Introducing the auto-send countdown
Drafts released by an auto-approve rule with a review window now show "Auto-sends in mm:ss" until they go. Stop one, edit it, or switch auto-send off for the account, from wherever you are.
Product team3 min read
Auto-approve rules can send a draft right away, or after a review window of 5 minutes, 30 minutes or 2 hours. Until now, a draft in its review window looked much like any other draft in the queue. You knew it would go out eventually, but not when.
Starting today, every draft that an auto-approve rule has matched shows a live countdown: Auto-sends in mm:ss. When it reaches zero, the draft is sent. Until then, you can stop it.
Where you'll see it
The countdown follows the draft, not the page:
- In the command center, on the draft's card in the approval queue.
- In the inbox, on the draft inside the thread, next to its confidence score.
- Across pages. The timer keeps running while you move around the app, so leaving the queue doesn't pause anything or lose your place.
Drafts that have already gone out appear under Auto-sent today in the approval queue, summarised per rule, so you can see what each rule released.
Three ways to hold a draft
When a countdown is running, you have three options, depending on how much you want to stop:
- Stop this draft. The countdown ends and the draft stays in the queue for a person to review.
- Edit the draft. Editing stops the countdown too: once a person has changed the text, it's their message, and it waits for them to send it.
- Turn off auto-send for the account. The per-account autonomy switches in the inbox include Auto-send replies under $100k. Turning it off holds every pending auto-send for that account, not just the one in front of you.
Note
A held draft says why it's held: stopped by a person, edited, or blocked by the account switch. When you're ready, resume it and the draft goes back to its rule.
Why a countdown, and not just a delay
A delay you can't see is only half a safety net. The review window exists so that someone who knows the customer can step in, but they can only do that if they know a message is about to go.
Showing the time remaining does three things:
- It turns the window into an invitation. "Auto-sends in 04:12" on a thread you're watching is a clear prompt to read the draft now, if you care about this one.
- It makes the rule's behaviour visible. You can see exactly which drafts a rule released, instead of discovering it from the sent messages.
- It builds trust in the rule. After watching a few dozen drafts count down and go out without needing a change, it's much easier to shorten the window or widen the rule.
What doesn't change
The countdown only applies to drafts an auto-approve rule has already matched. Everything that decides whether a draft is eligible still works the way it did:
| Check | Still applies |
|---|---|
| Blocking guardrails | Yes, before any rule is matched |
| Confidence floor on the rule | Yes |
| Channel and deal-value limits | Yes |
| Skipping legal terms | Yes, if the rule says so |
| The agent's quiet hours | Yes |
A draft held by a guardrail never gets a countdown, because no rule can release it.
Choosing a review window
If you're unsure which window to use, start long and shorten it as you gain confidence:
- 2 hours for a new rule, or for channels where a reply within the hour is fine, such as email.
- 30 minutes once the rule has a track record and the team is used to the countdown.
- 5 minutes for messaging channels where speed matters and the drafts are routine.
- Right away only for replies you'd never edit, such as booking confirmations.
The rule editor's live preview shows which drafts in the current queue a rule would match, so you can see the effect of a change before you save it.
Available now
The countdown is on for every workspace with auto-approve rules, which are part of the Pay as you go plan. There's nothing to configure: any rule with a review window shows it. If you want to try it before changing a live rule, create a new one in the command center and watch its preview first.