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~3 minutes setup

What You'll Need

Prerequisites before starting

Quick Path

Condensed steps if you know the platform

Step-by-Step Setup

Complete walkthrough (Steps 1–3)

Quick Checklist

Verify your setup is complete

Troubleshooting & FAQs

Common questions & fixes

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Introduction

A prospect messages your WhatsApp number or Facebook Page — but the wrong agent responds. Your support agent is greeting a sales lead, or your generic onboarding bot is handling prospects who should be getting a tailored pitch. The culprit? Your default inbound agent isn’t set to the right one. Irelia.ai automatically assigns a default inbound agent during initial setup so you’re covered from day one. But as you create specialized agents, refine flows, or delete older ones, that original default may no longer be the best fit. In rarer cases — if you’ve deleted the auto-assigned agent — you might have no default at all, leaving inbound messages completely unanswered. The fix is simple: check which agent is handling inbound, and change it if needed. By the end of this guide, you’ll have: ✅ A clear understanding of what the default inbound agent does and why it matters
✅ The ability to check which agent is currently your default — at a glance or in detail
✅ Your default inbound agent set to the right one for WhatsApp, Facebook, or both

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How This Works

Think of it this way: you have a team of specialists, and the default inbound agent is the one stationed at the front door. If the wrong person is greeting visitors, sales leads get a support script. If nobody is at the door, visitors walk into an empty lobby and leave.
  • 🔀 One default per channel. WhatsApp and Facebook each get their own separate default. You can assign the same agent to both, or use different agents.
  • 🔒 Only one agent per channel. Setting a new default automatically replaces the old one.
  • 🌐 Covers all inbound entry points. Direct WhatsApp messages, Facebook Page DMs, and webchat widget conversations all route through this setting.
  • ⚙️ Auto-assigned during setup. Irelia assigns one automatically during initial configuration — this guide helps you verify it’s the right one.

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What You’ll Do

  1. Open your agent’s Trigger settings (~1 minute)
  2. Set it as the default inbound agent for your channel(s) (~1 minute)
  3. Verify the setting is active (~30 seconds)

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📋 What You’ll Need

  • An Irelia.ai account with at least one agent created Required
  • At least one channel connected (WhatsApp or Facebook) Required
That’s it. No coding, no external tools, no technical setup.

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⚡ Quick Path (Experienced Users)

Already comfortable navigating Irelia? Here’s the condensed version: To check the current default:
  1. Go to “Settings” → “Agent” section → Look at the agent cards
  2. Under each agent’s “inbound” label, a colored icon (green for WhatsApp, blue for Facebook) means that agent is the current default
To change the default:
  1. Click the agent you want → “Trigger” tab → Scroll to the bottom
  2. Click “Set this agent as default for WhatsApp inbound” and/or “Set this agent as default for Facebook inbound”
  3. Confirm the button shows a colored icon and reads “Default WhatsApp inbound” or “Default Facebook inbound”
Need more detail? Continue with the full guide below.

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🔧 Step-by-Step Setup

1

Open Your Agent's Trigger Settings

~1 minuteNavigate to the agent you want as your inbound default.
  1. Go to “Settings” → “Agent” section
  2. Select the agent you want to handle inbound conversations
  3. Click the “Trigger” tab at the top of the agent’s settings
  4. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page
You’ll see a section titled “Manage inbound conversations with this agent” with one or two channel buttons — one for WhatsApp and one for Facebook, depending on which channels you’ve connected.
2

Set the Agent as Default Inbound

~1 minute
  1. To handle WhatsApp inbound, click the “Set this agent as default for WhatsApp inbound” button
  2. To handle Facebook Messenger inbound, click the “Set this agent as default for Facebook inbound” button
  3. If you want this agent to handle both channels, click both buttons
Using different agents for different channels? You don’t have to use the same agent everywhere — for example, a sales-focused agent on WhatsApp and a support-focused agent on Messenger. Just open each agent’s “Trigger” tab and set the appropriate default per channel.
Important: Setting a new agent as the default automatically removes the previous one for that channel. You don’t need to “unset” the old agent first.
3

Verify the Setting Is Active

After clicking, the button confirms your selection: the icon takes on the platform’s brand color (green for WhatsApp, blue for Facebook) and the label updates to “Default WhatsApp inbound” or “Default Facebook inbound”.
Success! Your default inbound agent is now active. Any new inbound conversation on that channel will be routed to this agent automatically.

