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Question

Why Are My Flows Still Sending Even with Automation Pause Enabled? Messenger Replies Not Triggering the Pause?

  • March 6, 2026
  • 1 comment
  • 10 views
ceoechoversedigitalmarketing

Hi! 

I'm having an issue with the Automation Pause feature and hoping someone can help.

The Problem:
I have "Pause automations during conversations" set to 3 hours in my Inbox settings, but ManyChat is still sending flows even after a live agent has replied to the contact.

My Questions:
1. Why is the automation pause not triggering even though the setting is enabled?
2. Is the automation pause ONLY triggered when replying through the ManyChat Inbox? If an agent replies directly through Facebook Messenger (outside of ManyChat), will the pause NOT be triggered?
3. Is there any way for ManyChat to detect when a reply is sent through Facebook Messenger directly — so it can automatically pause the automation even without using the ManyChat Inbox?

What I've observed:
In the conversation log, I can see a note that automated replies have been paused temporarily — but the flows still seem to be running regardless.

Is the only solution to always reply through the ManyChat Inbox? Or is there a workaround to handle this when agents reply outside of ManyChat?

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! 

 

 

    1 reply

    SumGeniusAI
    • SumGeniusAI
    • Message Musketeer
    • March 6, 2026

    Hey! I can help clarify what's happening here.                                                                                                                     

    To answer your questions directly:

    1. Why is the pause not stopping flows?

    The automation pause doesn't stop a flow that's already mid-execution. If a contact is already inside an active flow, the messages will keep sending until the flow hits a breakpoint (like a Delay or Smart Delay node). So if your flow sends multiple messages in sequence without any delays between them, the pause kicks in but those queued messages still go out. The pause only prevents new automations from triggering.

     

    2. Does the pause only trigger from ManyChat's Live Chat inbox?

    Yes — this is the core issue. The "Pause automations during conversations" setting only detects when an agent replies through ManyChat's Live Chat / Inbox. If your agents are replying directly through Facebook Messenger or the Meta Business Suite, ManyChat has no way to know a human responded, so the pause never triggers.

     

    3. Can ManyChat detect replies sent through Messenger directly?

    Unfortunately no. ManyChat can only track actions taken within its own platform. It doesn't receive a webhook from Meta when you send a message, only when the contact sends one.

    The fix:

    Your agents need to reply through ManyChat's Live Chat inbox, not directly through Messenger. I know it's an extra step, but it's the only way the pause detection works. You could also add Smart Delays in your flows as natural breakpoints, that way even if the pause triggers slightly late, the flow will respect it at the next delay node instead of blasting through all the messages.

    Looking at your screenshot, the pause is actually activating (it shows "02:38:58" remaining and the log says Tony paused it) so the setting works. The issue is likely that your flow already sent its messages before the pause had a chance to stop them because there were no delay breakpoints in the flow.

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