Quick overview
This workflow builds a WhatsApp business assistant that uses OpenAI to classify incoming messages and route them to FAQ answers via Pinecone RAG, order placement and inventory updates in Google Sheets, order-status lookups, or Slack escalation for human support, with a Google Drive-to-Pinecone knowledge sync.
How it works
- Triggers when a new WhatsApp message is received and extracts the sender phone number, message text, and a timestamp.
- Uses OpenAI (GPT-4o) to classify the message intent as FAQ, ORDER, TRACK_ORDER, or HUMAN_SUPPORT and routes the request accordingly.
- For FAQ requests, retrieves relevant context from a Pinecone vector index and uses OpenAI to draft a short WhatsApp-style answer, then replies via WhatsApp.
- For ORDER requests, uses OpenAI to extract product and quantity, matches the request semantically against a Google Sheets product catalog, and validates the matched product.
- If the product is found and stock is sufficient, appends a new order row to a Google Sheets Orders sheet, updates stock in the Products sheet, and sends an order confirmation via WhatsApp.
- If the product is not found or stock is insufficient, sends an error/out-of-stock message via WhatsApp.
- For TRACK_ORDER requests, uses OpenAI to extract the order ID, looks up the order in Google Sheets, and replies with the current status via WhatsApp.
- For HUMAN_SUPPORT requests, posts the customer message details to a Slack channel and sends an acknowledgement back to the customer on WhatsApp.
Setup
- Configure WhatsApp Cloud API credentials in n8n and ensure your WhatsApp app is set to send message webhooks to the workflow trigger URL.
- Add OpenAI API credentials for intent classification, order extraction, semantic matching, order ID extraction, and FAQ response generation.
- Set up Google Sheets OAuth credentials and update the spreadsheet/document ID and sheet tabs for Products and Orders to match your own schema (including product_id, product_name, stock, and order_id fields).
- Create a Pinecone index (and namespace) compatible with OpenAI embeddings and add Pinecone API credentials, then populate it with your knowledge base content.
- Add Google Drive OAuth credentials and select the knowledge base file to watch so updates are downloaded, chunked, embedded, and stored in Pinecone.
- Add Slack API credentials and choose the target channel ID where human support requests should be posted.
Additional info
Use Case Examples
1. Ecommerce WhatsApp Store
Customers can:
- Ask product questions
- Place orders
- Track deliveries
2. Retail Product Inquiry Bot
Customers can:
- Check stock
- Ask pricing
- Get product information
3. AI Customer Support Assistant
Businesses can automate:
- FAQs
- Support requests
- Escalations
4. WhatsApp Order Management System
Businesses can:
- Receive orders
- Update inventory
- Manage fulfillment
5. AI-Powered Knowledge Assistant
Businesses can provide:
- Policy answers
- Business information
- Service details
You can use and customize this workflow for many more use cases depending on business requirements.
Need Help?
If you need help with:
- Workflow setup
- Customization
- API integration
- AI prompt engineering
- Pinecone setup
- WhatsApp Cloud API
- Custom business automation
- Marketplace-ready workflow development
- Advanced AI agent workflows
You can contact n8n workflow developers at WeblineIndia for professional assistance.
WeblineIndia can help you:
- Customize this workflow for your business
- Add advanced AI features
- Integrate ERP/CRM systems
- Build enterprise-grade automations
- Create scalable AI business assistants
- Develop custom n8n workflows