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Canned responses

Written by , Founder, AskVault · Reviewed by Aashiq
Last updated: · 3 min read

What canned responses are for

Three patterns where canned responses save real time:

  1. Repeated standard replies. "Thanks for reaching out, our team will get back to you within 24 hours." Typed 50 times a week becomes one shortcut, saving about 90 minutes per agent per week.
  2. Multi-step instructions. Password-reset flow, refund process, account-deletion steps. 5 to 10 steps long but identical across customers.
  3. Brand-voice anchors. Closing lines, signoffs, escalation messaging. Keeps tone consistent across 100% of replies.

Different from skills (bot-side automation) and macros (multi-action workflows). Canned responses are pure text templates.

Creating a canned response

Three-step flow:

  1. Open Conversations > Canned Responses > Create.
  2. Name the response. Short, searchable (e.g., "billing-refund-flow").
  3. Write the body. Plain text or Markdown. Up to 4,000 characters.

Save. The response is available immediately in your workspace.

Variable placeholders

Use {{variable}} syntax to insert dynamic content:

  • {{customer.first_name}}. Pulled from the conversation's customer record.
  • {{customer.email}}. Email address.
  • {{conversation.id}}. For referencing the conversation ID.
  • {{agent.first_name}}. Your own first name as the responding agent.
  • {{workspace.name}}. Your workspace name.

Example template:

Hi {{customer.first_name}},

Thanks for reaching out about your refund. Your conversation reference is {{conversation.id}}.

A member of our billing team will follow up within 2 business hours.

{{agent.first_name}} {{workspace.name}} Support

When you insert this template, variables resolve automatically. If a variable has no value (e.g., anonymous customer with no first_name), it falls back to a friendly default ("Hi there,").

Inserting a canned response

Three paths during a reply:

Keyboard shortcut.

  1. In the reply box, type /.
  2. Start typing the canned-response name. Autocomplete matches.
  3. Hit Enter to insert.

Insert menu.

  1. Click the canned-response icon in the reply toolbar.
  2. Search or scroll.
  3. Click to insert.

Right-click on the reply box.

  1. Right-click in the reply area.
  2. Pick "Insert canned response".
  3. Select from the list.

The template inserts at the cursor. You can edit before sending.

Personal vs workspace-shared

Two visibility modes:

  • Personal. Only you see this canned response. Useful for personal phrasing quirks.
  • Workspace-shared. Everyone in the workspace sees it. Useful for standard support replies.

Toggle visibility when creating or editing. Personal canned responses count toward a per-user 50-response cap; workspace-shared count toward the workspace 200-response cap.

Organizing with folders

For workspaces with many canned responses:

  • Create folders under Canned Responses > Folders.
  • Drag-and-drop responses into folders.
  • Search across folders in the insert menu.

Common folder taxonomy: Billing, Refunds, Technical Support, Sales, Onboarding, Closings.

Markdown support

Canned responses accept Markdown:

  • Bold and italic.
  • Bullet lists.
  • Numbered lists.
  • Inline code and fenced code blocks.
  • Links.

What renders depends on the channel:

  • Widget, hosted page, email assistant. Full Markdown rendering.
  • WhatsApp, Telegram, SMS. Markdown stripped to plain text (some emphasis preserved as platform-native formatting).
  • Voice channel. Plain text used in TTS.

Team-wide consistency

Patterns that work for keeping team voice consistent:

  • Lock the "signoff" canned response. Workspace admins make it required for resolution-stage replies.
  • Periodic audit. Quarterly review of canned responses for tone drift.
  • Onboarding new agents. Walk new hires through the top 10 canned responses on day 1; cuts ramp time by about 40%.

API access

Canned responses are scriptable:

Terminal window
curl -X POST https://api.askvault.co/v1/canned-responses \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ak_xxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "billing-refund-flow",
    "body": "Hi {{customer.first_name}}, ...",
    "visibility": "workspace"
  }'

Use cases: sync canned responses from your internal documentation, version-control them in git, auto-deploy after review. Bulk sync up to 50 responses in 30 seconds.

Limits

  • Per-response length. 4,000 characters.
  • Workspace-shared responses. 200.
  • Personal responses per user. 50.
  • Folders per workspace. 30.

Common pitfalls

Variables don't resolve. Customer record missing the field. Check the customer's profile; if first_name is empty, the friendly fallback kicks in but only if you used {{customer.first_name|default:"there"}} syntax.

Markdown renders incorrectly on WhatsApp. Channel-specific. WhatsApp supports limited formatting; complex tables and code blocks don't render. Test the canned response in each channel before relying on it.

Stale canned responses. Pricing or process changed; canned response wasn't updated. Add a quarterly review reminder.

Team uses inconsistent versions of the same response. Personal copies drifted from the shared one. Lock high-importance responses workspace-shared and disable personal duplicates.

FAQ

Can the bot use canned responses?

Bots don't use canned responses directly. The bot generates fresh text from your knowledge base. If you want consistent bot phrasing for specific intents, configure skill messages under AI Agents > [skill] > Messages instead.

Can a canned response include images or attachments?

Markdown image syntax works for inline images (must be a URL to a hosted image). For binary attachments, attach manually after inserting the canned response text.

Are canned responses translated to the customer's language?

Not automatically. Maintain language-specific canned responses (e.g., "refund-flow-en" and "refund-flow-es") and pick the right one. Auto-translation is on the roadmap for Enterprise.

Can canned responses be assigned to specific skills or tags?

Yes via automation rules. Trigger condition: tag added. Action: suggest canned response for the reply box.

How do I delete a canned response?

Open the response and click "Delete". Workspace-shared responses can only be deleted by admins. Personal responses can be deleted by their owner.

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