Chat modes & auto-replies

The chat mode decides who hears whom. Choose a mode, then send a few messages and watch whose phone each one reaches.

Default — Members message you and your admin team privately; you answer by quoting them. Members never see each other.

Broadcast — Your posts reach everyone. Member replies reach only you and your admin team.

Lecture — You speak to everyone and the session is recorded for a replay. Members can ask questions only while Q&A is open.

Group — Everyone talks to everyone — the circle works like one big group chat.

YouOwner

AliceMember

BobMember

Tap a button under any phone to send a message.

Who sees what

Mode	You send a message	You quote-reply a member	A member sends a message
Default	Not sent — the bot reminds you to quote	That member only	You and your admin team
Broadcast	Everyone	That member only	You and your admin team
Lecture	Everyone, recorded for the replay	That member only	You and your admin team, only while Q&A is open
Group	Everyone	Everyone	Everyone

“You” covers your admins and lecturers too — they post with the same reach as the owner.

In an Oh My Live room, chat follows the same mode: members see the same reach as in circle chat, and the composer explains why when they cannot post. The owner and admins can switch the mode right in the room, and every open room reloads its chat to follow.

Switching modes

Go to Console → Settings → Chat rules, or send /help to your bot for a quick switch.
Members who subscribed to messages get a direct message every time you switch.
Lecture asks you to confirm first, because recording starts right away. Q&A starts closed: send /qa on to take questions and /qa off to stop. A replay post is created when you finish.
Broadcast also collects the previous day’s broadcasts into a replay automatically.
Group requires Circle VIP. If VIP lapses, the circle falls back to Broadcast.

Auto-replies

Console → Chat → Auto-replies: pick a trigger keyword and what the bot sends back — text, a long-form post, a contact card, or an app card with cover, title, and buttons.

A new member sends “start” → the bot replies with your guide post.
Someone sends “courses” → the bot replies with a card linking to the purchase page.
Triggers exact-match the member message (one rule can carry several, comma-separated); when one trigger has several rules, the first created wins.
App-card buttons come as link or send text — send-text posts that text as the member, which can hit your own trigger and chain another layer: see Playbook: bot onboarding.
Test-run any rule on the page, or send it to your own Mixin to preview.

Managing replays

Replays from Lecture and Broadcast modes gather in Console → Chat → Replays. A fresh replay is visible to you only: give it a proper title here (the default is generated from the date), flip it to member-visible once it’s ready, and it appears in the replays list on the circle site. The list shows each replay’s message count and average receipts so you can see which sessions landed; hide it again any time.

Message filtering and pacing

In Settings → Chat rules:

Message cooldown — the minimum seconds between two messages from the same member (120 = one message every two minutes; 0 turns it off).
Content filters — block links, images, voice, or card messages automatically.