Core Concepts: Chat and Messaging
Info
This guide is for Flex UI 1.x.x and channels that use Programmable Chat and Proxy. If you are using Flex UI 2.x.x or you are starting out, we recommend that you build with Flex Conversations.
Twilio Flex includes messaging capabilities that allow your contact center agents to chat with customers through:
- SMS
- A chat widget on your website
- Digital messaging channels
Flex currently supports inbound messaging (initiated by a customer). You can initiate messaging conversations as they arrive or append incoming messages to existing conversations, depending on your Chat channel configuration.
Learn more about messaging in Flex.
Flex stores and manages all messaging interactions in Chat Channels. Flex creates Chat Channels as private by default. Messages are sent, received, and archived for later viewing by offline clients in the Chat Channels.
By default, Flex ships with sms and web channels integrated with Studio. To enable additional messaging flows in Flex, you can programmatically create Chat Channels (such as Facebook or WhatsApp).
A Flex Flow is the logic linking a messaging channel to Flex. It also describes how Flex should handle messages on a particular channel. You can configure a Flex Flow via the Twilio Console or via the REST API.