A cross-tab tour of the most common chatbot settings, grouped by purpose (identity, voice, appearance, data collection, rate limiting, transcripts, language). Each section says which tab the setting lives in so you can jump straight there.
This article is intentionally broad. For deep dives on individual topics we have dedicated articles — jump to those directly from the table below.
How to get there: Go to Setup → Chatbot in the top menu, then click on your chatbot to open its settings. Use the sidebar to switch between tabs (Identity, Behavior, Actions, Training, Leads, Notifications, Install, Integrations, Advanced).
Note: There is a top-level Behavior tab in the sidebar that only covers Response, Capabilities, Topic Limits, Instructions, Live Chat, and Workflows. Most of the settings on this page live in other tabs (Identity, Leads, Advanced, Notifications), so don't look for them under the Behavior tab.
| Topic | Where in the app | Dedicated article |
|---|---|---|
| Rate limits and spam protection | Advanced → Rate Limit | Spam Protection and Rate Limits |
| Display settings (Custom CSS, layout) | Advanced → Display Settings | Display Settings |
| Lead capture fields and timing | Leads → Lead Flows / Leads → Customer Data | Lead Flows · Lead Collection Timing |
| Transcript notifications | Notifications | See Transcripts below |
| Widget-side new-reply alerts (red dot, chime) | Automatic on the widget | Visitor Notifications |
| Instructions and topic limits | Behavior → Instructions / Behavior → Topic Limits | Agent-Specific Instructions |
| Monthly message credits | Advanced → Rate Limit (headroom) / plan page | Chatbot Credits |
| Training sources | Training tab | Choosing Training Sources |
If you're looking for something not on this page, the Navigation Reference lists every setting and the exact tab path to reach it.
These settings are found in the Identity → Opening Message tab.
The first message visitors see when they open the chat. Make it welcoming and helpful:
"Hi! I'm here to help answer your questions about [Your Company]. What would you like to know?"
Text shown in the message input field before the visitor types:
"Type your question here..."
Found in the Conversation Starters tab. Quick-action buttons that help visitors get started. Examples:
Add up to 4 conversation starters to guide common questions.
Also found in the Conversation Starters tab, under the Enable AI-generated quick-reply chips toggle.
When enabled, the AI can show tap-to-answer chips underneath its own messages during intake questions. For example, if the bot asks "What's your budget range?" it can surface chips like "Under €1000", "€1000 - €5000", "Over €5000", plus a "Something else" freeform option that focuses the input field so the visitor can type. The AI decides when and what to offer based on the flow of the conversation, so this is not a fixed script.
Notes:
These settings are found in the Identity → Business tab (called Business Info in some views). They shape how the AI speaks and what it knows about your business — separate from the Behavior tab in the sidebar, which is about response mechanics.
Set how your chatbot communicates. You have two options, and you choose one or the other:
Option 1: Pick a Tone preset
Choose from the dropdown. Tones marked with an emoji are "expressive" — the AI is allowed to use emojis in its replies. The others have any model-emitted emojis stripped before the visitor sees them, which keeps replies on-brand for more formal businesses.
Expressive tones (emojis allowed in replies):
Neutral / formal tones (emojis stripped from replies):
Option 2: Write your own Tone of Voice (advanced)
Click "Advanced: write a custom Tone of Voice" to expand the textarea. You get up to 400 characters to describe in your own words exactly how the chatbot should sound. For example: "Friendly and conversational. Use short sentences. Avoid jargon. No emojis."
When the textarea is filled, it overrides the Tone preset above (the dropdown becomes disabled and a small "in use" badge appears next to the Advanced button). Clear the textarea to go back to using a preset.
Controlling emojis from the textarea
If your custom Tone of Voice contains an explicit emoji instruction, that wins over the preset:
Tell the AI about your business so it can answer accurately:
"We are a SaaS company that provides customer communication tools for small businesses."
