For AI agents: the complete documentation index is available at https://docs.clickmax.io/en/llms.txt, the full documentation bundle is available at https://docs.clickmax.io/en/llms-full.txt, and this page is available as Markdown at https://docs.clickmax.io/en/features/automations/options-menu.md.
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      • How do I create an options menu for the contact to choose from?

      Add the Menu step to the automation canvas, pick the channel and write the options. ClickMax numbers the list for you (1, 2, 3…), builds the message body out of the options and creates one canvas output per option — the contact replies with the number or the option name and follows the path you connected there.

      Role: any member with edit access to the workspace.

      Before you start

      • An automation open for editing, with a step before the place where the menu goes.
      • The menu's channel connected under Messaging: WhatsApp or Instagram.
      • On WhatsApp, the conversation must be inside the 24-hour window — the menu is sent as a text message, not as a template.

      Steps

      1. On the automation canvas, click the + where the menu should go.
      2. Under Content channels, choose Menu.
      3. On the Where will this menu be sent? question, choose WhatsApp or Instagram. The channel cannot be changed later — to switch, delete the step and create another one.
      4. In Menu title, write the text that opens the message (for example, How can I help you today?). The options go underneath it automatically; you do not type the list into the message body.
      5. Under Options, write the name of each option (for example, Talk to sales). Use Add option to create the rest — up to 10.
      6. Check the preview bubble on the right: it is exactly the message the contact receives.
      7. Close the panel and, on the canvas, connect each option's output to the step that should run when the contact picks that option.

      What the contact can reply

      Each option accepts, by default, its number and its own name. For 1 - Talk to sales, both 1 and Talk to sales lead to the same path.

      To accept more words, open + Other accepted replies on the option's row and write them separated by commas (for example, sales, commercial).

      The comparison ignores case, accents and surrounding spaces: SALES, sáles and sales (even with a stray space before or after) all land on the same option.

      Numbering: why you do not pick the number

      The numbers come from the position in the list. If you delete the middle option or drag one up, the list is renumbered and the accepted replies follow — there is no case where the message shows 2 while the automation keeps waiting for 3.

      That is why there is no field to type the number: it is always the one printed in the message.

      An option can open another menu: click Create submenu on its row. The submenu is born as its own step on the canvas, connected to that option.

      In the menu's Navigation section, two shortcuts sit outside the option numbering:

      ShortcutThe contact repliesWhat happens
      Back to previous menu0Goes up one level. With no menu above, it falls into "any other reply".
      Back to start00Returns to the first menu of the flow, from any depth.

      Because 0 and 00 are reserved, turning navigation on or off never renumbers the options — whoever already received the menu keeps the same valid numbers.

      When nobody picks

      These are two different situations, each with its own canvas output:

      • If they reply something outside the options — the contact wrote, but it was not any option. By default ClickMax resends the menu and keeps waiting. You can write a short notice to go before the menu (for example, I did not get that. Pick one of the options below.) or turn the resend off and connect this output to another step.
      • If they reply nothing at all — the contact stayed silent for the time you set. Connect this output to whatever should happen after the wait.

      Saving the choice on the contact

      Under Save the choice to, pick a contact field to store the name of the chosen option. It is useful for segmenting later — for example, separating who replied Talk to sales from who replied Support.

      If it did not work

      • The automation will not publish: the menu flags problems on the row itself. The warnings are Name this option, "<text>" is already accepted by another option and "<number>" is the number of another option and would never reach here — fix the row it points at and publish again.
      • Only navigation, no options: the menu asks you to add at least one option — navigation alone takes the contact nowhere.
      • The contact fell into "any other reply" with a valid answer: check whether what they typed was registered as another accepted reply of an option above — the first matching option wins, top to bottom.
      • The menu does not arrive on WhatsApp: the conversation's 24-hour window has probably closed. The menu is always free text and cannot be sent as a template.