The Appearance tab decides how every reply looks to the person on the other end. You set the rules once and they apply across all of the agent's channels, with a live preview so you can see exactly what ships before you save.
Open an AI Agent and choose Appearance from the Design section of the left sidebar.
Format
Pick a format preset for how text is rendered, then fine-tune it:
- Rich — formatted text with markdown, emoji, and light structure. Best for the web chat widget.
- Plain — plain text only, with no markdown or interactive components. Useful when you want the simplest possible reply everywhere.
- Structured — formatted text plus interactive components for guided, step-by-step flows.
- Markdown formatting — render **bold**, `code`, and lists instead of showing the raw symbols.
- Section dividers — turn `---` separators into clean spacing.
- Show emoji — keep the emoji the agent includes in its reply, or strip them out.
Channels that can't render rich text — SMS and Voice — automatically fall back to clean plain text. Markdown is stripped, dividers become spacing, and components are summarized as plain text, so the message always reads well wherever it lands.
Components
Components are interactive elements the agent can attach to a reply on channels that support them (such as the web widget):
- Quick replies — tappable suggestion chips that prefill the person's next message.
- Action cards — highlighted “press to continue” cards for guided steps.
- Inline forms — collect a value such as an email or order number inline, without leaving the chat.
Style
- Accent color — the brand color used for the customer's message bubble, buttons, and chips.
- Density — comfortable or compact spacing.
- Corner style — rounded or square bubbles and controls.
- Default theme — light, dark, or follow the visitor's system setting.
Live preview
The preview on the right updates instantly as you change settings. Switch between Web, SMS, and Voice to see how the same reply renders on each channel, and toggle light or dark to check both themes. It's a faithful preview — what you see is what the agent will actually send.
Saving
Appearance settings apply to all of the agent's channels. Use Save response UI to apply your changes, or Reset to discard unsaved edits. Settings are saved on the agent, so they travel with it when you export and re-import.