Send a Chat message from an automation

Configure an automation bot to send a Chat message to one or more Chat spaces based on an event by using the Send a Chat message task.

For example, if an employee sends a request for a new chair (the event), you can configure the bot to send a Chat message to their manager requesting approval before fulfilling the request.

Before you can build automations for your Chat apps, you must Configure your Chat app with AppSheet, including granting IAM access to run automations if you selected manual configuration to configure you Chat app.

Add and configure the Send a Chat message task by performing the following steps:

Add the Send a Chat message task to a bot, as described in Add a task to a bot.
Configure the Send a Chat message task by using the settings described in the table below.
When you are done, save the app by selecting one of the following:
- Save - Save the app.
- Save & verify data - Save the app and verify that it is runnable based on external dependencies.

Configure the Send a Chat message task by using the settings described in the following table.

Setting	Description
Linking	Enable or disable reuse of this component by expanding the Linking panel and toggling the Linking setting. See Reuse automation components.
Table name	Table defined in the event and used by the task. To view or edit the structure of the selected table, position your cursor in the field and click . See Tables: The Essentials for more information. Note: To use a table that is different from the table defined in the event, add a Call a process step.
Message content	Select one of the following in the drop-down: Select chat spaces to explicitly select the Chat spaces, group Chats, or direct messages (using the Space IDs field) to which you want to send the Chat message. Respond to same thread to respond to the originating Chat space thread. Note: If you select Respond to same thread: For the parent process, don't set linking on. The originating Chat space thread can't be identified when the process is used by multiple bots. See Reuse automation components. The parent event must be a Chat event. See Configure Chat events.
Space IDs	Note: This setting is available if you choose Select chat spaces in the Message content drop-down. Specify the IDs for the Chat spaces, group Chats, or direct messages to which you want to send the Chat message. Click Add and select an item from the drop-down list. Repeat to add additional IDs.
Message text	Chat message text. Specify text, variables, and expressions.
Send an app view (optional)	Optionally, you can send an app view to the Chat space as a Chat card. Note: For preview, only deck and detail views are supported from Send a Chat message tasks. For more information, see Supported view types and settings.

Expand and customize the Advanced settings, as described below.

Setting

Description

Inputs

Add inputs to dynamically configure a task. For details, see Set input values dynamically in tasks.

Expand the Advanced section.
Click Add under Inputs.
Enter the name of the input value in the Name field.
Select the data type from the Type drop-down.
Only a subset of data types are supported for inputs.
To add an initial value or edit any fields:
1. Click to open the Input dialog.
2. Add a value or expression in the Initial value field.
  If you don't specify an initial value, then the input value will be required. If an initial value is specified, then the input value is optional.
  
  Use of [_THIS] or [_INPUT] are not supported in the Initial value field.
3. Edit other fields, as required.
4. Click Done.
Repeat to add additional input values.

Then, use the following expressions to access the input values from the current step: [_INPUT].[inputname]

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Send a Chat message from an automation

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