--- title: "What happens after you publish" description: "Understand what happens after you click Publish in the Interlinked onboarding wizard — how the AI starts responding, the 15-minute pause rule, and how to monitor your AI agent's first conversations." section: "AI agent configuration" url: https://interlinked-ai.com/en/resources/docs/what-happens-after-you-publish lang: en lastUpdated: 2026-04-24 reviewedAt: 2026-04-24 --- # What happens after you publish ## Your AI agent is now live The moment you click **Publish**, your AI agent activates on all connected channels. From that point, any customer who sends a message to your WhatsApp number, Instagram account, or Facebook Messenger page will receive an AI-powered response. Here is what happens in the first few minutes and the key behaviors you should know about. ## Immediate activation Publishing is instant. There is no deployment queue or waiting period. As soon as you click Publish: - The AI agent reads your company information, communication style, greeting message, workflow configuration, product catalog, and business context. - It begins processing incoming messages immediately. - Every new conversation starts with the greeting message you configured in the wizard. Product catalog actions have their own timing. Uploading, replacing, adding, or clearing products updates the live product catalog immediately, even when the action happens from a wizard Products step. AI search preparation may take a few minutes depending on catalog size and detail level. See [How the AI searches products](/en/resources/docs/how-ai-searches-products).

Screenshot: The dashboard showing the first incoming conversations after publishing

## Monitoring conversations After publishing, you are redirected to the **dashboard**. From there, you can: - **View active conversations** in the CRM section. Each conversation shows the customer's name, the channel (WhatsApp, Instagram, or Messenger), and the latest messages. - **Read the full conversation history** — Every message exchanged between the AI and the customer is stored and visible in the CRM. - **Monitor in real time** — New messages appear as they arrive, so you can watch the AI handle conversations live. ## Taking manual control At any point, you can take over a conversation from the AI: ### Method 1: Click "Take manual control" in the CRM In the CRM conversation view, click the **Take manual control** button. This immediately pauses the AI for that specific conversation and lets you type responses directly. ### Method 2: Send a message through the messaging app If you open WhatsApp, Instagram, or Messenger and manually send a message to a customer, the AI detects this and automatically pauses for that conversation. ### The 15-minute pause rule When you take manual control (through either method), the AI pauses for **15 minutes**. During this time: - The AI will not send any messages to that customer. - You handle the conversation directly. - After 15 minutes of inactivity from you, the AI resumes responding automatically.

Important

The 15-minute pause resets every time you send a new message. If you send a message at minute 14, the timer resets to 15 minutes from that point. The AI only resumes when there has been 15 consecutive minutes of human inactivity.

Tip

Use manual control sparingly during the first few days. Let the AI handle most conversations so you can evaluate its performance. Only take over when you see the AI struggling with a specific question, or when a customer explicitly requests human assistance.

## First-day checklist Here are recommended actions for your first day after publishing: - [ ] **Send a test message** from a personal phone to your connected channel. Verify the AI responds with the correct greeting and understands your products. - [ ] **Allow product search preparation time** if you uploaded or replaced a large catalog shortly before testing. - [ ] **Check the CRM** for the test conversation. Confirm the message history is visible and complete. - [ ] **Try manual control** — Take over the test conversation, send a message, and observe the 15-minute pause behavior. - [ ] **Review your business context** — If the AI mishandles any question, add clarifying instructions to your business context via the [AI Config wizard](/en/resources/docs/edit-your-setup-from-ai-config). ## What to do next Explore the [AI Config wizard](/en/resources/docs/edit-your-setup-from-ai-config) to learn how to modify your configuration after publishing, or read [Advanced settings and policies](/en/resources/docs/advanced-settings-and-policies) to learn about return policies, cancellation rules, and other advanced settings.