Summary
This guide explains how actions work in Astra and provides a clear overview of the available actions you can use when building your AI agent. Actions allow your agent to perform tasks like updating contacts, sending messages, posting to Slack, or fetching information from the web - all based on simple, natural language instructions.
Instructions
Astra Vibe makes it easy to build AI agents without needing technical skills. You simply explain what you want your agent to do, and the system generates it for you. Actions are an important part of this setup because they help your agent work with external tools such as HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack, or your own internal systems.
How actions work
Actions let your Astra agent perform tasks beyond basic conversation. You can describe:
When an action should be triggered
What information the agent should use (including variables)
Which tool or platform the action should interact with
Once configured, Astra helps connect these tools so your agent can carry out the task automatically.
Want to add actions to your AI agent? Just describe what you need in plain text, and Astra Vibe will configure the actions automatically in the agent instructions.
When the action is added, approved, and saved, it will automatically show up in your Agent Instructions section.
Important note
When you add a new action to your agent, you may see it appear as a placeholder at first. This simply means the action hasn’t been fully created yet. To complete the setup, select the placeholder action and follow the creation flow.
If the action relies on an external platform that you haven’t connected before, you’ll be prompted to complete the connection. This step ensures Astra can securely perform tasks on your behalf.
Once the platform is connected, you’ll need to fill in the action-specific details. The required information depends on the type of action. For example:
For Slack send message, you’ll need to choose the channel where the message should be delivered.
For update/create contact, you’ll need to map the fields so the agent knows how to store or update the contact information.
After completing these details, your action will be fully created and ready for use in the agent’s workflow.
Note: When setting up an action, make sure to review and update the action description if necessary, so the agent clearly understands its purpose. Describe what the action is expected to do and when it should be triggered. This is especially important for actions that rely on specific events.
Search and reuse action templates quickly
The Astra action library helps you quickly find and reuse pre-built action templates. You can search, filter, and browse templates based on your needs, making it easy to create actions without starting from scratch.
Search box
Use the search box at the top to quickly find action templates by name or keyword. Results update instantly as you type.
Filter by type or channel
Use the Type and Channel filters to narrow down templates. For example, you can filter by action type (text or voice) or by channel such as WhatsApp or Web widget. Only templates that match your selection will be displayed.
Create an action from a template
Click on any template to start creating an action from it. For step-by-step guidance, see the Create action guide.
Recent section
The Recent section shows templates based on the most recent executions. Templates used most recently by you or your team appear at the top, making it easy to reuse them.
Browse by type
The By type section organizes templates into categories. Each category acts as a filter - click a category to view templates within that group.
Available actions in the Actions library
Below is a list of the actions currently available in Astra. You can mix and match them based on your agent’s goals and workflow.
Action | Description |
Web search | Find real-time information from the web and share relevant results. |
REST API action | Enable the agent to perform external actions by calling REST APIs. |
Custom forms | Create lead forms with configurable fields and behavior to capture user information. |
Lead qualification criteria | Assign weights to different criteria and automatically calculate lead scores. |
Create or update contacts (Wati) | Create new contacts or update existing contact details in your Wati account. |
Assign to team, user, or bot (Wati) | Transfer the conversation from Astra to a human operator or another bot in Wati. |
Send a session message | Send WhatsApp session messages directly to your customer. |
Send booking message | Share a booking link with customers for scheduling. |
Send sales summary | Send a sales proposal or summary to support sales conversations. |
Send message after call | Automatically send a follow-up message once a call ends. |
Send interactive message | Send WhatsApp messages with interactive buttons for better engagement. |
Send a template message | Send pre-approved WhatsApp template messages to customers. |
Create or update contacts (HubSpot) | Create or update contacts in your HubSpot CRM. |
Assign to user (HubSpot) | Assign conversations to an agent within HubSpot. |
Create or update contacts (Pipedrive) | Create or update contacts in your Pipedrive CRM. |
Create or update contacts (Salesforce) | Create or update contacts in your Salesforce CRM. |
Create or update contacts (Zoho) | Create or update contacts in your Zoho CRM. |
Send message to channel (Slack) | Post instant updates to a selected Slack channel. |
Add row (Google Sheets) | Add one or more rows to a specific spreadsheet. |
Update row (Google Sheets) | Update existing rows in a specific spreadsheet. |
Search and find row (Google Sheets) | Search and retrieve row data based on specific column values. |
My actions
My actions is a dedicated page that displays only the actions you have created, separate from the template library.
What each action card shows:
Action name and a short description of its purpose
Creator who set up the action
Last updated timestamp
Linked agents that are currently using the action
Execution count showing total runs
Hover over this to view a breakdown (e.g. test mode vs published agents)
Credits consumed for actions that use credits
What you can do:
Click on an action card to open and edit the action
Use the three dots (⋮) menu to:
Edit the action
Delete the action from your account
Astra’s actions library continues to grow, making it easier to build agents that can automate tasks, update systems, and support your workflows - all through natural language instructions. If you’re creating an agent for the first time, these actions are a great place to start.