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Full Bot Builder entry
How-to guide

How to set up Bot Builder in Salesforce

Bot Builder is the visual editor for Einstein Bots — drag-and-drop dialog design, intent training, entity extraction, action wiring. The companion tool to Setup → Einstein Bots; the bot's data model lives in Setup, the actual conversation flow lives in Bot Builder.

By Dipojjal Chakrabarti · Editor, Salesforce DictionaryLast updated Apr 20, 2026

Bot Builder is the visual editor for Einstein Bots — drag-and-drop dialog design, intent training, entity extraction, action wiring. The companion tool to Setup → Einstein Bots; the bot's data model lives in Setup, the actual conversation flow lives in Bot Builder.

  1. Confirm Einstein Bots is licensed

    Setup → Einstein Bots — if absent, the feature isn't enabled.

  2. Setup → Einstein Bots → click into a bot → Open Bot Builder

    Bot Builder opens in a new tab.

  3. Build Dialogs on the canvas

    Each Dialog is a conversation flow. Drag elements: Question / Action / Rule / Subflow / Variable / End. Connect with arrows.

  4. Define Intents (NLP)

    Intents map user phrases to dialogs. "Where's my order" / "order status" / "track my package" all map to Order Status intent. Add 10-15 example utterances per intent for reliable training.

  5. Define Entities

    Entities extract data from user messages — Order Number, Email, Date. Built-in entities (System.Email, System.Date) handle common cases; custom entities for domain-specific data.

  6. Wire Actions to Dialog steps

    Each Dialog step can call an Apex Bot Action, run a Flow, or query records. This is how the bot does work, not just chat.

  7. Test in the Test Pane

    Iterate — type messages, watch the bot's path, fix dialogs that don't match user intent.

  8. Save and Activate

    Activated bots receive traffic from connected channels. Inactive bots are draft.

Key options
Dialogsremember

Conversation flows. Reusable via Subflow.

Intentsremember

Phrase → Dialog mapping.

Entitiesremember

Data extraction patterns.

Actionsremember

Apex / Flow / SOQL invocation per dialog step.

Variablesremember

Conversation state, persisted across the bot session.

Gotchas
  • NLP training needs example utterances. Bots with 3 utterances per intent miss frequently; 15+ per intent reaches reliable accuracy. Plan training data investment.
  • Bot Actions are how bots take action. Without bound Actions, bots can only chat — answering FAQs is limited. For order status / password reset / etc., write Apex Bot Actions.
  • Activating a new bot version replaces the previous one for new conversations. In-flight conversations stay on their started version — versioning matters for upgrades.

See the full Bot Builder entry

Bot Builder includes the definition, worked example, deep dive, related terms, and a quiz.