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Message history controls how much conversation context is included when your bot calls the AI integration. This directly affects the bot’s ability to maintain coherent, contextual conversations.

Overview

Message history (also called context window) is the number of recent messages sent to your AI backend with each request:
{
  "messages": [
    {"role": "user", "content": "What's the weather?"},
    {"role": "assistant", "content": "I'll check for you."},
    {"role": "user", "content": "Thanks"}
  ]
}
The AI receives this history to understand context and generate relevant responses.

Context Window Size

Choose how many messages to include:

Small (5 messages)

Best for:
  • Simple Q&A bots
  • Transactional interactions
Pros:
  • Faster processing
  • Less API overhead
Cons:
  • Limited context
  • May forget earlier conversation

Medium (10 messages - default)

Best for:
  • General-purpose bots
  • Customer support
  • Balanced applications
Pros:
  • Good context retention
  • Handles most conversations well
Cons:
  • May lose very early context

Large (20+ messages)

Best for:
  • Complex conversations
  • Technical support
  • Detailed interactions
Pros:
  • Excellent context retention
  • Coherent long conversations
  • Better understanding
Cons:
  • Slower processing

Configuration

1

Go to Bot Settings

Navigate to your bot’s settings page.
2

Find Context Settings

Look for Message History or Context Window setting.
3

Set Message Count

Enter the number of messages (e.g., 10).
4

Save Changes

Click Save to apply the new setting.
Changes apply to new messages immediately. Existing conversations keep their current context.

How It Works

Message Retrieval

When a user sends a message:
  1. Identify Conversation: Use message detection to find conversation
  2. Fetch History: Retrieve last N messages from database
  3. Format Messages: Convert to AI backend format
  4. Send Request: Include history in integration request
  5. Generate Response: AI uses full context
  6. Save Response: Add bot response to history

Message Format

Messages are formatted as an array:
[
  {"role": "user", "content": "First message"},
  {"role": "assistant", "content": "Bot response"},
  {"role": "user", "content": "Follow up"},
  {"role": "assistant", "content": "Another response"},
  {"role": "user", "content": "Latest message"}
]
This follows OpenAI/Anthropic standards for easy integration.

Message Pruning

When conversations exceed context window:

Sliding Window

Oldest messages are dropped:
Context window: 5 messages
Messages: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
Sent to AI: [3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
Messages 1 and 2 are not included but remain in database.

System Messages

System messages (if configured) are always included:
Messages sent:
1. System: "You are a helpful assistant"
2-6. Last 5 conversation messages
System message doesn’t count toward context window.

Best Practices

Start Small, Increase if Needed

Begin with default (10 messages):
  • Check if context is lost
  • Increase if bot seems forgetful

Consider Use Case

Support Bots: Medium to large (10-20)
  • Need full problem context
  • Multiple back-and-forth exchanges
FAQ Bots: Small (5)
  • Simple questions and answers
  • No long conversations
Sales Bots: Medium (10-15)
  • Build relationship over conversation
  • Remember user preferences

Troubleshooting

Bot Forgets Earlier Context

Symptoms:
  • Repeats questions
  • Loses conversation thread
  • Contradicts earlier responses
Solutions:
  • Increase context window
  • Check message detection is working
  • Verify conversation grouping is correct

Next Steps

Should Respond

Configure when bot responds

View Conversations

See conversation history