# Conversation events > conversation.started, message.sent and conversation.ended Source: https://www.hey.support/docs/developer-guide/webhooks/events/conversation --- Three events follow a conversation from its first message to its resolution. The envelope is described in the [overview](/docs/developer-guide/webhooks). ## `conversation.started` Fires once, when a visitor's first message creates a conversation. It does not fire when a visitor resumes an existing one. ```json { "conversation": { "id": 8214, "chatbot_id": 17, "visitor_id": "v_9f21…", "status": "ai", "created_at": "2026-08-26T10:00:00.000Z" } } ``` `status` is always `ai` here: a conversation cannot start already handed off. ## `message.sent` Fires for each message added to a conversation, from either side. `role` is `user` for the visitor and `assistant` for the agent; internal notes are never delivered. ```json { "conversation_id": 8214, "chatbot_id": 17, "message": { "id": 55129, "role": "user", "content": "Do you ship to Ireland?", "created_at": "2026-08-26T10:00:01.000Z" } } ``` This is the highest-volume event by a wide margin: a busy agent fires two per exchange. For "a conversation happened", `conversation.ended` is one event instead of dozens. ## `conversation.ended` Fires when a conversation is resolved, by the visitor or by an operator. ```json { "conversation": { "id": 8214, "chatbot_id": 17, "visitor_id": "v_9f21…", "previous_status": "ai", "message_count": 6, "is_lead": true } } ``` `previous_status` is `ai`, `human_active` or `pending_handoff`, which is how you tell a conversation the agent finished from one a person had to take. `is_lead` says whether contact details were captured at any point.