team-inbox) is not documented here.
- Bot Assign ≠ teammate assign. Do not conflate AI bot attachment with human ownership.
- Native round-robin / Lead-Ad router requires naming Zapier, Make, or n8n — Whatsable does not ship that router UI.
- Group Messaging $16 is unavailable — not a team-assign substitute.
Related
Team inbox
Shared 2-way inbox on Pro and Agency — who sees what, labels, AI ↔ human handoff.
Zapier overview
Update a Contact — labels, notes, assign capability.
Make overview
Update a Contact — labels, notes, assign capability.
Zapier fields
Field dictionary — assign capability.
Make fields
Field dictionary — assign capability.
AI chatbot configuration
Bot Assign, knowledge, handoff — distinct from teammate chat assignment.
Plans: Bulk Message, Pro, Agency
Plan gates for inbox, seats, AI, and integrations.
chat-notifyer Agent Skills
Script-level labels, handoff, and conversation ops.