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What is a messaging connection?

A messaging connection links a messaging AI agent (Retell or Vapi) to your GHL location. When an inbound message arrives (SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, etc.), a GHL workflow can route it to your messaging connection, and the AI reads the message, generates a response, and sends it back through GHL Conversations.
Messaging connections are separate from voice connections. A voice connection handles phone calls. A messaging connection handles text-based conversations. Create one of each if your AI handles both.

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Create a messaging connection

Open your provider page

In the Sympana dashboard, open the Retell or Vapi page.

Switch to Messaging Connections

Click the Messaging tab at the top of the page (next to Voice).

Click Add Messaging Connection

Click the button to create a new messaging connection.

Enter a connection name

Give it a clear name like “SMS Support Agent” or “WhatsApp Sales Bot.”

Select your messaging AI agent

Choose the Retell or Vapi agent that will handle messages. This should be an agent configured for text conversations, not voice.

Select a calendar (optional)

Only needed if the messaging agent uses appointment functions (Book Appointment, Get Slots, etc.). Skip this if the agent only handles general conversations.

Configure Contact Access

Set up who the AI is allowed to message. See Contact Access below.

Select functions

Choose which functions the messaging agent can use — same 11 functions as voice connections (Book Appointment, Get Contact, Update Contact Data, etc.).

Configure dynamic variables

Add variables the agent needs in its prompt — contact name, email, custom fields, etc.

Configure Human Handoff

Set up keywords and rules for when the AI should stop and hand off to a human. See Human Handoff below.

Save the connection

Click Save or Create Connection. The connection is now available for use in GHL workflows.

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Contact Access

Contact Access controls who the messaging AI is allowed to talk to. This prevents your AI from responding to contacts it shouldn’t. If you are sending outbound messages to contacts and want AI to handle replies:
  1. Add a tag like ai_msg_enabled to the contacts you want AI to respond to
  2. In the Message Received workflow, only call Send AI Message if the contact has the ai_msg_enabled tag
  3. If a contact opts out, apply ai_msg_blocked and remove ai_msg_enabled
  4. If a contact asks for a human, apply ai_msg_handoff to stop AI replies
Contact Access is your safety net. It ensures the AI only talks to people you’ve explicitly approved, preventing unwanted automated responses.

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Human Handoff

Human handoff pauses AI responses when a contact asks for a real person or when a human team member manually replies.

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How it works

Contact triggers handoff

The contact sends something like “I want to talk to a person” or “Can I speak to someone?”

Sympana detects the keyword

Sympana checks the message against your configured handoff keywords.

Conversation is paused

The conversation is marked as handed off. The AI stops replying to this contact.

Handoff Requested trigger fires

Sympana fires the Handoff Requested trigger into GHL so your workflow can take action.

Human takes over

A team member replies manually inside GHL Conversations.
Build this GHL workflow to handle handoffs:

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Messaging workflow

After creating a messaging connection, build a GHL workflow to use it:

Create a new workflow

In GHL, go to Automation → Workflows and create a new workflow.

Add the Message Received trigger

Search for Message Received under Sympana Connector.

Add channel filters (optional)

Filter by channel if you only want to handle specific message types: SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Webchat, TikTok, or Email.
If no channel filter is applied, the workflow responds to ALL inbound message channels. Channel filtering belongs in the GHL trigger, not in the messaging connection itself.

Add contact tag filters (optional)

Add an If/Else condition to check for the ai_msg_enabled tag before sending to AI.

Add the Send AI Message action

Search for Send AI Message under Sympana Connector. Select your messaging connection.

Publish and test

Publish the workflow and send a test message to verify the AI responds.

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Complete messaging workflow example

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Next steps

All Actions & Triggers

See every Sympana action and trigger available in GHL.

Configure Functions

Set up the functions your messaging agent can use.