Draft first: approve every text before it sends
Switch any automated SMS agent from Autopilot to Draft first and its messages queue for your review — edit, approve, or dismiss from the top of the AI Agents page.
AI & automations13 in this section
Every automated SMS agent — the Lead Responder, the Campaign Runner and its win-back drive, Message Follow-through, the Invoice Chaser — has a How it sends setting on its page: Autopilot — send automatically or Draft first — queue for my approval. On draft-first, the agent still finds the moment and writes the message in your shop voice, but instead of sending it queues the draft on the Approvals tab. It's the right mode for your first weeks with an agent, or for any shop that wants a human on every outbound text. Automations are the other half of this: their words are fixed and visible, so there is nothing to approve — read the rule, then switch it on.
Pending drafts appear in two places, and they are the same queue. The inbox's Follow-ups tab is the main one — it shows these drafts alongside the follow-ups Call Intelligence and Message Follow-through prepared, newest first, and the tab carries a count of everything waiting. The Approvals section at the very top of AI Agents still lists them too, with an “N awaiting approval” badge in the page header. Either way each row shows which agent wrote it, who it's going to, when it was drafted, and the full message, editable before you send it.
Working the queue
- 1
Read the draft
The agent badge tells you which specialist wrote it and the recipient is shown up top — context first.
- 2
Edit if you like
The textarea is the real message. Tweak a word or rewrite it entirely — whatever you submit is exactly what sends.
- 3
Approve & send — or Dismiss
Approve & send delivers it through the same compliant path the autopilot agents use. Dismiss quietly drops it: nothing is sent, and the customer never knows.
Approval re-checks compliance at send time
A draft queued this morning is only sent if it's still safe *now*: approving re-checks the shop's messaging gate, your quiet-hours window, and the recipient's opt-out and consent at the moment you tap. Outside your send window the approval is refused — approve again once the window opens.
Troubleshooting
Approving fails with “outside your send window”.
Why: Send-time compliance: approvals respect the same quiet hours the autopilot agents do.
Fix: Approve during your send window (set on the Win-Back Agent's quiet-hours knobs), or widen the window first.
Approving fails with “this recipient has opted out”.
Why: The customer texted STOP (or lacks marketing consent) after the draft was queued — the re-check caught it.
Fix: Dismiss the draft. Opt-outs are always honored; reach them another way if it matters.
It says “that draft was already handled”.
Why: A double-tap or a second manager approved it first — each draft can only be actioned once.
Fix: Nothing to fix: check Recent agent activity to confirm the send went out exactly once.
I switched to Draft first but nothing ever appears in the queue.
Why: The agent hasn't found anything to send yet, or it isn't Active (paused or missing messaging setup).
Fix: Check the agent's badge on /agents — it must be Active — and give it a full cycle to run.
Common questions
Which mode is the default?
Autopilot. Draft-first is opt-in, per agent — you can run Message Follow-through on autopilot while keeping the win-back drive on draft-first.
Does dismissing a draft message the customer?
No. Dismiss is silent and one-way — the draft is dropped and nothing is sent.
Who sees the Approvals queue?
Owners and managers. Approving and dismissing are manager-gated actions.