School parents AI agent on WhatsApp
Answers parents' questions about fees, dates and events, and tells them about their own child's absences and fees due.
How it works
Trigger: WhatsApp — a parent sends a message
- A parent asks a question on WhatsApp.
- The agent answers general questions from your School info sheet.
- For questions about their child, it looks up only the children linked to that parent's phone.
- It passes complaints, safety concerns and meeting requests to the office.
What it can do
Unlike a fixed flow, an agent decides which of its tools to use, in what order — and remembers the conversation.
- Answers about fees, term dates, holidays, transport and events
- Shares a child's absences and fees due with their own parent
- Replies in Arabic dialects or English
- Alerts the office about anything sensitive
System prompt
The instructions that shape the agent. It's already inside the n8n template — copy it into Make or Zapier, and adjust the YOUR_… parts.
You are the WhatsApp assistant for YOUR_SCHOOL, talking to parents. Reply in the customer's language and dialect (Egyptian Arabic, Gulf Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic or English). Be warm and brief.
Today is {{ $now.toFormat('cccc d LLLL yyyy') }}. The parent's phone is {{ $('Get question').item.json.from }}.
Tools:
- "School info": fees, payment methods, term dates, holidays, uniform, transport, events and contacts. Answer general questions only from it.
- "My children": the children registered to THIS parent's phone (name, grade, class, teacher, absences this term, fees due). It only ever returns this parent's children.
- "Notify school": alerts the school office. Use it for complaints, health or safety concerns, bullying, fee disputes, meeting requests, and anything you can't answer.
Rules:
- If "My children" returns nothing, say the number isn't registered and ask them to contact the office; never share any child's details.
- Never discuss other students, staff personal details, or grades you don't have.
- Never promise exceptions, refunds or decisions; say the school will confirm.
- For anything urgent about a child's safety or health, use "Notify school" immediately and give them the office phone YOUR_OFFICE_PHONE.Safety rules
Built into the prompt and the tools:
- Only shows children registered to the parent's phone
- Never discusses other students or staff
- Sends safety and health concerns to the office straight away
Uses your own AI key (Claude, OpenAI or another model). Cost depends on the model and conversation length — a small, fast model keeps most conversations to a fraction of a cent.
Diagram
Trigger App Code AI Agent tool
Code
JavaScript used in the Code step — already included in the template below.
// Keeps only text messages and pulls out who sent it and what they asked.
const msg = $input.first().json.messages?.[0];
if (!msg || msg.type !== "text") return [];
return [{ json: { from: msg.from, question: msg.text.body } }];Build it
Pick your tool — same automation, step by step.
Copy and paste straight into an n8n canvas (Ctrl+V), or download and use Import from File. Then connect your own credentials and replace every YOUR_… placeholder. AI steps use a Claude model node — swap it for OpenAI, Gemini or Ollama if you prefer.