Guide the AI on what topics to prioritize:
"Product features, pricing, integrations, customer support"
Add specific rules for your chatbot:
"Always recommend scheduling a demo for pricing questions. Never discuss competitor products."
These settings are found in the Branding tab under Identity in the sidebar.
How to get there: Go to Setup → Chatbot in the top menu → click your chatbot → Identity → Branding.
By default, your chatbot inherits colors from the widget it's installed on. You'll see a message: "Colors follow [Widget Name]" with two options:
When using custom colors, you can click Reset to Widget to go back to following the widget design.
Upload a custom avatar or logo to display at the top of your chatbot. This is the image visitors see in the chat header. Recommended size: 200x200 pixels.
Accepted formats: JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF (animated GIFs stay animated), and SVG (vector logos stay crisp at any size). Max 8 MB.
Avatar size: Use the Size toggle next to the avatar to set the pixel size shown in the chat header. Range is 1 to 200 px; leave empty for the default (32 px). Uploaded images are stored at up to 512 px on the longest edge, so you can render them larger without loss.
When custom colors are enabled, the Visual Editor lets you customize every part of the chatbot:
Found in Advanced → Display tab. Add custom CSS rules to further style your chatbot widget. Use your browser's Inspect Element to find class names.
These settings are found in Leads → Customer Data in the sidebar.
Enable fields to collect visitor information:
Choose when to request information:
Found in the Advanced → Rate Limit tab. Cap how many messages a single visitor can send within a time window. Useful to prevent one visitor (or a bot) from burning through your monthly credits in a single conversation.
How to get there: Go to Setup → Chatbot in the top menu → click your chatbot → Advanced → Rate Limit.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Messages per window | Max number of messages one visitor can send in the time window. Leave empty (or 0) to disable. |
| Window (seconds) | Length of the time window. Common values: 60 (1 minute), 3600 (1 hour), 86400 (1 day). |
| Limit message | Custom message shown to the visitor when they hit the limit. Leave empty to use the default ("You have sent too many messages. Please wait a moment before continuing."). |
The limit is per session (per conversation), not per IP, so multiple visitors from the same network are not affected by each other.
When the limit is reached, the chatbot stops responding to that visitor until the window expires, and shows your custom message. The visitor's existing conversation is preserved; only new messages are blocked.
This setting is off by default. The standard 10-messages-per-minute safety throttle still applies regardless, to protect against rapid-fire spam.
For the full picture of how Boei prevents credit waste from abusive visitors (built-in throttle, per-visitor limit, plan caps), see Spam Protection and Rate Limits.
Example use cases:
Conversations are automatically closed after 20 minutes of visitor inactivity. Once closed, the conversation is analyzed for training quality and transcripts are sent to your configured destinations.
If a visitor returns and sends a new message, the conversation reopens automatically and will be re-analyzed when it closes again.
These settings are found in the Notifications tab in the sidebar.
The master toggle to turn transcript processing on or off. When enabled, conversations are analyzed after they close and notifications are sent based on the rules you configure below.
When enabled, visitors who shared their email automatically receive a copy of the conversation transcript. This toggle also adds an "Email me this conversation" item to the chat menu (the three-dots menu in the widget header) so visitors can request a transcript on demand. Turn this off to hide both behaviours.
Every closed chat evaluates a list of rules you configure. Each rule has its own checks (when it fires), recipients (who gets notified), and an inbox toggle (whether the thread stays in your inbox for follow-up). Rules run independently: a chat can match zero, one, or all of them.
Common setups: email you on every lead, assign struggling chats to a specific agent, webhook everything to your CRM, ping Slack when the AI escalates. Start with a template and customize from there.
See Notification Rules for the full editor reference, all check and recipient types, and worked examples.
Enable to automatically detect and respond in the visitor's language. The AI will translate its responses while maintaining accuracy.
Set the primary language for your chatbot. This affects the default UI text and conversation starters.