Conversations
Conversations is your team's inbox for every thread people open with Cactus, from the messenger, the help center, Slack, Discord and AI clients, with each thread's state and who holds it. You read them, reply, add internal notes and take threads over from Cactus.
On this page
Find a conversation
Open Inbox and pick one of its filters.
View | What it lists | When it's empty |
|---|---|---|
Open | What it lists Every thread that is not resolved. | When it's empty "No open threads." |
Escalated | What it lists Threads handed to your team, claimed or not. | When it's empty "Nothing escalated. Cactus is handling every thread." |
Resolved | What it lists Threads marked resolved. | When it's empty "No resolved threads yet." |
Everything | What it lists Every thread. | When it's empty "No threads yet." |
Escalated threads come first in a list, then claimed ones, then the rest, and the newest activity comes first within each group.
The search field matches thread titles only, and it shows in every filter except the two request views.
Before the first conversation
Until a visitor asks a question, the inbox says "No conversations yet". Select Set up the messenger to put the messenger on your site, as Messenger describes.
Thread states
Each row shows one of these states.
Row says | It means |
|---|---|
Escalated | It means Cactus handed the thread to your team, and no one has claimed it. |
Claimed | It means A teammate has claimed the thread. |
Cactus is answering | It means An open thread that Cactus is writing an answer on now. |
Open | It means An open thread with no answer under way. |
Resolved | It means A thread marked resolved. |
Each row also shows:
- The channel the thread came from: Messenger, Help Center, Slack, Discord or MCP. A thread started in the web app shows none. A thread handed over in the Messenger preview, where your team tries the messenger from the app, reads "Messenger preview" as its channel.
- The asker's name, or "Visitor" when no name is known.
- When the thread was last active.
- A badge with the customer's language, when it differs from your team's language.
Read a thread
Select a thread's title to open it. Under the title, its channel and state show: Escalated, Claimed by the teammate who holds it, Claimed, or Resolved.
- Each message names who wrote it: the customer by name or "Visitor", a teammate by name, or Cactus.
- An internal note is marked for your team only.
- When Cactus hands a thread to your team, the timeline shows a row with where the thread stands, "Escalated" or "Claimed by" the teammate who holds it, beside "Cactus handed this to your team and held the thread." Its card names who asked, and their last words before the handoff when the thread holds them.
- While Cactus is answering, the timeline ends with "Cactus is answering".
- Public answer opens the answer on your help center.
- When the help center is team only, the title line shows "Public answer (Help Center is team only)" in place of the link.
Reply or add a note
The box has two modes: Internal note, which only your team sees, and Reply to customer, which the customer receives.
A thread that is Escalated or Claimed opens on Internal note. Any other thread opens on Reply to customer.
Choose a mode at the top of the box.
Type your message in the box.
Select Add note or Send reply. The button stays off until the box has text.
When your team translates conversations and the customer writes in another language, the box says Cactus sends the reply in that language. Turn this on in Languages.
Take over or close a thread
The buttons under the reply box depend on the thread's state.
Button | Shown when | What it does |
|---|---|---|
Claim | Shown when The thread is Escalated. | What it does Takes the handed-over thread for you. |
Escalate | Shown when The thread is Open or Resolved. | What it does Hands the thread to your team. |
Mark resolved | Shown when The thread is not resolved. | What it does Marks the thread resolved. |
Reopen | Shown when The thread is Resolved. | What it does Reopens the thread. |
A claimed thread shows neither Claim nor Escalate.
Threads handed over in Slack or Discord are claimed there as well, and Handoffs covers that side. A thread handed over in the Messenger preview still reads Escalated here, but it sends your team no email and no Slack or Discord card.
Draft a reply
While the team has no plan, Cactus writes no draft, and the box shows "Cactus is paused because the team has no plan. Pick one in Settings → Plan to turn it back on." Plans and billing says what a plan costs and holds.
Otherwise, select Draft a reply. Cactus writes its draft into the box and switches the box to Reply to customer, so read it before you send.
If you had typed something, select Restore what I typed to bring it back.
If something doesn't go through
What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
"Nothing was sent. Your reply is still in the box." | What it means The reply did not reach the customer, and your text stays in the box. | What to do Select Send reply again. |
"Cactus could not confirm this reply went out. Press Send again: it will not be sent twice." | What it means Cactus does not know whether the reply went out. | What to do Select Send reply again. The reply is not sent twice. |
"The teammate's name already has this one." | What it means Someone else has claimed the thread. | What to do Leave it with them. |
"Only a conversation handed to the team can be claimed." | What it means The thread is not Escalated. | What to do Claim it only once it reads Escalated. |
"Cactus couldn't hand this thread to your team. Try again." | What it means The handoff did not go through. | What to do Select Escalate again. |
"This conversation didn’t load. Try again in a moment." | What it means The thread could not be read. | What to do Select Retry. |
"Didn’t finish" in place of a row's time | What it means Cactus stopped before it gave an answer on the thread. | What to do Open the thread and reply yourself, or select Draft a reply. |