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Overview

The Collect Data action lets your AI agent gather any custom information you define from the customer, conversationally, mid-chat. There’s no form: the AI agent asks for the missing fields naturally in the conversation and saves the submission once it has everything required.

Best for:

Collecting structured details (a shipping address, feedback, an application) without interrupting the conversation with a form.
Common Use Cases:
  • Collecting a shipping address before arranging a delivery
  • Gathering feedback details after a support interaction
  • Capturing the specifics of a request your team will act on later
You can create more than one Collect Data action on the same AI agent, each with its own name, fields, and destinations. For example, one action to collect a shipping address and a separate one to collect feedback details.

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How to create the action

1

Navigate to Actions

Go to your Chatbase dashboard and select your AI agent. Click Build > Actions in the left sidebar.
2

Create the Action

Click Create action, then select Collect Data.
3

Configure General Settings

Action Name: A descriptive name for this action. It doubles as the identifier for this action’s webhook events, so it must be unique across your AI agent’s actions.When to use: Explain when the AI agent should collect this data from the customer. Include a description of what information is collected and its purpose, and add example queries that should trigger this action.To restrict the action to procedure steps only, turn on Only use in procedures. When it’s on, the When to use field is hidden, because the AI agent no longer decides when to call the action.
4

Define your fields

In the Fields section, list the data the AI agent should collect. See Fields below.
5

Set your destinations

In Destinations, choose where collected data should be sent. See Destinations below. This step is optional.
6

Choose Channels

Use Channels to control where the action is available. Toggle the action on or off for each configured channel, then click Save. Some channels may be incompatible with the action and won’t be available for selection.
7

Enable and Test

Preview your settings in the AI agent on the Action page, then click Save and enable.

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Fields

In the Fields section, list the data the AI agent should collect from the customer during the conversation. Each field has a name, a type (text, number, email, date, or boolean), a description that tells the AI agent what to ask for, and a Required checkbox. You can add up to 20 fields. The AI agent asks for all required fields before saving the submission; optional fields are saved when the customer provides them but never block the save. The AI agent never invents values: it only saves what the customer has explicitly provided. Each time the AI agent completes a collection it’s saved as its own submission, so if the action runs more than once in a conversation you get one submission per run. Collected data appears under Activity > Collected data, where each field gets its own column. Fields are also included in CSV and PDF exports and in the {action name}_collect_data.submit webhook.

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Destinations

Use Destinations to specify where collected data should be sent. You can skip this step if you don’t want to send collected data anywhere external.

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Webhooks

Add one or more webhook endpoints to receive each submission as a POST request.
1

Expand Destinations

Open the Destinations section of the action.
2

Enter the endpoint URL

Add the URL that should receive the submission.
3

Create the webhook

Click Create webhook, then save your changes.

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Email notifications

Enable Email notification to receive an email every time data is collected through this action. You can add one or more email addresses, and each successful submission triggers an email containing the collected data.
Email notifications are not available for HIPAA accounts. On HIPAA accounts, collected field values are also redacted before they’re stored.
Test the action by having a conversation that should trigger it, and confirm the submission appears under Activity > Collected data with every field populated.

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Channels

Use Channels to control where the Collect Data action is available. Enable or disable the action for each configured channel, such as:
  • Chat bubble
  • Center stage
  • Side panel
  • Help page
  • Instagram
  • Messenger
  • WhatsApp
Some channels may be incompatible with the action and won’t be available for selection. After choosing the supported channels, click Save.

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Limitations

  • Up to 20 fields per action. If you need more, split the collection across separate Collect Data actions.
  • The AI agent only saves what the customer says. It never infers or invents a value, so a field the customer skips stays empty unless it’s required.
  • Email notifications are unavailable on HIPAA accounts, where field values are also redacted before storage.

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Best Practices

Write Clear Field Descriptions

The description tells the AI agent what to ask for. A vague description produces a vague question and a wrong answer.

Require Only What You Need

Every required field is another thing the customer must supply before the submission saves. Mark the rest optional.

Use Natural Language

Keep When to use instructions short and simple, start with action verbs, and say what you want the AI agent to do rather than what to avoid.

Split by Purpose

Create a separate action per kind of data you collect, so each has its own fields, destinations, and webhook identity.