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 / Notifyer 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 / 100 contacts) 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. What is locked: 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 — not as inventing a CRM tag mirror.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 the docs / soft field dictionary today: Phone Number, Display Name, Add a Note, Add Label Names or IDs, Remove Label Names or IDs. Assign capability: PASS soft (product bible · GTM-216 · Zapier description · GTM-343 lock). Fence: Do not invent a named Assign to / assignee ResponseField label or screenshot until Axel/Ken samples the live Zap editor and docs list that key. Prefer: “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
Same product lock as Zapier. 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. Fence: Capability yes; exact Make ResponseField name for assignee = UNVERIFIED — do not invent it. Confirm in the live module.3. API and Agent Skills
Assignment via API is part of the GTM-216 / product-bible seat lock (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.
Do not invent undocumented REST field names for a dedicated “assignee user id” beyond what live skills and partner docs already show. Prefer the locked phrase: assign via Zapier, Make, or API.
4. n8n (partner flow)
From an n8n workflow you can update the conversation the same way as Zapier/Make in product lock language: add/remove labels and assign the chat to a teammate (via Zapier / Make / API family). Exact n8n Update Contact assignee field label = UNVERIFIED — prose capability only; no invented ResponseField.5. Keywords in chat
Assignment by keywords in chat is locked (bible · GTM-216). In practice this 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 (bible · GTM-216). 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. FAIL invent: a native WhatsAble “round-robin engine” or built-in Lead-Ad→teammate product UI that does not name the partner tool.8. Inbox + mobile (how assignment shows up)
- Shared team inbox (Pro/Agency): teammates collaborate in Notifyer Chat. Labels organize and scope visibility; see Team inbox for access layers (number · Admin vs chat-only · label scope). Soft MDX this week links only — does not thicken or rewrite that page.
- 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 invented Assign ResponseField name for Zapier / Make / n8n — capability yes; field key UNVERIFIED until sampled.
- 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.
- No shared Agency usage pool / unified multi-number billing inbox. Extra WhatsApp numbers on Agency are separate accounts with a manual contact-tier split. Filtering a shared inbox view by number (when your workspace exposes it) is a UI convenience — not a merged subscription pool. See team-inbox for live multi-number UI language; do not invent a pool product here.
- 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 invent WhatsAble RPM on this page.
- No WhatsApp typing-indicator dots claim (typing dots = HOLD). Response Delay 5–60s is a separate AI setting — not assignment.
- PRE-LIVE omit: full roles / permissions matrix beyond locked facts (super-admin creates templates; Admin vs chat-only / label scope on team-inbox). Ask Axel before documenting a full matrix.
- Bot Assign ≠ teammate assign. Do not conflate AI bot attachment with human ownership.
- Native round-robin / Lead-Ad router without naming Zapier/Make/n8n = FAIL invent.
- Group Messaging $16 is unavailable — not a team-assign substitute.
- Team inbox page untouched this week — cross-link only; no soft rewrite of
/guides/notifyer-system/team-inbox.
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 companion (when live) — assign prose fence.
Make fields
Field dictionary companion (when live) — assign prose fence.
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.