Overview
The Reaction component lets your agent react with a single emoji to the user message it’s replying to — the same tap-and-hold reaction a person would leave, instead of (or as well as) a text reply.Format
emoji— a single emoji to react with. One emoji only, and at most one reaction per reply.
The parser is flexible on the separator — it accepts
= or ::Why use it
Reaction can be the agent’s entire response — that’s the point. It’s ideal for acknowledging or concluding a conversation without sending another message that invites a reply. If the user says “thanks, that’s all I needed,” reacting 👍 closes the loop; sending “You’re welcome!” as text just prompts another reply.Platform support
Reaction only works on channels that support native message reactions. Elsewhere the block is ignored — nothing is sent or rendered.Tell your agent to use it
Components are never used automatically — instruct the agent in its persona or a skill context:Best practices
Use it to end a conversation cleanly
Use it to end a conversation cleanly
A closing “You’re welcome!” or “Glad I could help!” invites another reply. Reacting 👍 to a goodbye acknowledges it without extending the exchange.
Stick to common emoji
Stick to common emoji
Slack maps emoji to a fixed set of reaction names and Messenger maps to a fixed reaction set (like/love/haha/wow/sad/angry/dislike/smile). Uncommon or highly specific emoji may not have a mapping on those channels and won’t be sent.
Don't rely on it as your only channel-specific logic
Don't rely on it as your only channel-specific logic
On unsupported channels the block is silently dropped — no error, no fallback text. If the reaction is meaningful to the interaction (not just a nicety), pair it with persona instructions that also work as plain text on channels without reaction support.
Troubleshooting
Nothing happens
Nothing happens
Confirm the channel supports reactions (WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Slack, or iMessage). On any other channel the block is stripped silently — this is expected, not a bug.
Reaction not appearing on Slack
Reaction not appearing on Slack
Check that the Slack app has the
reactions:write bot scope under OAuth & Permissions. See Required bot scopes.Wrong tapback on iMessage / wrong reaction on Messenger
Wrong tapback on iMessage / wrong reaction on Messenger
Both channels map your emoji to a fixed set rather than sending it as-is. iMessage maps to the closest tapback (love, like, dislike, laugh, emphasize, question); Messenger maps to like, love, haha, wow, sad, angry, dislike, or smile. If your emoji doesn’t map cleanly, pick one closer to those sets.
Agent never reacts
Agent never reacts
The agent only uses the component if you instruct it in the persona or skill context with the exact format shown above.
Next steps
Response Formatting
Explore the other components
Slack Channel
Connect Slack and configure bot scopes