The moment it happens

Email yourself new SMS and WhatsApp messages from Bird

When a customer texts or WhatsApps our Bird number, I get an email with who sent it and what they said.

Runs: The moment it happens
Apps: Bird
AI: Not needed
Access: access key with channel read

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: when our Bird number receives an SMS or WhatsApp message, email support@example.com with the sender's number, channel and message text.

Paste it into your assistant. It tells you what it will send or change before it runs live.

Add to ChatGPT Add to Claude

First time? Adding ClickRuntime to your assistant takes about two minutes.

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

A shop owner or clinic manager who runs customer messaging on Bird gets replies in the Bird inbox, a place they do not live in. Someone answers a reminder with a reschedule request, a customer replies STOP, or a buyer asks about an order on WhatsApp, and the message sits unread over a weekend. The sender assumes they were ignored, and the opportunity or complaint ages.

When a customer sends an SMS or WhatsApp message to your Bird number, Bird notifies ClickRuntime straight away. The workflow emails you the message text, the sender and the channel it came in on, so you can read and respond from the inbox you already check all day.

Small teams without a staffed contact center get the most from it, since the person who can answer is rarely inside the Bird interface.

What you get out of it

Replies stop going unanswered
Hearing from a customer within moments rather than days keeps conversations alive. Quick answers to a question about price or timing often decide whether the sale happens. Slow replies cost more than most owners realize, since the customer has often moved on within the hour.
Reschedule requests get handled in time
A patient replying to a reminder with a different day needs an answer before the slot is wasted. An email prompt lets the front desk release or reassign it. The patient hears back the same morning.
Opt-outs and complaints are seen early
Messages like STOP or a complaint need attention for compliance and reputation. Receiving them by email gets them noticed instead of buried. Missing an opt-out request can create legal exposure, so quick visibility is worth having.
Forwarding to the right person is simple
Email is easy to forward to a sales rep, driver or technician. The right person sees the message without needing a Bird seat. A dispatcher can pass a delivery question along without sharing logins or teaching anyone a new tool.
A searchable archive of conversations
Your mailbox becomes a second record of what customers said. Looking up what a customer wrote last month is one search away. New staff can read earlier threads to see how similar requests were answered.

How it works

What happens, step by step

Each time a customer texts or sends a WhatsApp message to your Bird number, Bird tells ClickRuntime straight away.
The automation picks out who sent it, which channel they used and what they said.
You get an email with the sender's number, the channel and the message.

Before it runs live

Connect Bird
Paste your automation's link into the other app's webhook settings

What you get

RunsThe moment it happens

Email yourself new SMS and WhatsApp messages from Birdjust nowSucceeded

Email · New message from +447700900321From: +447700900321 Channel: whatsapp Hi, can I change my Acme delivery address?

Build your own

Need it to work differently?

This template is a starting point. Copy the prompt and change it, or describe a different automation from scratch, with your own conditions, more apps or an AI step. Your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.

Your own rules
Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.
Any number of apps
One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.
AI where it helps
Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.
On a schedule or on each event
Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

Changes you can ask for

Act only on the items that match your own rules, and skip the rest
Add an AI step, for example to summarize, sort or draft a reply
Add another app, for example also send it to Slack
Combine it with other Bird steps into one automation

Under the hood

The code that runs this automation

This is the Python script that runs each time the automation starts. Your AI assistant writes it for you when you send the prompt, and you allow each step in your assistant. To change how the automation works, describe the change to your assistant and it updates the script for you. For every function it can use, see the script reference.

inbound_message_to_email.pyexample

from clickruntime import on_event, notify

@on_event
def handle(event):
    body = event.json or {}
    msg = body.get("payload", {})
    if msg.get("direction") != "incoming":
        return {"skipped": body.get("event")}
    sender = msg.get("sender", {}).get("contact", {}).get("identifierValue", "unknown")
    text = msg.get("body", {}).get("text", {}).get("text", "(no text)")
    channel = body.get("service", "channels") + " / " + str(msg.get("channelId", ""))
    notify.email_me(f"New message from {sender}", f"From: {sender}\nChannel: {channel}\n\n{text}")
    return {"emailed": True}

FAQ

Common questions

Does it include WhatsApp as well as SMS?

Yes, for any channel connected to Bird that sends inbound events to the webhook. The email notes which channel the message arrived on, so you can tell a WhatsApp reply from a text message. Bird does not need to be open for either to arrive.

Can the email go to different people depending on the sender?

It can. The workflow receives the sender number, so routing rules by number or keyword are possible, for example sending messages containing refund to support. Give your AI assistant the rule and review the result.

Can I reply to the customer by answering the email?

The email is a notification, so replying to it does not send a message back through Bird. You would answer from Bird or another tool. A reply step could be added, but it needs a clear, approved workflow.

What permissions does it need?

access key with channel read. Nothing else in your accounts is used.

Does it need AI?

No. It runs without AI, so it doesn't use your plan's AI allowance.

How many runs does it use?

One run for each event the app sends.

Can I change how it works?

Yes. Describe the change to your AI assistant, for example a different schedule, channel or filter. It updates the automation, tests it and tells you what changed.

The moment it happens