Summary
This guide explains how to configure the Create or update contact - Wati action. This action lets your agent automatically create new contacts or update existing ones in Wati using a customer’s WhatsApp phone number. You’ll learn how to set up the action, map fields correctly, and control how and when contact data is synced.
Instructions
Follow these steps to configure the action and control how contact data is created or updated in Wati:
Set up the action
Log into your Astra account.
Go to Action Library.
Select Wati — Create or update contact.
Open the Configuration step.
Configure action settings
1. Action intent page
What to do:
Enter a clear action name and intent.
Click Edit action intent anytime to update it.
How it works:
A well-defined intent helps the agent trigger this action more accurately.
Offline sync:
OFF: The action runs during the conversation when triggered.
ON: The action runs after the conversation ends when a lead is captured.
2. Wati account
What to do:
Select the Wati account you want to connect.
How it works:
All contact creation and updates will use this selected account.
Before proceeding, make sure your Wati and Astra accounts are connected.
3. Allow creating and updating new contacts
When ON:
Creates a new contact if no match is found.
Updates contacts that were originally created through this integration.
When OFF:
New contacts will not be created if they don’t already exist.
4. Allow updating existing fields
When ON:
Updates mapped fields for contacts that already exist in Wati.
When OFF:
Existing contact fields will not be modified.
5. Field mapping (Wati field → Astra field)
What to do:
Map Wati contact fields to Astra fields.
Each row connects:
A Wati field (e.g., phone, name)
An Astra field (data collected by the agent)
Required field:
You must map Phone (WhatsApp number).
Optional fields:
Add mappings for:
Name
Custom attributes
Any fields available in your Wati account
How it works:
The agent uses this mapping to:
Identify the contact using the WhatsApp number
Populate name and other attributes
Creating new Astra fields:
You can create new fields while mapping.
These can also appear as contact attributes when configuring from the agent view.
Special case - Summary field:
If mapped, the AI-generated summary will be saved to the selected Wati field.
How the create/update contacts - Wati action works
When the agent runs this action:
The system searches for a contact in Wati using the WhatsApp phone number.
If no contact is found:
A new contact is created only if creation is enabled.
If the contact exists:
Fields are updated based on:
Your toggle settings
Whether the contact was created via this integration
Additional feature: Offline sync
When Offline Sync is enabled:
The action runs after the conversation ends, not during it.
When is a conversation considered complete?
Text agent: After 10 minutes of inactivity
Voice agent: When the call ends
This is useful if you want to sync contact data only after capturing a complete lead.