VK chat bot for a community — how to create one without a developer

How to create a VK chat bot in Craft: a community key, a funnel with buttons, starts by link, keyword and comment. What works for free and what VK doesn't allow.

A VK chat bot is your community replying to people in its messages on its own. In Craft you set one up in a couple of minutes: give Craft the community access key, build a funnel of messages and buttons, and it starts replying on behalf of the community.

No coding needed. You don't need a separate VK app, a registered business or business verification either.

What a VK chat bot can do in Craft#

• Reply with messages that have buttons, images and files.
• Ask questions and save answers, add tags, wait on a timer, branch on conditions.
• Take payments and send you a lead notification in Telegram.
• Start from a link, a keyword in messages, or a keyword in a comment under a post.
• Send broadcasts to people who have messaged the community.

Subscribers show up in Contacts, conversations in Dialogs, statistics on the funnel card.

How to create a VK bot: three steps#

1. Create a community access key#

1. On vk.com, open your community → “Manage” → “More” → “API usage”.
2. Click “Create key”.
3. Tick “Community management”, “Community messages”, “Photos”, “Docs” and “Wall”.
4. Copy the whole key — it starts with vk1.a.

You need admin rights in the community — a group, public page or event.

2. Connect the community in Craft#

1. Open Accounts → Connect → VK.
2. Paste the key and click “Connect community”.

Craft turns on messages, bot buttons and the Start button in the community by itself. It usually takes a few seconds. Then you'll see a link like vk.me/your_community.

3. Build a funnel#

1. In Automations, click Create → VK.
2. Pick the community and a template or a blank canvas.
3. In the entry block, copy the funnel link or add keywords: “Message us the word PLAN”.
4. Turn the funnel on and message the community from your own page — walk the whole path yourself.

Every setting in detail: How to connect a VK community and run a funnel in it.

Can you make a VK chat bot for free?#

Yes. On the free plan, a community bot works for up to 150 subscribers in its base. Once the limit is reached, people already in the base keep getting funnels, but new people get no reply. Paid plans have no such limit.

How we warn you about the limit: Funnel limits on the free plan.

How a VK bot differs from a Telegram bot#

• No bold. Bold and italics are sent as plain text.
• Buttons — up to 6 per message, labels up to 40 characters.
• Phone number — people type it as a message: there's no “Share phone number” button. Craft saves the number itself if the message looks like one.
• Video is sent as a file.

Not available yet#

• Starting on a like, repost or community join.
• Subscription pages and carousels in messages.
• A command menu like a Telegram bot has.
• One-click connection via VK login — only by key for now.

FAQ#

How do I create a VK chat bot if I'm not a developer?#

Community key → Accounts → Connect → VK → a funnel in Automations. No code: the funnel is built from blocks on a canvas.

A free VK chat bot — what's the catch?#

Just one limit: up to 150 subscribers in the community base. Funnel features are the same.

I already use Senler. Will Craft get in its way?#

No. Craft registers its own address in the community and doesn't touch others. If you disconnect the community from Craft, other services such as Senler or SaleBot keep working.

Why doesn't the bot reply to someone?#

Check that the funnel is on and that the person wrote the keyword or came via the funnel link. If the community has several funnels that all start on Start, turn off “Start on the “Start” button” in their entry blocks — each will then open only from its own link. More on start rules: What starts a funnel.

How do I turn the bot off?#

In Automations → Bots & communities, open the community's menu and click Disconnect. Contacts and funnels are kept.