Show code (292 lines)
{
"name": "School parents AI agent on WhatsApp (Flowngn)",
"nodes": [
{
"parameters": {
"content": "## School parents AI agent on WhatsApp\nAnswers parents' questions about fees, dates and events, and tells them about their own child's absences and fees due.\n\n**Setup**\n1. Open each node and connect your own credentials.\n2. Replace every YOUR_… placeholder.\n3. Test once, then activate.\n\nFree template from Flowngn",
"height": 260,
"width": 340
},
"id": "45820912-e7e8-476e-a2a7-16e2eb03a79c",
"name": "Setup notes",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote",
"typeVersion": 1,
"position": [
-420,
-60
]
},
{
"parameters": {
"updates": [
"messages"
]
},
"id": "45820912-e7e8-476e-a2a7-16e2eb03a79c",
"name": "Incoming message",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.whatsAppTrigger",
"typeVersion": 1,
"position": [
0,
0
],
"webhookId": "45820912-e7e8-476e-a2a7-16e2eb03a79c"
},
{
"parameters": {
"jsCode": "// Keeps only text messages and pulls out who sent it and what they asked.\nconst msg = $input.first().json.messages?.[0];\nif (!msg || msg.type !== \"text\") return [];\n\nreturn [{ json: { from: msg.from, question: msg.text.body } }];"
},
"id": "45820912-e7e8-476e-a2a7-16e2eb03a79c",
"name": "Get question",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.code",
"typeVersion": 2,
"position": [
300,
0
]
},
{
"parameters": {
"promptType": "define",
"text": "={{ $json.question }}",
"options": {
"systemMessage": "=You are the WhatsApp assistant for YOUR_SCHOOL, talking to parents. Reply in the customer's language and dialect (Egyptian Arabic, Gulf Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic or English). Be warm and brief.\n\nToday is {{ $now.toFormat('cccc d LLLL yyyy') }}. The parent's phone is {{ $('Get question').item.json.from }}.\n\nTools:\n- \"School info\": fees, payment methods, term dates, holidays, uniform, transport, events and contacts. Answer general questions only from it.\n- \"My children\": the children registered to THIS parent's phone (name, grade, class, teacher, absences this term, fees due). It only ever returns this parent's children.\n- \"Notify school\": alerts the school office. Use it for complaints, health or safety concerns, bullying, fee disputes, meeting requests, and anything you can't answer.\n\nRules:\n- If \"My children\" returns nothing, say the number isn't registered and ask them to contact the office; never share any child's details.\n- Never discuss other students, staff personal details, or grades you don't have.\n- Never promise exceptions, refunds or decisions; say the school will confirm.\n- For anything urgent about a child's safety or health, use \"Notify school\" immediately and give them the office phone YOUR_OFFICE_PHONE."
}
},
"id": "45820912-e7e8-476e-a2a7-16e2eb03a79c",
"name": "Parents agent",
"type": "@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.agent",
"typeVersion": 1.9,
"position": [
600,
0
]
},
{
"parameters": {
"model": {
"__rl": true,
"value": "claude-sonnet-5",
"mode": "list"
},
"options": {}
},
"id": "45820912-e7e8-476e-a2a7-16e2eb03a79c",
"name": "Claude model",
"type": "@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.lmChatAnthropic",
"typeVersion": 1.3,
"position": [
260,
220
]
},
{
"parameters": {
"sessionIdType": "customKey",
"sessionKey": "={{ $('Get question').item.json.from }}",
"contextWindowLength": 10
},
"id": "45820912-e7e8-476e-a2a7-16e2eb03a79c",
"name": "Memory",
"type": "@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.memoryBufferWindow",
"typeVersion": 1.3,
"position": [
430,
220
]
},
{
"parameters": {
"descriptionType": "manual",
"toolDescription": "Returns school information: fees, term dates, holidays, transport, events, contacts.",
"operation": "read",
"documentId": {
"__rl": true,
"value": "YOUR_SPREADSHEET_ID",
"mode": "id"
},
"sheetName": {
"__rl": true,
"value": "School info",
"mode": "name"
},
"options": {}
},
"id": "45820912-e7e8-476e-a2a7-16e2eb03a79c",
"name": "School info",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.googleSheetsTool",
"typeVersion": 4.5,
"position": [
600,
220
]
},
{
"parameters": {
"descriptionType": "manual",
"toolDescription": "Returns the children registered to the parent who is messaging.",
"operation": "read",
"documentId": {
"__rl": true,
"value": "YOUR_SPREADSHEET_ID",
"mode": "id"
},
"sheetName": {
"__rl": true,
"value": "Students",
"mode": "name"
},
"filtersUI": {
"values": [
{
"lookupColumn": "parent_phone",
"lookupValue": "={{ $('Get question').item.json.from }}"
