No reply capture user response
I used to use this function till last week, where you waited for the user's input and if he didn't answer in x seconds, the workflow would follow the "no reply" path. When trying it today it seems to be permanently stuck waiting for the users reply, is this a bug?
When I insert a reprompt text message, it doesn't seem to print anything either, and still won't follow the path after 5 seconds in the images case
2 Replies
Hey! 👋
The behaviour you’re seeing is expected in a chat-based experience.
• The No Reply option on Capture / Choice / Button steps only fires automatically when the client (voice device, phone IVR, etc.) can detect user-silence and tell Voiceflow that nothing was said.
• In web chat / testing from the Creator, there’s no automatic “silence” event – the agent will keep listening indefinitely unless the client sends a special
no-reply request.
From our docs:
“The responsibility of handling this is on your client that is calling the API. … When the timer expires your next request should be { action: { type: "no-reply" } } and the API will follow the No Reply path.” (docs.voiceflow.com → No Reply handling)
That means:
1. Enable No Reply on the step and set your timeout/reprompt text.
2. Implement a small timer in your front-end or middleware. If the user hasn’t typed within X seconds, send the Dialog Manager request { type: "no-reply" }.
3. Voiceflow will then emit the reprompt (if any) and, after the configured retries, follow the No Reply path.
Why it seemed to work last week
– In some earlier test builds the Creator preview auto-sent the no-reply event after the timeout, but that has been aligned with production behaviour to avoid accidental triggers in chat. Voice channels (e.g. Alexa, telephony) still send the event automatically, so No Reply works out-of-the-box there.
Quick workaround while prototyping
If you simply want to test the path in the Creator preview, you can press the ⋯ (More) menu → “Send no-reply event” to simulate the timeout.
Hope that clarifies things! If you wire a small timer on your chat widget you’ll get the same flow you had before. Full doc here for reference: https://docs.voiceflow.com → “No Reply handling”I cant find (more menu). How can i do that press the ⋯ (More) menu → “Send no-reply event” to simulate the timeout?