Date

What it does#

Date asks a question and waits for a date that fits your rules. Customers can write 14/10/2026, 14 Oct 2026, tomorrow or next Sunday (in English or Hebrew). You decide which dates are allowed: only future dates, a booking window, open days, no holidays, business hours. A date that doesn't fit gets a clear message, and the customer is asked again.

Add a Date step#

1. 1

   Drag Date onto the canvas

   It's under Flow in the Steps panel on the left. Click it to open Step settings.

2. 2

   Name the step and write the question

   Rename the step at the top of the panel (it starts as date1), for example bookingDate. Use letters and numbers only. Under Message, write the question.

3. 3

   Choose the formats

   Under Format, Accepted formats shows the ways a customer may write the date. All are on except MM/DD/YYYY. Under Time, choose Date only, Time optional or Time required.

4. 4

   Set the rules (optional)

   Under Rules, choose Allowed dates, an Earliest date and Latest date, Allowed days, Israeli holidays and, with a time, Business hours.

5. 5

   Check the messages

   Under Messages, each rule has the message customers get when they break it. Leave a field empty to use the default shown in grey.

6. 6

   Choose the output

   Under Output, pick Show the date as, and what happens After invalid answers.

7. 7

   Try it

   Under Try it, type sample answers, one per line, to see which are accepted and how they're saved.

Format#

Turning on MM/DD/YYYY makes answers like 03/04/2026 ambiguous. When both orders fit then decides: Day first (03/04 = 3 April) or Month first (03/04 = March 4).

Time: Date only, Time optional or Time required. With a time, answers such as 16/10/2026 19:30 or tomorrow at 8pm are understood.

Rules#

Dates and times are in Israel time.

Example#

A restaurant takes bookings up to 60 days ahead, is closed on Saturdays and holidays, and serves from 12:00 to 22:00:

Name:             bookingDate
Message:          When would you like to come? (date and time)
Time:             Time required
Allowed dates:    Only future, Today counts
Latest date:      60 days from today
Allowed days:     Sun to Fri
Israeli holidays: No holidays at all
Business hours:   12:00 - 22:00
Show the date as: DD/MM/YYYY

If today is Thursday 15 October 2026:

On WhatsApp the customer types the date. On your website they can type it or pick it from a date picker that only offers the dates your rules allow.

Messages#

Each rule has its own message: Not readable, Out of range, Day not allowed, Holiday, Time missing and Outside business hours. Empty fields send a default in your bot's language. Messages can be up to 500 characters.

You can use {example}, {min}, {max}, {days}, {holiday}, {from} and {to}. They're filled in for the customer: We're closed on {holiday}. Please pick another day. arrives with the holiday's name.

Use the answer#

When the answer has a time, it's added after the date: 16/10/2026 20:00. With Time optional, avoid DD/MM/YYYY HH:mm: a date without a time would show as 16/10/2026 00:00.

After invalid answers#

• Keep asking (default): the customer gets the message and is asked again until the date fits.
• 1, 2 or 3: after that many invalid answers in a row, the chat continues on the Not valid output. The step then has two outputs: Valid and Not valid. Connect Not valid, for example to a message with your phone number. If it isn't connected, the bot keeps asking.

Customers can always type back to return to the previous question.

Steps made with the original check#

Date steps added before the new check only accept day/month/year in digits, such as 13/10/26, and reply Invalid date. Try again in the following format dd/mm/yy to anything else. Their settings show Upgrade to the new date check.

1. 1

   Click Upgrade to the new date check

   Under What changes you see the differences and a table of sample answers: how each is handled Now and After upgrade.

2. 2

   Upgrade or keep it

   Click Upgrade, or Keep the original. {{@bookingDate}} stays DD/MM/YYYY. Nothing changes for customers until you publish.

Common mistakes#

• "This step isn't ready yet". Connect a step into this one and connect it to the next step, and fix any problem shown in the settings, such as The earliest date is after the latest date. or Turn on at least one format.
• Business hours without a time. Business hours need a time: choose Time optional or Time required.
• US customers. Turn on MM/DD/YYYY and set When both orders fit to Month first.