> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.callkaro.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Card Types
> All fourteen cards, every field, and the rules that block a publish
A flow is a graph of **cards**. Each card has **exits** — the edges out of it.
What an exit means depends on the card: a button on a *Buttons* card, a branch
on a *Condition*, simply "where next" on everything else.
Open the canvas at [Chat agents](https://callkaro.ai/dashboard/agents) → your
agent → **Flow**. Drag a card from the palette on the left.
Only **Buttons**, **Ask**, **AI assistant**, **Handoff** and **End** wait for the
visitor. Every other card runs and moves straight on, so a chain of them
executes in one turn and the visitor only ever sees the next card that waits.
***
## At A Glance
| Card | Waits? | Says something? | Exits |
| ------------------- | ------ | --------------- | ---------------------- |
| Start | — | no | 1 |
| Buttons | yes | yes | up to 30 (the buttons) |
| Ask a question | yes | yes | 1 |
| Send message | no | yes | 1 |
| Send image or file | no | yes | 1 |
| Set a value | no | no | 1 |
| Condition | no | no | up to 30 (branches) |
| API call | no | no | 2 — ok, error |
| Run code | no | no | 2 — ok, error |
| AI assistant | yes | yes | 1 |
| Update contact | no | no | 1 |
| Handoff to a person | yes | yes | 1, optional |
| Jump | no | no | 1 |
| End | yes | yes | none |
***
## Start
The anchor. Exactly one per flow, it renders nothing, and it takes one exit to
whatever card opens the conversation.
Nothing may point **back** at Start — it renders nothing, so landing there looks
like a stall. Publishing is blocked if anything does.
***
## Buttons
A message and a set of buttons. Waits for a tap.
| Field | Notes |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Message | Up to 4,000 characters. Supports [rich text](/widget/chat/appearance#rich-text-in-messages-and-buttons). Optional — buttons can stand on their own. |
| Buttons | Up to 30. Each has a label (80 characters, rich text allowed) and a destination. |
| Fallback message | Shown when the visitor types instead of tapping. |
A button can also carry a **deep link** instead of, or as well as, a
destination — `myapp://orders/123`. A link-only button opens the link and leaves
the conversation where it is.
`javascript:`, `data:`, `vbscript:`, `file:` and `blob:` links are refused at
save time. A link with no scheme at all is treated as `https://`.
**Blocks publish:** a button with no text, or a button connected to nothing and
carrying no deep link.
***
## Ask A Question
A message, then a typed answer stored in a variable.
| Field | Notes |
| --------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Input type | `text`, `number`, `email`, `phone`, `url`, `date`, `rating` |
| Save answer in | A variable name — letters, digits and underscores, not starting with a digit |
| Retry message | Shown when the answer does not match the input type. The card asks again rather than advancing. |
| Rating out of | 5 or 10, for `rating` |
| Default country | Two-letter code, for `phone` |
The input type changes the control the visitor sees — a number pad, a country
picker, a star row — and is validated server-side before the answer is stored.
A `phone` ask card does something extra: once a phone number is collected, the
whole conversation is **re-keyed onto that phone number** in your CRM, merging
it with the same person's calls and WhatsApp. Ask for a phone number early if
you want that merge.
**Blocks publish:** no message, or no variable name.
An ask card cannot take a file. Attachments are only possible on an AI card and
during a human handoff.
***
## Send Message
Says one thing and moves on. No buttons, no waiting.
Use several in a row for a paced multi-line reply — each arrives as its own
bubble, with a natural gap between them.
**Blocks publish:** no message.
***
## Send Image Or File
An image, a video or a file, with a line of text above it.
| Field | Notes |
| ------- | ------------------------------------ |
| Kind | `image`, `video` or `file` |
| Link | A public URL, up to 2,000 characters |
| Message | The line shown above it |
The URL's own extension wins over the Kind setting when it is unambiguous, so a
card saved with a video link but Kind left on image still plays.
**Blocks publish:** no link, or no message.
***
## Set A Value
Writes variables without asking the visitor. Up to 20 name/value pairs, and the
values are templated — so `{{first_name}} {{last_name}}` is a valid value.
Useful for carrying a branch's meaning forward: set `topic = "billing"` on the
billing path and every later card can read it.
