Issue with Streamline carousel in Voiceflow freezing after external link click

Hey everyone,
I’m building a chatbot for my e-commerce store using Voiceflow, and I’ve been stuck for days trying to resolve one key issue.

I use the Streamline Connector to fetch recent customer orders and display them in a carousel using a custom Function block. The carousel renders correctly, with each order shown in a card and a button labeled “View Order” that opens the order URL using open_url.

The issue:
After clicking the “View Order” button and returning to the chatbot, the experience freezes. The typing indicator (three dots) stays active, and the next connected steps or buttons never load.

What’s strange is that I have a very similar setup using the Get Chunks & Create Carousel function for product recommendations. That flow works perfectly — the carousel is displayed, the button opens a product link (also using open_url), and the conversation continues as expected.

What I’ve tried:

Returning the carousel using trace: type: "carousel" and via payload in Custom Action

Setting paths correctly (default, click_URL, etc.)

Enabling Global Listen

Adding a neutral follow-up message with interact trace after the carousel

Matching the structure of the working “Get Chunks” flow

Still, only the Streamline order carousel flow freezes after a button click.
Everything else is wired and tested the same way.

If anyone has faced something similar or has suggestions on how to make the flow resume properly after open_url, I’d really appreciate your help. Happy to share more screenshots or blocks if needed!

Thanks a lot

DDanelis Hey everyone, I’m building a chatbot for my e-commerce store using Voiceflow, an...

Tico | Voiceflow Assistant•6/7/25, 11:43 AM

Hey, thanks for the detailed rundown! Here are a few things to try based on what we know about how custom actions and carousels work in Voiceflow:

• When using open_url in a carousel button, the conversation may pause if it’s waiting for a follow-up event. In flows where you use a Custom Action (with “Stop on action” enabled), Voiceflow expects your client to send back an event that tells the conversation to resume. Double-check that your order carousel flow’s payload structure (including paths like default and click_URL) exactly matches the working product recommendation flow.

• Even with Global Listen enabled, if the client’s event listeners aren’t correctly re-bound after an external link is opened and then returned from, the conversation might freeze. It can help to add an explicit, neutral follow-up interact trace (or even a short delay/confirmation step) to force the conversation to resume when the user comes back.

• Review the “Stop on action” setting for your custom action. For external actions like open_url, if the conversation is meant to resume after a user returns, ensure that this setting is configured properly so that the external event is correctly captured and triggers the next path.

• Compare the order carousel’s implementation with your working Get Chunks flow closely. Minor differences in the payload (even an extra comma or missing field) can lead to unexpected behavior.

If after these checks the issue remains, it might be related to how the Streamline Connector interacts with external links in that specific flow. In that case, sharing more details (such as screenshots or code snippets) in the Discord might help uncover the underlying issue.

For more details on Custom Actions and carousel setups, you can check out our documentation here: Voiceflow Docs.

Hope this helps get you back on track! Let me know if you have any questions.

broad-salmonOP•6/7/25, 3:12 PM

Thanks a lot for the suggestions – really appreciate the thorough breakdown!

I've gone through each of the steps you mentioned:

The payload structure seems to fully match what I use in the working product recommendation flow.

I’ve tested with and without “Stop on action” enabled, and made sure Global Listen is on.

Tried adding follow-up blocks (text/interact/delay) after the carousel to re-engage the flow, but no change.

Also carefully compared the Streamline-based carousel with the Get Chunks version – structurally they look nearly identical.

Unfortunately, none of these steps fixed the issue. After clicking the “View Order” button (open_url), the carousel freezes and no following buttons or interactions load properly.

As suggested, I'm attaching screenshots so you can see the flow and maybe spot something I'm missing.

p.s. then testing in vf, both product recommendations and order status works fine, the issue is only then testing in acctual shop.

Really hoping to get this unblocked – thanks again for the support!