Can I Build My Own Custom Actions for an AI Chatbot?
Yes, and you don’t need a developer or a drag-and-drop builder to do it. In AeroChat, custom actions are built as Workflows via Skills. You describe the workflow you want in your own words, either in AeroChat or through your own AI assistant, such as Claude or ChatGPT, connected through the AeroChat MCP. The system turns that description into a set of instructions and the tools it needs, then runs it. AeroChat is chat infrastructure that runs your customer service and sales workflows, and Skills and MCP are on every plan, Free included.
Your two real options today
| Option | What it does | Who can set it up |
|---|---|---|
| Workflows via Skills | You describe a workflow, including actions in other systems, and AeroChat builds and runs it, connecting to external systems through webhooks | Anyone on your team. You paste in a webhook endpoint and add your keys in the dashboard |
| API access | Lets a developer build AeroChat into a custom application or a bespoke backend process | Requires development work |
These solve different problems. A Skill covers most custom actions a business needs: checking a system, creating a record, sending a payment link, booking a slot. The full API is for teams building AeroChat into their own software. If you’re specifically after shaping behaviour and routing logic, that’s covered in full in how can I add custom business workflows to my chatbot.
What a genuinely custom action actually requires
A custom action, such as a lookup in an internal system, needs a clear job, a defined set of inputs, and a safe way to call the system that does the work. With Skills, you describe the job and AeroChat sets up the rest:
- It works out which tools to call, internal or external.
- For an external system, it creates the tool records and names the keys or credentials it needs.
- You paste in the webhook endpoint from the system you’re connecting and add your secret keys in the dashboard. Secret values never pass through the AI.
- New Skills start as drafts, with a checklist of what is left for you to do before they go live.
For example, a store might describe: “When a customer asks to change their delivery address, check the order hasn’t shipped, update the address in our fulfilment system through its webhook, and confirm the new address to the customer.” You also set the limits, such as which orders can be changed and when to hand over to your team, and AeroChat applies them itself. The full framework for doing this safely, including permission scoping, validation, approval steps and duplicate protection, is covered in how can I make my chatbot perform actions instead of just answering questions.
What most stores actually need instead of a custom action
Before you write a new Skill, check whether AeroChat’s existing capabilities already cover what you’re picturing. A lot of what people describe as “I need a custom action” turns out to be one of these:
- Routing a conversation to a specific person based on what’s said: describe the handover rule and use conversation tagging.
- Pushing data to another tool when something happens: a webhook connection, covered in connecting your chatbot to your existing business software, or Zapier for 5,000+ apps.
- Answering from a specific set of facts you control: trained knowledge base content.
- Order lookups, product recommendations, shipping rates and discounts on Shopify: already built in.
Write a Skill once you’ve confirmed the thing you need isn’t one of the above. Bring in a developer only if you are building AeroChat into your own application.
Your next step
Write down exactly what you want the chatbot to do that it can’t do today, in the same plain words you would use to brief a new team member. Check it against the options above first. If none of them fit, give that description to AeroChat as a new Skill and work through the checklist it creates.
Start your 7-day free trial. No credit card needed. Start your trial and describe your first custom action. On Shopify? Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a no-code custom action builder?
No. There is no flow builder to learn. You describe the action in your own words, and AeroChat builds the workflow as a Skill.
Do I need to be a developer myself?
Not for Skills. You describe the workflow, paste in a webhook endpoint and add your keys. You only need a developer if you are building AeroChat into your own software through the full API.
What’s the difference between this and MCP?
The AeroChat MCP lets your own AI assistant, such as Claude or ChatGPT, connect to your AeroChat account. You can then describe and build Skills from that assistant instead of the AeroChat dashboard. See connecting AeroChat’s MCP server if that’s what you’re after.
