Node: Detect Language

The Detect Language node is a condition (router) that identifies the contact's language and sends the workflow down a different branch based on the result. It's the key piece for serving multilingual customers with a single workflow: instead of duplicating logic per language, this node decides the path and the rest of the flow is built once per language.

When to use it

• At the start of a reception workflow, to route to Sales/Support in the right language.
• When the channel (WhatsApp, Webchat, Telegram, Messenger) receives contacts from different countries or languages.
• Before an AI Respond node so the right prompt or agent is used based on the detected language.

How it detects the language

• Auto method (default): uses a per-channel cascade:
  • WhatsApp/SMS/VoIP → by the contact's phone country code.
  • Webchat → by the visitor's browser language.
  • Telegram → by the user's app language setting.
  • Messenger/Instagram/Email and others → by the text of the last inbound message.
• Text method: ignores the channel and always classifies by the last inbound message's text.
• Use AI (only applies to text analysis): turns on the AI engine instead of the free keyword heuristic; consumes the workspace's AI wallet/cap.

Configuration

• Method: auto or text.
• Use AI: yes/no (only relevant to text analysis).
• Supported languages: list of languages that get their own branch (e.g. es, en, pt). Any detected language not in this list falls into the "other" branch.
• Default language: used when nothing can be detected.
• Save to variable: variable name where the detected language code becomes available for later steps.
• Persist to contact: when enabled (on by default), stores the detected language on the contact's record for reuse by the voice AI and future automations.

Example

A WhatsApp reception workflow adds Detect Language with Supported languages = es, en, pt and Default language = en. A contact with a +55 (Brazil) number follows the "pt" branch to the Portuguese-speaking support agent; a contact with an unrecognized number falls into "other" and follows the generic English branch.

Tips

• Always add a branch for "other" in addition to your supported languages: it's the catch-all for any unconfigured language.
• The result is available as the $detected_language variable without needing to configure "Save to variable".

Troubleshooting

• It always falls back to the default language: check that the contact has a valid phone (voice/WhatsApp channels) or that the last inbound message has text (text channels).
• It's not saved on the contact's record: confirm "Persist to contact" is enabled; it also only persists when detection confidence exceeds the minimum threshold.