}
]
},
"options": {}
},
"id": "45820912-e7e8-476e-a2a7-16e2eb03a79c",
"name": "My children",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.googleSheetsTool",
"typeVersion": 4.5,
"position": [
770,
220
]
},
{
"parameters": {
"descriptionType": "manual",
"toolDescription": "Alerts the school office about complaints, safety concerns, meeting requests and questions you can't answer.",
"chatId": "YOUR_OFFICE_CHAT_ID",
"text": "={{ $fromAI('message', \"What the office needs to know, including the parent's phone and child's name\", 'string') }}",
"additionalFields": {
"appendAttribution": false
}
},
"id": "45820912-e7e8-476e-a2a7-16e2eb03a79c",
"name": "Notify school",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.telegramTool",
"typeVersion": 1.2,
"position": [
940,
220
]
},
{
"parameters": {
"operation": "send",
"phoneNumberId": "YOUR_PHONE_NUMBER_ID",
"recipientPhoneNumber": "={{ $('Get question').item.json.from }}",
"textBody": "={{ $json.output }}"
},
"id": "45820912-e7e8-476e-a2a7-16e2eb03a79c",
"name": "Reply on WhatsApp",
"type": "n8n-nodes-base.whatsApp",
"typeVersion": 1,
"position": [
900,
0
]
}
],
"connections": {
"Incoming message": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "Get question",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Get question": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "Parents agent",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Parents agent": {
"main": [
[
{
"node": "Reply on WhatsApp",
"type": "main",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Claude model": {
"ai_languageModel": [
[
{
"node": "Parents agent",
"type": "ai_languageModel",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Memory": {
"ai_memory": [
[
{
"node": "Parents agent",
"type": "ai_memory",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"School info": {
"ai_tool": [
[
{
"node": "Parents agent",
"type": "ai_tool",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"My children": {
"ai_tool": [
[
{
"node": "Parents agent",
"type": "ai_tool",
"index": 0
}
]
]
},
"Notify school": {
"ai_tool": [
[
{
"node": "Parents agent",
"type": "ai_tool",
"index": 0
}
]
]
}
},
"pinData": {},
"settings": {
"executionOrder": "v1"
},
"meta": {
"templateCredsSetupCompleted": false
},
"tags": []
}In Make, create a new scenario and add these modules in order:
- WhatsApp Business Cloud › Watch Events (messages)
- Tools › Set variable / Iterator + Array aggregator (same logic as the Code step)
- Make AI Agents › Run an agent — give it these tools: “School info” (Google Sheets), “My children” (Google Sheets), “Notify school” (Telegram Bot); paste the system prompt as the agent's instructions
- WhatsApp Business Cloud › Send a Message
- Every module run uses Make operations — the free plan includes a monthly quota.
- Make's built-in functions (map, sum, formatDate…) can replace most Code steps; for complex logic use a code module.
- Module and step names can differ slightly as Make and Zapier update their apps.
In Zapier, create a new Zap and add these steps in order:
- WhatsApp — New Message
- Code by Zapier — Run JavaScript (paste the code from the Code section)
- Zapier Agents — create an agent (or AI by Zapier for a single step) — give it these tools: “School info” (Google Sheets), “My children” (Google Sheets), “Notify school” (Telegram); paste the system prompt as the agent's instructions
- WhatsApp — Send Message
- Zaps with more than two steps need a paid Zapier plan.
- Webhooks, Filters/Paths and Code by Zapier are premium features on some Zapier plans.
- Code by Zapier runs JavaScript: reuse the code shown above, reading inputs from inputData instead of $json.
- Module and step names can differ slightly as Make and Zapier update their apps.
Tips
- Save parent phones in the same format WhatsApp uses: country code, no + or spaces (e.g. 201001234567).
Related flows
AI AgentsAdvanced
WhatsApp sales AI agent (Arabic)
Sells on WhatsApp in the customer's own dialect: checks your catalog, answers questions and takes cash-on-delivery orders.
WhatsApp → AI model → Google Sheets → Telegram30h/mo
AI AgentsAdvanced
Order & returns AI agent on WhatsApp (Arabic)
Answers "where's my order?", gives delivery updates and logs returns and exchanges — in the customer's dialect.
WhatsApp → AI model → Google Sheets → Telegram30h/mo
AI AgentsAdvanced
Real-estate AI agent on WhatsApp
Understands what clients want, suggests matching listings and books viewings — in Arabic or English.
WhatsApp → AI model → Google Sheets → Google Calendar → Telegram25h/mo