Take Control with the Poku Chat Toggle: Switch Between AI and Human Intervention Mode Anytime

Sometimes your AI agent is perfectly capable of handling the conversation. Other times, a human needs to step in. That’s why we built the Poku Chat Toggle—a simple switch that lets you control who’s responding: your AI agent or a human.

What Is the Chat Toggle?

The Chat Toggle allows you to move seamlessly between:

🧠 AI Mode – Your AI agent responds to all incoming messages, like usual.
🙋 Human Intervention Mode – Your AI agent steps back. A human takes over the conversation, and the agent stays silent.

Whether you’re handling a sensitive situation or just want more hands-on support during business hours, the chat toggle gives you full control.

Prerequisites

Before you can use the toggle, you need to have a working SMS AI agent connected to Poku.

👉 New to building agents?
Follow our step-by-step guide to set up an SMS AI agent using n8n—then, by adding just a few extra nodes to your workflow, you can unlock powerful Poku features like the chat toggle (switch between AI and human mode) and conversation flagging based on your own custom criteria.

👉 Already have a flow set up?
If you're using platforms like n8n, Make.com, or Zapier, and your agent already responds to incoming messages, you’re just two nodes away from enabling the toggle.

Here’s how to wire it into your existing flow:

🔧 Node 1: HTTP Request to Check Toggle Status

Place this node right after your incoming SMS node. It checks the chat’s toggle status by sending message details to Poku.

This module passes the content of the incoming message to Poku and checks the status of the toggle.

POST https://api.pokulabs.com/chats/inbound

Headers: 

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_POKU_API_KEY

Body Type: Raw JSON

{
    “message”:”<incoming SMS content>”,
    “to”:”<to number (ex.+12223334444)>”,
    “from”:”<from number (ex.+12223334444)>”
}

🚦 Node 2: Filter Based on Toggle

Right after the HTTP Request node, insert a Filter node.

Use the condition:

{{json.isDisabled}} is not equal to true 

This ensures the AI agent only continues the workflow when AI Mode is ON. If the toggle is set to Human Intervention mode, the AI stays quiet.

Bonus: Enable Message Flagging

This same setup also opens the door to message flagging—you can create your own custom rules in Poku to automatically flag or escalate certain messages to human operators.

Learn more about flagging →

Need Help?

Running into setup issues or want a walkthrough?
📬 Email us at hello@pokulabs.com
📅schedule a call with us here.