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🎉 You’re All Set!

✅ Inbound prospects on your configured channel(s) now reach the right agent with the right flow
✅ No inbound message goes unanswered on channels where you’ve set a default From now on, when someone messages your WhatsApp number or Facebook Page for the first time → Irelia routes the conversation to your default inbound agent → who greets, qualifies, and engages them automatically, 24/7.

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🔎 How to Check Your Current Default Inbound Agent

Not sure which agent is currently handling inbound? Two ways to check.

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At a glance: From the Agents list

The fastest way to see your defaults across all agents at once.
  1. Go to “Settings” → “Agent” section
  2. At the bottom of each agent card, look at the channel icons under the “inbound” label
Icon AppearanceWhat It Means
🟢 Green WhatsApp icon under “inbound”This agent is the default for WhatsApp inbound
🔵 Blue Facebook icon under “inbound”This agent is the default for Facebook inbound
⚪ Grey icon under “inbound”This agent is not the default for that channel
Example: In the screenshot above, “Inbound Assistant” has a green WhatsApp icon under “inbound” — identifying it as the current WhatsApp default at a glance. All other agents show grey icons.

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In detail: From the agent’s Trigger tab

To inspect or change the default:
  1. Click the agent you want to check
  2. Go to the “Trigger” tab and scroll to the bottom
  3. Look at the “Manage inbound conversations with this agent” section
Button AppearanceWhat It Means
Colored icon + “Default [Channel] inbound”This agent is the current default for that channel
Grey icon + “Set this agent as default for…”This agent is not the default for that channel
To change the default from here, click the button for the channel you want to reassign — the new default takes effect immediately.

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✅ Quick Checklist

Use this to verify your setup is complete:

Configuration

  • Opened the correct agent’s “Trigger” tab
  • Scrolled to the “Manage inbound conversations with this agent” section
  • Clicked the default inbound button for WhatsApp (if needed)
  • Clicked the default inbound button for Facebook (if needed)
  • WhatsApp button shows a green icon and “Default WhatsApp inbound” label
  • Facebook button shows a blue icon and “Default Facebook inbound” label (if applicable)
  • Agent list page confirms the right agent has colored inbound icons
✅ All checked? You’re good to go!

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🛠️ Troubleshooting & FAQs

What this means: The auto-assigned default from your initial setup is still active after you’ve created better-suited agents.Solution: Check which agent is currently the default from the agent cards (colored icon under “inbound”). Then follow the steps in this guide to set the correct agent — the old default is automatically replaced.
Possible causes:
  1. No default inbound agent is set (e.g., you deleted the auto-assigned agent)
  2. The default agent is misconfigured
Solution: Check the agent list for colored inbound icons. If all are grey, no default is set — follow this guide to assign one. If a default IS set, verify the agent has a Knowledge Base and conversation flow configured.
Solution: Make sure you’re on the “Trigger” tab — not the agent’s general settings. The section is at the very bottom, so scroll all the way down.
Solution: Only buttons for connected channels appear. If you only see WhatsApp, you haven’t connected a Facebook Page yet (or vice versa). Connect the missing channel in “Channels Configuration” first.
Check the agent cards on the “Agents” list — a colored icon (green for WhatsApp, blue for Facebook) under “inbound” identifies the active default. See How to Check Your Current Default Inbound Agent for both methods.
Yes. Open the agent’s “Trigger” tab and click both channel buttons.
Yes, at any time. Go to the new agent’s “Trigger” tab and click the default button for the channel you want to reassign. The previous default is automatically removed.

🆘 Need Help?

Irelia.ai Support:
  • Contact support in the WhatsApp priority support group or send an email to info@irelia.ai
  • Include: screenshots of your agent list (showing the inbound icons) or your agent’s “Trigger” tab, which channel is affected, and what you expected vs. what happened