Tags, filters and search
How to tag a conversation, what each of the six inbox filters shows, and what the product can and cannot find for you — there is no search box in the inbox.
- Who
- Agents, admins and owners
- Plan
- All plans
- Role
- Any role can read the inbox. Agent or above can add and remove tags
Before you start
- At least one conversation in the inbox
The inbox gives you two ways to narrow what you are looking at: free-text tags you put on a conversation yourself, and six fixed filters above the conversation list. It does not give you a search box. This article says exactly what each one covers, so you know when to stop looking for a feature that is not there.
Tags
A tag is a short piece of text you attach to one conversation. Tags live in the Details panel of an open conversation, under the Tags heading — on a wide screen the panel sits to the right of the thread, on a narrower one open it with the Details button. Tags are internal: the customer never sees them and they are never sent to WhatsApp.
Add a tag
Step 1 Open the conversation from Conversations and find the Tags section in the Details panel.
Step 2 Type the tag into the New tag… box and submit the form.
- Adding a tag the conversation already carries changes nothing — it is not duplicated and no error appears.
- Tags are compared exactly as typed, so
VIPandvipare two separate tags.
You should see: The tag appears as a chip in the section, immediately.
The tag box
- New tag…TextRequired
- The text of the tag. Anything you type is accepted — there is no fixed list of tags to choose from, no autocomplete, and no account-wide vocabulary.
Default:
—·Up to 40 characters. A longer tag is refused with "Tag is too long (max 40 characters)." An empty tag is refused with "Cannot add an empty tag."
Removing a tag
Step 1 Open the conversation and find the tag chip in the Tags section.
Step 2 Choose the × on the chip — its label reads "Remove tag" followed by the tag text.
You should see: The chip disappears. There is no confirmation step and no undo.
Adding and removing tags is not recorded in the audit log, so a removed tag leaves no trace. If the fact matters later, write it in an internal note instead — notes cannot be edited or deleted once saved.
The inbox filters
Six filter tabs sit above the conversation list. Choosing one puts a ?filter= value in the address bar, so a filtered inbox can be bookmarked. Selecting a filter also clears the conversation you had open.
| Filter | What it shows |
|---|---|
| All | Every conversation in the account, including ones already marked resolved. This is the default. |
| Open | Conversations whose status is Open. |
| Unread | Conversations with at least one message nobody has opened yet — the ones carrying a count badge. |
| Handoff | Conversations whose status is Waiting for agent or Agent handling — everything a person is expected to pick up. |
| Resolved | Conversations somebody marked resolved. |
| Failed | Conversations that contain at least one message WhatsApp did not accept. See the limitation below. |
Two things are worth knowing before you rely on a filter. The list loads the 100 most recently active conversations and the Failed filter is applied to those 100 only, so a failed message in an older conversation will not surface. And the Unread filter empties as you work: opening a conversation clears its unread count, which is also what happens when you reply or mark it resolved.
Search
There is no search box in the inbox. The conversation list cannot be searched at all — not by typing in the page, not with a URL parameter. The Leads screen has status chips and no search box either.
- Message text is not searchable. You cannot find "the customer who asked about delivery".
- Customer names and phone numbers are not searchable from the inbox.
- Tags are not searchable and cannot be filtered on.
- Internal notes are not searchable.
- Lead detail fields are not searchable.
What you have instead: the list is ordered by most recent activity, so a customer who wrote today is near the top; the six filters narrow it; and the whole list refreshes on its own every few seconds while the tab is in front of you. For anything older than the 100 most recent conversations, the account-level export described in Getting your data out contains every message and can be searched in a text editor.
Who can do what
| Action | Lowest role that can do it |
|---|---|
| Open the inbox and use every filter | Viewer |
| Add a tag | Agent |
| Remove a tag | Agent |
| Add an internal note | Agent |
The tag form is shown to every role, including ones that cannot use it — a viewer who tries gets an error message rather than a hidden control. Roles are set on the Team screen.
Limits
- A tag can be up to 40 characters. This is enforced when you add it.
- The inbox loads up to 100 conversations per view, ordered by most recent activity. There is no pagination and no "load more".
- The list refreshes about every 5 seconds while the browser tab is visible, and once more when you switch back to it.
- A conversation can carry any number of tags; the same text can only be on it once.
- An internal note is limited to 2,000 characters in the browser.
Can I see every conversation tagged `vip`?
No. Tags are stored per conversation and nothing lists or filters them across the account.
Do customers see tags or internal notes?
No. Both stay in the dashboard. Notes are never added to the message thread and are never sent to WhatsApp.
Can I filter by the agent a conversation is assigned to?
No. Assignment is shown inside a conversation and in the Details panel, but it is not one of the six filters.
A conversation vanished from Unread — why?
Opening a conversation marks it read, and so do replying to it and marking it resolved. Switch to All or Open to find it again.
Where do resolved conversations go?
They stay in the list under All and Resolved. Note that when a customer writes again after a conversation was resolved, the message starts a new conversation rather than reopening the old one.