---
url: https://docs.oakmega.com/en/troubleshooting/chatbot-not-replying.md
description: >-
  When a friend sends a keyword, sticker or photo and the chatbot doesn't reply
  — or a different one replies — check the bot's status, how keywords are
  matched, its trigger conditions, the limits on default replies, and whether
  the friend is blacklisted or in a service conversation. Causes are listed from
  most common, along with which bot replies when several match.
---

When a chatbot doesn't reply, check the following in order; the most common causes come first. This article focuses on LINE chatbots and notes where Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp differ.

## 1. Is the bot turned on?

In the navigation bar, click **LINE**, choose **Chatbot**, find the bot and check that its **Chatbot Status** switch is on.

The screenshot below shows the **Event-triggered bots** category. Each row has a **Chatbot Status** switch and a **Trigger Event**, such as image message, sticker or **Default Reply**. A gray switch means the bot won't reply.

![Event-triggered bots list: nine bots, all with Chatbot Status on, with trigger events POSTBACK, file, location, voice, video, image, sticker and Default Reply](https://docs.oakmega.com/en/troubleshooting/images/chatbot-not-replying-01-event-bots.png)

* New bots start switched on, but many people switch them off for testing and forget to turn them back on.
* Turning a bot on or off shows **Chatbot Activated** or **Chatbot Deactivated**.

## 2. Did the keyword match?

Keyword chatbots only look at the **text** a friend sends, and match it in one of two ways:

| Matching | When it triggers | Common mix-up |
|---|---|---|
| **Trigger Keyword (Equals)** | The whole message is **exactly** the keyword | With the keyword "sale", "any sale?" won't trigger it |
| **Trigger Keyword (Contains)** | The keyword **appears** anywhere in the message | A very short keyword (like "ok") fires on lots of unrelated messages and steals replies from other bots |

* Emoji are removed before matching, so "sale😊" counts the same as "sale".
* Upper or lower case, full-width characters or an extra space can all break an Equals match. If you're unsure how friends will type it, use Contains or add several variations.
* Stickers, photos and locations never trigger keyword chatbots; use an event-triggered bot for that trigger event.

## 3. Do the trigger conditions leave the friend out?

On the bot's **Bot Settings** tab, check **Restriction Conditions**:

| Setting | What to check |
|---|---|
| **Trigger Duration** | Whether now is within the dates; it's calculated in the **Chatbot Time Zone** |
| **Weekly Effective Period** | Whether today and the current time are open |
| **Limit Tag Trigger for Chatbot** | Whether the friend has the required tags (all of them, if you chose "must have all") |
| **Exclude Tag Trigger for Chatbot** | Whether the friend has an excluded tag |
| **Trigger Environment** | With **Bot**, it won't fire in groups; with **Group**, it won't fire in one-on-one chats |

Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp bots also have **Trigger Account**: with Specific Accounts, Pages or accounts that aren't checked won't trigger the bot.

## 4. Why didn't the default reply appear?

**Default Reply** answers text that didn't trigger any other bot, but it has extra limits:

* It only answers **text messages**, not stickers or photos.
* It only fires in **one-on-one chats**, not groups.
* It only fires while the friend's conversation is a **Non-service conversation**. Once the conversation enters the service flow (for example it was transferred to an agent, or it's **Open** or **In process**), the default reply stops so the bot doesn't talk over your agents. It returns after the service is closed.

For conversation statuses, see [Handle conversations in Service Center](https://docs.oakmega.com/en/guide/service-center/handle-conversations.md).

## 5. Is the friend on the blacklist?

When a blacklisted member sends a private message, **no chatbot replies at all**. Check under Member & Tag › Blacklist; see [Add members to the blacklist](https://docs.oakmega.com/en/guide/members/blacklist.md).

## 6. A bot replied, but not the one you expected

One message often matches several bots, but **only one replies**:

| Situation | Who replies |
|---|---|
| A bot with **Limit Tag Trigger** that the friend matches | That bot replies first (if several, the earliest-created one) |
| None of them limit by tag | The **most recently created** one |
| None match | Only text messages fall through to **Default Reply** (and only under the conditions in the previous section) |

That's why a very short Contains keyword or a recently created test bot often steals the reply. Turn off test bots, or change the keyword to Equals.

## 7. Is the platform connection working?

If everything above checks out and nothing happens at all, your LINE Official Account may not be passing messages to OakMega:

* In **LINE Official Account Manager**, make sure **Webhook** is turned on in the response settings.
* Ask a workspace owner to open the LINE account under Settings › Communication Platform Settings and check that the Webhook status is correct.

## Next steps

* [Set up a LINE chatbot](https://docs.oakmega.com/en/guide/chatbot/line-chatbot.md)
* [Set up Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp chatbots](https://docs.oakmega.com/en/guide/chatbot/meta-chatbot.md)
* [Glossary](https://docs.oakmega.com/en/glossary.md)