--- lang: en --- # 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. > Verified against the product on 2026-11-15 ## Find a conversation Open [Inbox](https://app.heycactus.ai/conversations) and pick one of its filters. | View | What it lists | When it's empty | | --- | --- | --- | | **Open** | Every thread that is not resolved. | "No open threads." | | **Escalated** | Threads handed to your team, claimed or not. | "Nothing escalated. Cactus is handling every thread." | | **Resolved** | Threads marked resolved. | "No resolved threads yet." | | **Everything** | Every thread. | "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](https://cactus.heycactus.ai/messenger) describes. ## Thread states Each row shows one of these states. | Row says | It means | | --- | --- | | Escalated | Cactus handed the thread to your team, and no one has claimed it. | | Claimed | A teammate has claimed the thread. | | Cactus is answering | An open thread that Cactus is writing an answer on now. | | Open | An open thread with no answer under way. | | Resolved | 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](https://cactus.heycactus.ai/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**. 1. Choose a mode at the top of the box. 2. Type your message in the box. 3. Select **Add note** or **Send reply**. The button stays off until the box has text. > **Note:** Name @cactus in a note to ask Cactus a question. 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](https://cactus.heycactus.ai/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** | The thread is Escalated. | Takes the handed-over thread for you. | | **Escalate** | The thread is Open or Resolved. | Hands the thread to your team. | | **Mark resolved** | The thread is not resolved. | Marks the thread resolved. | | **Reopen** | The thread is Resolved. | 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](https://cactus.heycactus.ai/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](https://cactus.heycactus.ai/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." | The reply did not reach the customer, and your text stays in the box. | Select **Send reply** again. | | "Cactus could not confirm this reply went out. Press Send again: it will not be sent twice." | Cactus does not know whether the reply went out. | Select **Send reply** again. The reply is not sent twice. | | "_The teammate's name_ already has this one." | Someone else has claimed the thread. | Leave it with them. | | "Only a conversation handed to the team can be claimed." | The thread is not Escalated. | Claim it only once it reads Escalated. | | "Cactus couldn't hand this thread to your team. Try again." | The handoff did not go through. | Select **Escalate** again. | | "This conversation didn’t load. Try again in a moment." | The thread could not be read. | Select **Retry**. | | "Didn’t finish" in place of a row's time | Cactus stopped before it gave an answer on the thread. | Open the thread and reply yourself, or select **Draft a reply**. |