🎠 How to Create and Send Carousel Messages in Flowbuilder
Carousel messages are an excellent option within Flowbuilder to present multiple options in a single message through a scrollable gallery of cards. This feature allows you to move past long text lists and is ideal for displaying product catalogs, service categories, or suggested routes in a dynamic way.
📱 Which channels is it available on?
This functionality is designed natively to send interactive messages on WhatsApp (both for incoming and outgoing conversations managed by your flow).
⚙️ Step by step: How to build your carousel
Creating a carousel requires attention to the base structure. Follow these steps to configure it successfully:
Go to your workspace in Flowbuilder and add a message node by selecting the "Carousel" type.
Write the common header: This text will appear at the top and will be the same for all cards. You can personalize it by including emojis, formatting it (bold, italics, strikethrough) or using parameters (user information variables).
Configure your first card (Card 1):
Pay attention to this step! The configuration you apply to your first card sets the rule for the entire carousel. If you choose to place an image and two buttons, all subsequent cards must obligatorily have an image and two buttons.
Add the remaining cards: Add and configure the other options in your menu while always respecting the initial structure.
Click Save and then Publish so your flow becomes active and your customers start interacting.
📏 Technical rules and limits you should know
For WhatsApp to process your message correctly and send it without errors, you must ensure that you comply with the following system validations:
Number of cards: You must include a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 10 cards per carousel.
Media formats and weights: Remember that you cannot mix formats in the same shipment; either all cards are images, or all are videos.
🖼️ Images: PNG or JPG format. Maximum permitted weight of 5 MB.
🎥 Videos: MP4 or 3GPP format. Maximum permitted weight of 16 MB.
Button Configuration: * Only the Quick Reply button type is supported.
You can place 1 or 2 buttons per card.
The text of each button has a maximum limit of 20 characters.
🚨 Troubleshooting common issues
❓ "Why can't I add a Phone or Link (URL) button to my carousel?" For this type of interactive component within Flowbuilder, the only supported button is "Quick Reply". This ensures that the customer interacts directly with your bot and does not abandon the conversational flow.
❓ "I want to use a video in the first card and an image in the second, but the system doesn't allow it" This is the expected behavior of the platform. WhatsApp requires that the visual structure of the carousel be uniform. The multimedia file type (image or video) you select for the first card will lock that format for the rest of the cards.
❓ "When I save I get a validation error" Quickly review the technical limits: make sure you don't exceed 10 cards, verify that no button has more than 20 characters in its text, and confirm that your images (5MB) or videos (16MB) do not exceed the established weight.
Visualize your options and improve user experience! 🚀
Implementing Carousel messages allows you to reduce friction in customer service, ensuring that they find exactly what they're looking for with a simple swipe. Make sure to structure your first card well and respect the technical limits so your catalog flows smoothly. Design your menu and bring your conversations to life! ✅