Why ChatFast moved from chatbots to AI agents.
Earlier versions of ChatFast were chatbots: they found matching text and sent it back. ChatFast agents can work through a question, ask for details they’re missing, collect information, and bring in your team when needed. Here’s what changed and what it means for your business.
Updated October 6, 2026 to reflect what agents can do today.
How a traditional chatbot works
Most website chatbots, including earlier versions of ChatFast, work by retrieval. You give the chatbot your content. When a visitor types a question, it finds the passage that matches best and sends it back.
That works well for simple questions with one answer, like “What are your opening hours?” or “What’s your refund policy?”
It breaks down when the answer depends on more than one thing: the visitor’s plan, something they said earlier, details spread across several pages, or information they haven’t given yet. A retrieval chatbot can’t combine those. It returns the closest passage, even when that passage doesn’t answer the question.
What an AI agent does differently
A ChatFast agent reads the question, works out what it needs to answer it, and then acts. The table shows the difference for a visitor.
Here’s what an agent can do in a conversation:
Answer from your content
Your website pages, PDFs, images, notes, and Q&A pairs. You add them on the Agent knowledge page.
Ask before guessing
If a visitor hasn’t given enough detail, the agent asks a clarifying question with numbered options, and the visitor can also type their own answer.
Collect exact details
The Show form skill displays a form when the agent needs something specific, like an order number. When the visitor submits it, the details can be emailed to your team or sent to your own system.
Capture leads
The Collect leads skill asks interested visitors for their contact details and saves them to Contacts. You can also send each lead to a webhook.
Hand off to a person
The Human handoff skill pauses AI replies when a visitor asks for a person or the agent can’t help. Your team replies from Conversations.
Agents can also show product cards and maps in the chat, and talk out loud with Live voice. You turn the skills above on and off under Agent skills in your agent’s menu.
What you see as the owner
A chatbot that gives a wrong answer and moves on leaves you guessing. With agents, you can check what happened:
- Every conversation is saved in Conversations, with a summary and any contact details or forms the visitor submitted.
- With message feedback turned on, visitors can rate answers and leave a comment. You can review them in Insights.
- You can show source links under answers, so visitors can see which web pages an answer came from.
Legacy chatbots are being retired
We’ve stopped building features for legacy chatbots. New features, including Live voice, reactions, follow-up questions, and human handoff, only work with agents.
If you still have a legacy chatbot, you can move it to an agent yourself. Open the chatbot in your dashboard, go to Migration, and click Migrate to Agent. Your website pages, text sources, and Q&A pairs move over with it.
A few older files can’t be migrated. If your chatbot has any, the Migration page tells you: delete those files, migrate, then upload them again. If you’d like help, contact support.
Getting the most from your agent
- Keep your content current. When your website changes, re-import the pages that changed. Here’s how importing works.
- Decide what your team needs before a handoff. In the Human handoff skill, choose which details the agent asks for first, such as name, email, or phone.
- Read your conversations. Look for questions your agent couldn’t answer. Each one shows you content to add.
Common questions
What is the difference between an AI agent and a chatbot?
A traditional chatbot finds the text that best matches a question and sends it back. An AI agent works out what the visitor needs, asks for missing details, and can take the next step, like collecting a form or handing the conversation to a person.
Will my legacy ChatFast chatbot keep working?
Legacy chatbots are being deprecated and no longer get new features. We recommend moving to an agent from the Migration page in your dashboard.
Do I lose my content when I migrate to an agent?
No. Your website pages, text sources, and Q&A pairs move over. A few older files can’t be migrated. The Migration page lists them so you can upload them again afterwards.