Introduction to Sarufi
Sarufi (Swahili for grammar) is a conversational AI platform built for African businesses. It lets teams build, deploy, and manage chatbots - without needing deep technical expertise - and gives developers a full REST API to integrate everything programmatically.
What You Can Build
With Sarufi you can create chatbots that:
- Answer customer questions automatically using a Knowledge Base (upload PDFs, docs, or URLs - the bot finds the answers)
- Guide users through structured conversations using visual Conversation Flows (collect information, process orders, book appointments)
- Deliver rich WhatsApp experiences using Meta Flows (interactive forms, carousels, pickers - native to WhatsApp)
- Handle multiple languages, including Swahili and other African languages
- Escalate to a live human agent when the bot can't help
Where Your Bot Can Live
A chatbot you build on Sarufi can be deployed to:
| Channel | What it is |
|---|---|
| Connect via Meta Business Platform for WhatsApp messaging | |
| Web Widget | Embed a chat bubble on any website with a single HTML snippet |
| SMS | Send and receive messages via Africa's Talking or Beem Africa |
| REST API | Integrate directly into any backend or application |
How the Platform Is Organised
Everything on Sarufi is organised around Workspaces. A workspace is your team's home - it contains all your chatbots, knowledge bases, integrations, and member settings.
Inside a workspace, you create Chatbots. Each chatbot is a self-contained conversational agent. You give it flows (the conversation logic), connect knowledge bases (for Q&A), and link it to channels (WhatsApp, website, etc.).
Your Account
└── Workspace
├── Settings
│ ├── Billing
│ ├── Team Members
│ └── API Key
├── Analytics
├── Chatbot A
│ ├── Flow
│ │ ├──Conversation Flows
│ │ └── Meta Flows
│ ├── Integrations (Whatsapp, Web Widget, MCP)
│ ├── Conversations (chats)
│ └── Analytics
└── Chatbot B
└── ...
Who Is Sarufi For?
| You are... | What you'll use |
|---|---|
| A business owner or team lead building bots through the dashboard | User Guide |
| A developer integrating bots into your app via REST API | Developer API |
| Both - using the dashboard to design and the API to integrate | Both sections |
Not sure which one applies to you? Head to the Quick Start and follow the steps - the path will become clear as you go.
Key Capabilities at a Glance
| Capability | What it does |
|---|---|
| Visual Flow Editor | Drag-and-drop conversation designer with states, transitions, and conditions |
| NLU / Intents | Teach your bot to understand natural language - not just keywords |
| Knowledge Bases | Upload documents or URLs; the bot answers questions from them automatically |
| Meta Flows | WhatsApp-native UI with forms, menus, and carousels |
| Team Collaboration | Invite members with roles: Owner, Admin, Member, Viewer |
| Analytics | Track conversation volume, message counts, and user engagement |
| MCP Servers | Connect external tools and APIs to your chatbot via the Model Context Protocol |
| Live Agent | Hand off conversations to a human when the bot reaches its limits |
| REST API | Full programmatic access to every feature on the platform |