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What is this?

If you run WhatsApp Groups on your business number, an automation can react to what happens inside a group: a message is written, someone joins or leaves, or someone asks to join a group that needs approval. These are WhatsApp group triggers. They start ordinary WhatsApp automations, but they only fire for group activity, and the normal one-to-one WhatsApp triggers never fire for groups. [SCREENSHOT: automation-whatsapp-group-trigger — The Create New Automation dialog with the WhatsApp channel type and the group triggers in the Trigger Type list]
Group automations need the same access as other Automation flows and a WhatsApp channel with WhatsApp Groups set up.

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What can I do here?

  • Limit a trigger to specific groups, or let it run in every group on the channel
  • For Group message, start only for any message, for a /command, or for messages that contain your keywords
  • Reply in the group with Send Text or Send Media
  • Use the Group Action step to approve or reject a join request, or to remove the person who wrote the message

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How to use it

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Create a group automation

1

Create the automation

Go to Automation, click Create Automation, and choose WhatsApp as the Channel Type. Open Trigger Type and pick one of the four group triggers.
2

Choose the groups

Under Groups, tick the groups the automation should run in. Leave all of them unticked to run in every group on this channel. If the channel has no groups yet, the list says “No groups on this channel yet.”
3

Set what a group message must look like

For Group message only, choose Start when the message: Is any message, Is a /command, or Contains keywords.
4

Build the reply

Add steps in the builder. See Steps you can use in a group.

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Group message options

A message has to pass two checks: your trigger’s match rule and the group’s own Automations start from setting in WhatsApp Groups (Never, Only /commands — the default — or Every message). With the default, only messages that start with a slash command get through, so a trigger set to Is any message or Contains keywords will not fire for ordinary messages until you change the group to Every message. Keep in mind that a reply in a group is billed once for every participant it reaches.

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Steps you can use in a group

A group has many people in it, so only a few steps make sense:
  • Send Text and Send Media — reply in the group
  • Group Action — available only when the automation uses a group trigger
  • Steps that work on any channel and don’t wait for one person’s reply — such as conditions and delays — also work
Steps that wait for one person’s answer (the Ask steps), the AI response steps, Send Event Invite, Send Event QR, and Sequence Drip can’t be used in a group automation. The other WhatsApp send steps appear greyed out in the palette with the note “Not available in WhatsApp groups (text and media only).” [SCREENSHOT: automation-whatsapp-group-palette — The builder palette on a group automation, with Send Text, Send Media and Group Action available and the other WhatsApp steps greyed out]

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Group Action

The Group Action step acts on the WhatsApp group that started the automation. Choose the Action: The two join-request actions are disabled unless the automation starts from Group join request; if you pick one on another trigger the panel warns “This action only works when the automation starts from a group join request.”

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Example: welcome rules to new members

  1. Create a WhatsApp automation with the Member joined group trigger and pick the groups it applies to.
  2. Add a Send Text step with your group rules.
  3. Save, test in a small group, then Activate it.

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Troubleshooting / Technical Notes

  • The automation never fires for a group message. Open the group in WhatsApp Groups and check Automations start from. The default (Only /commands) blocks messages that aren’t commands, whatever your trigger says. Also check the automation is Active and that the group is ticked under Groups (or none are, to cover all).
  • A one-to-one WhatsApp automation doesn’t answer in a group. By design — one-to-one and group automations are kept separate. Create a group automation with a group trigger.
  • Group Action says it only works for a join request. Approve and reject need the Group join request trigger. To remove someone who wrote a message, use Remove the sender from the group on a Group message automation.
  • A step is greyed out. In a group automation only Send Text, Send Media, Group Action, and logic steps are available.
  • “No groups on this channel yet.” Create or connect a group first in WhatsApp Groups.
Last modified on October 5, 2026