> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.chatref.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Custom Actions > Make your bot do things, not just answer – with forms, buttons, and API calls it fires on its own. Custom Actions turn your bot from a question-answerer into a doer. You give the bot a few tools – like a contact form or a "Start my return" button – and during a chat it decides on its own when to use them. You don't script the conversation; you describe each action and let the AI pick the right moment. ## How an action works You create an action with two key things: * A **name** – what the action is, e.g. "Open a support ticket". * A **description** – a plain-English note that says *when to use it*, e.g. "Use this to collect a support request." At chat time, the AI reads that description and fires the action when a visitor's message matches it. A travel agency might add a "Request a quote" form; the bot shows it the moment a visitor asks about pricing. The **description** is what tells the AI when to use the action. Write it clearly and start with "Use this to…" – for example, "Use this to collect a support request." A vague description means the bot fires the action at the wrong time, or never. ## The three action types There are exactly three kinds of action you can build. The bot shows a form inside the chat. The visitor fills it in – name, email, a message – and submits without leaving the conversation. The bot shows a clickable button in the chat, like "Start my return". One tap triggers the action. The bot calls your own API in the middle of a chat – no visitor form – and uses the answer to keep replying. Forms and buttons appear right inside the chat for the visitor to use. An API / Webhook action runs quietly in the background. ## Where actions live Open an agent's dashboard and go to the **Actions** tab. From there you can create an action, edit it, turn it on or off, or delete it. Each action can be a Form, a Button, or an API / Webhook. ## Seeing what your bot did Every time an action runs – a form is submitted, a button is clicked, or your API is called – Chatref records it in the **Action Submissions** table on the **Actions** tab. Each row has five columns: **Submitted At**, **Action**, **Status**, **Completed At**, and **Details**. The **Status** tells you how the call went: | Status | What it means | | ------------ | ----------------------------------------- | | **PENDING** | Recorded, waiting to reach your webhook | | **SUCCESS** | Your endpoint received it and replied OK | | **FAILED** | The call to your endpoint did not succeed | | **RETRYING** | Chatref is trying again after a failure | Open **Details** on any row to see the data that was submitted, your webhook's response, and the retry count. Booking a meeting or scheduling a call is not a built-in tool. You build it yourself with a **Form action** (collect the visitor's preferred time and details) or an **API / Webhook action** (call your own calendar system). ## Next steps Collect details from visitors inside the chat. Add a one-tap button the bot can show. Let the bot call your own API mid-chat. Read the chats where your actions ran.