Testing your Fin workflow before making it publicly accessible ensures that the workflow behaves as expected while minimizing customer exposure. You can set Fin live to a small test or internal audience (e.g. yourself and teammates) and monitor Fin’s replies for quality and accuracy.
How to test Fin over live chat
Go to your chosen Deploy method in your Intercom workspace, go to the Workflow tab and click "Manage workflow".
In the workflow builder, add a step of "Branches" and add a rule of
Email contains [yourcompanydomain.com]From your
email containsbranch you can add a test of "Let Fin answer" - this will enable you and your teammates to send some test questions for Fin to answer without Fin being triggered by your customers.You can also personalize the handover experience from Fin to a teammate.
Select Save changes.
You can now start a conversation in your chosen channel to test Fin restricted specifically to your companies email domain. Alternatively, you can activate the live test mode from your workspace deployments. This action makes Fin available behind a test URL in the Messenger, which is not visible to customers until the workflow goes live. This setup enables private interaction and testing of workflow functionality.
Note: Conversations initiated within a live environment using the workflow "test" option are subject to billing. Resolved conversations incur charges, whereas unresolved test conversations (e.g., requests to "speak to your team") do not.
Example scenarios:
Billable Scenario: A user starts a conversation using the workflow "test" option in a live environment. The test concludes successfully, marking the conversation as resolved and billable.
Non-Billable Scenario: A user initiates a test conversation via the workflow "test" option but chooses to end it unresolved (e.g., seeking additional help or escalating). In such cases, the conversation is not billed. Testing conversations in live environments should be approached with clear objectives to avoid unnecessary charges.
Best practices for live chat testing
Always confirm that your Messenger installation is working correctly before proceeding with tests.
Communicate with your internal testing team to ensure they follow the correct test protocols.
Use the test URL or internal conditions to isolate testing environments and avoid any accidental exposure to customers.
Ensure test users are aware of when you will be billed for a resolution and how to avoid this (e.g. by escalating the conversation to a human).
Testing practices like these will improve the reliability of your workflows and help identify potential issues before releasing them to the public.