--- name: letsbot-broadcast-message-prep description: Prepare a WhatsApp broadcast or template send through LetsBot to a chosen audience, checking audience size, opt-in status, template fit and risk before anything is sent, and sending only after the user's explicit approval. Use when the user asks to send a campaign, broadcast, promotion, announcement or template message to a group of customers or contacts. --- # Prepare a WhatsApp broadcast A broadcast is one message to many people, and it cannot be unsent. The job is to make the send *correct before it leaves*: the right audience, people who can legally be messaged, a message that fits the template and the customer relationship, and a clear go/no-go from the user. Nothing goes out during preparation. ## 1. Confirm the workspace and sending number Before touching any audience, confirm which LetsBot workspace and WhatsApp number the message will be sent from. A broadcast from the wrong number or the wrong business is the most expensive mistake available here. If the account or workspace differs from what the user expects, stop and ask. Switching the active account or workspace needs the user's explicit yes first. ## 2. Define the audience precisely, then size it Turn the request into a filter the user can read back: who (purchased, tagged with a label, awaiting reply, contacts in a list), and over what period. Pull the audience with `get_contacts` or `get_my_chats`, or `get_unread_contacts` if the audience is people who have not replied, and count the result. Check it against intent: - **Audience far larger than the user described** (for example "recent buyers" returns the whole base): stop and narrow it. Do not send to everyone by accident. - **Audience tiny** (under about ten): a broadcast is probably the wrong tool; offer individual messages with `send_text_message` or `send_template`. - **Duplicates**: one person under two numbers or two records gets two messages. Dedupe by phone number before counting. - **Staff, test numbers and the business's own number**: remove them. Report the count, and the count after dedupe and exclusions. These two numbers are different and the user should see both. ## 3. Check opt-in and suppression The biggest risk is messaging people who did not agree to hear from you. For each audience segment, check: - Whether the contact is **blocked** (`block_contact` status applies here). Blocked contacts must be excluded. - Whether the contact was **archived or removed** from active marketing lists. - Whether the source of the contact is known to be consented (a purchase, a sign-up, an opt-in form). If the audience is "everyone in the contacts list", say that consent is unverified and recommend a narrower list. If opt-in cannot be established for part of the audience, exclude that part and say so. Do not assume consent to fill the count. ## 4. Match the message to a template, and judge its fit Decide the message type. A promotional or announcement message to people who have not messaged the business in a while generally needs an approved template (`send_template`). A free-form `send_text_message` only fits a reply inside an open conversation. Check: - **Template exists and is approved** for this purpose. An unapproved or mismatched template fails or gets flagged. - **Personalisation fields** (first name, order number) are present for every recipient. A blank `{{name}}` in a hundred messages is an embarrassing send. Check a sample of the rendered text against real records. - **Tone and timing**: a promotion at night local time, or a discount that expired, is a risk. Read the text as the customer would. - **Claims and offers**: prices, deadlines, percentages and stock must be ones the user has confirmed. Do not invent or round them. Keep the sample of rendered messages to two or three real examples so the user can see what each person will receive. ## 5. Assess the risk and recommend a cadence Rate the send and say why: - **Low**: small, opted-in audience, approved template, no time pressure. - **Medium**: large audience, promotional, or an unverified part of the list. - **High**: unconsented or mixed audience, a time-sensitive offer with an error risk, or a template that has not been checked by the user. For medium and high risk, recommend a small test batch first (a few recipients the user controls), then the full send after the user confirms the test looked right. Also recommend pacing a large send rather than firing it all at once, so replies and complaints can be watched. ## 6. Get explicit approval, then send Present the full plan (below) and stop. Sending requires the user's explicit yes, given after they have seen the final count, the exclusions, the sample messages and the risk rating. Use `send_template` or `send_text_message` for the approved audience only. A yes to a plan is not a yes to a different audience or a different message: if either changes, show the change and ask again. Record what was sent and to how many. ## Common patterns and traps - **"Everyone" means a stale list.** Contacts saved years ago may have changed numbers or never agreed to marketing. Recency of last purchase or last reply is a better filter than presence in the list. - **The count you sized is not the count you send.** Blocked, duplicate and excluded contacts shrink the list. Always send the post-filter count in the approval request. - **A reply-to-broadcast changes the conversation.** Customers who respond will land in the inbox; warn the user so the reply volume is staffed. - **Template variables resolve from the record.** A missing field on a subset of contacts produces broken greetings. Check the sample across different records, not just the first one. - **Urgency bias.** "The sale ends tonight" is a reason to check harder, not send faster. - **Partial send.** If a send fails for part of the list, report exactly who did and did not receive it. Do not blindly resend to everyone. ## Output ``` Campaign: from Audience: → → Excluded: Message type: