# Setting autonomy per channel

Each of the four channels — email, WhatsApp, SMS and voice — holds its own autonomy mode, and there is no setting that ties them together. They differ in how reversible a mistake is, how quickly the other side expects an answer, and what the provider can carry, so a configuration matching all four is usually a configuration nobody has thought about yet.

- **Status:** Available
- **Audience:** both
- **Channels:** email, whatsapp, sms, phone
- **In the app:** #/autonomy, #/calls, #/whatsapp
- **Last verified:** 2026-09-10
- **Canonical:** https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/autonomy/per-channel/

## Why the four are not interchangeable

| Channel | Expected reply time | Cost of a wrong outbound | Provider constraint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email | Hours | Low — it can be corrected in a follow-up on the same thread | Gmail, Microsoft Graph or any IMAP/SMTP server |
| WhatsApp | Minutes | Moderate — it lands on a personal device, often out of hours | A WhatsApp Business provider, configured per workspace |
| SMS | Minutes | Moderate, and undeletable | Outbound depends on a provider that carries SMS; the live carrier does not, and in India on DLT registration |
| Voice | Immediate | High — a call interrupts, and cannot be recalled | A carrier for the PSTN leg, plus the realtime engine where a workspace opts into it |

Read that table as a gradient of recall. An email sent in error is embarrassing; a call placed in error is an interruption you cannot take back, to somebody who may be driving. Most workspaces end up with autonomy decreasing from left to right, and that is a sound instinct rather than timidity.

## Configurations that hold up

**Email `autonomous`, voice `ask_before_send`** — The most common shape once a workspace trusts the drafting. Routine mail flows; nobody is rung without a person agreeing to it.
**Everything `ask_before_send` for the first fortnight** — The evaluation posture. The queue doubles as a quality measure: if you are approving without editing, you have your answer.
**Email `autonomous`, one mailbox `ask_before_send`** — Channel rule plus an endpoint exception — the `billing@` or `legal@` mailbox stays supervised while the rest does not.
**WhatsApp `autonomous`, SMS `off`** — Sensible where the live carrier carries no SMS. Setting the channel `off` states the position deliberately instead of leaving replies to fail at the provider.
**Voice `autonomous`, contact exceptions** — Suits outbound call-backs a workspace has already promised. See [Asking before placing a call](/docs/autonomy/ask-before-calling/) for what the gate holds.

## Where the channel's own limits bite

Autonomy grants permission; it does not create capability. SMS is the clearest case: inbound handling, STOP and suppression are in place, but outbound sending depends on a provider that carries SMS, and the live carrier does not. Setting the SMS channel to `autonomous` on such a workspace changes nothing about what can leave — the Phone screen says so rather than presenting a thread that cannot send.

Voice has two limits worth knowing before you loosen it. Call recording is not enabled on the live carrier, and a completed transfer of a call to a human is not available there either; both exist as foundation in the code and are gated on what the provider can do. Neither is affected by the autonomy mode, and no mode turns either of them on.

> **Note** Phone follow-ups drain against the same gates as any other outbound call, two per tick. Each attempt is recorded as a placed call, as awaiting approval, or as a refusal with its reason — so a voice channel on `ask_before_send` turns a due call-back into a queued decision rather than dropping it.

## Changing one channel without disturbing the others

1. Open the autonomy screen and change the mode on the one channel.
   - Result: Nothing on the other three moves; there is no linked setting to catch you out.
2. Check the exceptions listed under it.
   - Result: Endpoint and contact rules survive a channel change, and they are the reason a loosened channel can still feel strict.
3. Watch the decision log for the first day on the new mode.
   - Result: Every action and every refusal is recorded with the rule it ran under, which is faster than sampling conversations.

## Questions

### Is there one switch for all channels at once?

No, and deliberately not. The workspace scope is the nearest thing: it is the fallback every channel inherits where no channel rule is set. Once a channel carries its own rule, changing the workspace rule leaves it alone.

### If SMS cannot send on my carrier, should I set it `off` or `draft_only`?

`off` if nobody should be drafting on it at all; `draft_only` if you want to read what Connect would have replied while you arrange a provider that carries SMS. Either is honest; leaving it `autonomous` is the one that produces refusals nobody asked for.

### Does WhatsApp follow the same modes as email?

Yes. Inbound webhook, person resolution and conversation continuity all work the same way, and the reply is governed by the same four modes at the same four scopes as any other channel.

## Related

- [The four autonomy modes](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/autonomy/modes/)
- [Autonomy scopes](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/autonomy/scopes/)
- [Asking before placing a call](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/autonomy/ask-before-calling/)
- [The gates that always apply](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/autonomy/explicit-gates/)
- [SMS in Connect](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/sms/)
- [WhatsApp in Connect](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/whatsapp/)
- [Phone and voice in Connect](https://connectbyjbrh.com/docs/phone/)

## What this page is based on

- Connect source pack §5 — channels and modes (`docs-source/sources/GENERAL.md`)
- Connect source pack §7 — phone follow-ups and their outcomes
- Connect capability registry (`docs-source/facts.py`) — `CHANNELS`, `sms_outbound`, `call_recording`, `call_transfer`
- `backend/app/autonomy.py`, `backend/app/runner.py` — channel rules and the phone follow-up drain