Canned replies, thread labels, and thread properties

    Three things you define once in settings that your whole team then uses every day.

    6 min read · Updated 13 September 2026

    Under Settings, then Threads, are the things your team uses constantly without thinking about where they came from.

    Three tools, three jobs

    Canned replies
    Answers you send over and over, written once.
    Thread labels
    Tags describing what a conversation is about.
    Thread properties
    Fields capturing structured information about a conversation.

    All three are shared with the whole team. That is the point: they exist so that everybody answers the same question the same way.

    Canned replies

    Pre-written response templates. These are the answers you type every day, such as refund policies, shipping times, and how to reset a password.

    You use them with # in the composer, where they appear below the agent actions. Type the shortcode and the full reply drops in instantly.

    They are fixed text, not AI. That is exactly why they are worth having for anything where the wording has been agreed and should not drift.

    How to create a canned reply

    1. 1Go to Settings, then Threads, then Canned Replies.
    2. 2Click to create a reply.
    3. 3Write the answer once, properly.
    4. 4Give it a shortcode, which is what you will type after #.
    5. 5Save it. It is available to everybody immediately.
    Write the shortcode as the thing you would search for, not an abbreviation. refund beats rfnd, because the second one only works for whoever invented it.

    Variables

    Canned replies take placeholders, such as the customer's name, which fill in automatically on every send.

    This is what stops a canned reply reading like one. The same text with the right name at the top lands as a considered answer rather than a form letter.

    Thread labels

    The tags your team puts on conversations, defined centrally so everyone picks from the same list. Each has a colour, and they appear under the subject line on a thread.

    1. 1Go to Settings, then Threads, then Thread Labels.
    2. 2Click Add Label.
    3. 3Name it and give it a colour.

    People can also create a label on the fly while labelling a thread, which is convenient and, unchecked, is how you end up with three labels meaning the same thing. Tidy the list here occasionally.

    Label groups

    Labels can be organised into groups with Add Group, which keeps a long list navigable.

    Groups are worth it once you pass a dozen or so labels. You might have one group for what the conversation is about, and another for where it came from. Below that, a flat list is easier.

    Thread properties

    Extra data fields on a conversation, for information you want captured consistently on every thread: an order number, a case reference, a region.

    1. 1Go to Settings, then Threads, then Thread Properties.
    2. 2Click New property.
    3. 3Name it descriptively, like Plan or Industry.
    4. 4Pick a type: text, number, date, URL, boolean, or select from a list.
    5. 5For a select property, add the options it can take.

    It then appears on every thread in the details panel, ready to fill in.

    The same idea exists for people and organisations. See customer and company properties. Put a fact where it belongs: an order number is about the conversation, a plan is about the account.

    What else lives under Threads

    Threads
    Thread numbering, auto-close, and renaming the four priority levels to match how your team talks.
    Composer
    How replies behave, including the agent signature customers see on Telegram.
    Inbox card layout
    Which lines appear on a thread card, and in what order, with a live preview.
    Renaming priorities changes only the words. The four levels and their behaviour stay exactly as they are, so a renamed Urgent is still the most urgent. ---

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