**Blocks publish:** sets nothing, or an unusable variable name.
***
## Condition
Branches on a variable. The **first** exit whose condition matches wins. The
last exit with no condition at all is the fallback.
| Operator | Meaning |
| ----------- | ------------------------- |
| `eq` | equals |
| `ne` | does not equal |
| `contains` | contains |
| `gt` | is more than |
| `lt` | is less than |
| `empty` | is empty or was never set |
| `not_empty` | has any value |
**Warns (does not block):** no fallback exit, so the conversation stops when
nothing matches.
***
## API Call
An HTTP request to your system, with the response mapped into variables.
| Field | Notes |
| ------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| Method | GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE |
| URL | Templated — `https://api.you.com/orders/{{order_id}}` |
| Headers | Up to 20 name/value pairs, templated |
| Body | Templated, up to 4,000 characters |
| Map | `variable` ← `json.path.in.response` — up to 20 |
Two exits: **ok** and **error**. A non-2xx response, a timeout or an unreachable
host takes the error exit, so a flaky API is a branch you handle rather than the
end of the conversation.
**Timeout:** 8 seconds.
**Blocks publish:** no URL, or an unusable variable name in the mapping.
***
## Run Code
Your own Python, in the middle of a flow.
```python theme={null}
async def run(variables):
# variables is a dict of strings — everything collected so far.
# Return a dict and it is merged back into the conversation.
return {"tier": "gold" if variables.get("spend", "0") > "10000" else "standard"}
```
Two exits: **ok** and **error**. Raising takes the error exit.
**Timeout:** 8 seconds.
**Blocks publish:** no code, or code that does not define `async def run(`.
This is different from an AI card's functions, which are LangChain tools the
model chooses to call. A Run code card always runs, at a fixed point in the
flow. See [The AI card](/widget/chat/ai-card#functions).
***
## AI Assistant
Hands the conversation to a model for as long as it takes. This is the biggest
card in the product and has [its own page](/widget/chat/ai-card).
| Field | Notes |
| ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| Opening message | What the visitor reads as the card begins |
| Instructions | The system prompt for this card |
| Model | Defaults to `callkaro/arjuna-2.5` on a new card |
| Save last answer in | Optional variable |
| Functions | Up to 10 — your Python, or send-image / send-document |
The card ends when the assistant decides the conversation is over, then takes
its single exit. There is no turn cap and no "Done" button.
**Blocks publish:** no instructions.
***
## Update Contact
Writes onto the **contact record** in your CRM rather than into the conversation.
Up to 20 name/value pairs, templated.
Use it to persist what the flow learned — `plan`, `city`, `last_issue` — so it is
there next time the same person comes back.
**Blocks publish:** sets nothing, or an unusable variable name.
***
## Handoff To A Person
A person owns the conversation from here. The bot stops answering.
| Field | Notes |
| ------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Message | What the visitor reads while they wait |
| Note | Context for the teammate who picks it up. The visitor never sees it. |
Its single exit is **optional** and is **not** walked when the card runs — it is
where the visitor lands when the teammate *ends* the chat. Leave it empty and
the conversation simply closes.
What happens when nobody is available is configured account-wide — see
[Raise a ticket](/widget/chat/ticket-fallback).
**Blocks publish:** no message, or handing back to a step that no longer exists.
***
## Jump
Nothing but an exit. It exists to keep a long edge off the canvas — a jump near
the card and a jump near the destination reads better than one line across the
whole board.
***
## End
The last thing the visitor reads. No exits.
The conversation is closed, and the panel offers **Start a new conversation**.
**Blocks publish:** no closing message.
***
## What Blocks A Publish
The builder refuses to publish while any of these is true. Warnings do not
block.
* The flow has no steps, or no Start step
* The Start step is not connected, points at itself, or points at a step that no longer exists
* Anything points **back** at the Start step
* A card that speaks has no message (except Buttons, whose buttons can stand alone)
* An Ask card with no variable
* An API card with no URL
* A media card with no link
* A Run code card with no code, or code missing `async def run(`
* An AI card with no instructions
* A Set or Update contact card that sets nothing
* An unusable variable name anywhere
* Two exits on one card sharing an id
* A button with no text
* Anything connected to nothing, or to a step that no longer exists
* A card with no exits at all
* A Condition card with no fallback exit
* Cards that cannot be reached from the Start step (a branch you are still building)
***
## Next Steps
The one card with a page of its own
What `{{...}}` can reach