sales-braze

What this skill does

# Braze Platform Help

Help the user with Braze platform questions — from Canvas Flow journey orchestration and cross-channel campaigns through BrazeAI, Braze Data Platform, segmentation, Catalogs, Feature Flags, and REST API integrations.

## Step 1 — Gather context


If `references/learnings.md` exists, read it first for accumulated knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. **What area of Braze do you need help with?**
   - A) Canvas Flow — journey orchestration, multi-step cross-channel flows
   - B) Campaigns — single-send or API-triggered messages
   - C) Email — templates, drag-and-drop editor, Liquid, Connected Content
   - D) Push notifications — iOS, Android, web push, rich push (for cross-platform strategy, hand off: `/sales-push-notification {your question}`)
   - E) In-app messages / Content Cards — modals, slideups, persistent cards (for cross-platform strategy, hand off: `/sales-in-app-messaging {your question}`)
   - F) SMS / MMS / RCS / WhatsApp / LINE — mobile messaging channels
   - G) BrazeAI — predictive models, generative content, AI agents, Decisioning Studio
   - H) Segmentation — real-time segments, SQL segments, CDI Segments, filters
   - I) Braze Data Platform — Cloud Data Ingestion, Currents streaming, data transformation
   - J) Catalogs — product data, location data, dynamic personalization
   - K) Feature Flags — controlled rollouts, A/B testing features
   - L) Transactional email — dedicated API for time-sensitive 1:1 messages (for cross-platform, hand off: `/sales-transactional-email {your question}`)
   - M) Deliverability — domain auth, IP warmup, sender reputation (for cross-platform, hand off: `/sales-deliverability {your question}`)
   - N) REST API — endpoints, authentication, rate limits, SDKs
   - O) Integrations — Braze Alloys, CDP connectors, data warehouse sync
   - P) Liquid templating / Connected Content — dynamic personalization
   - Q) Admin — workspaces, API keys, SCIM, permissions, billing
   - R) Migration from Appboy or another platform
   - S) Something else — describe it

2. **What's your role?**
   - A) Marketing / CRM / lifecycle marketer
   - B) Growth / product manager
   - C) Developer / engineer
   - D) Data / analytics
   - E) Admin / ops
   - F) Other

3. **What are you trying to accomplish?** (describe your specific goal or question)

**If the user's request already provides most of this context, skip directly to the relevant step.** Lead with your best-effort answer using reasonable assumptions (stated explicitly), then ask only the most critical 1-2 clarifying questions at the end.

## Step 2 — Route or answer directly

If the request maps to a specialized skill, route:
- Push notification strategy → `/sales-push-notification`
- In-app messaging strategy → `/sales-in-app-messaging`
- Email marketing strategy (opt-in) → `/sales-email-marketing`
- Transactional email architecture → `/sales-transactional-email`
- Cross-platform deliverability → `/sales-deliverability`
- Tool integration architecture → `/sales-integration`
- Lead scoring models → `/sales-lead-score`
- Live chat / chatbot → `/sales-live-chat`
- Loyalty programs → `/sales-loyalty`

Otherwise, answer directly from platform knowledge using the reference below.

## Step 3 — Braze platform reference

**Read `references/platform-guide.md`** for detailed module documentation, pricing, integrations, and data model.

*You no longer need the platform guide details — focus on the user's specific situation.*

## Step 4 — Actionable guidance

Based on the user's area, provide:

1. **Step-by-step instructions** — exact Braze UI paths or API calls
2. **Configuration recommendations** — settings, plan considerations, gotchas
3. **Verification steps** — how to confirm the setup works
4. **Next steps** — what to do after the immediate task

### Common setup workflows

**First-time setup checklist:**
1. Configure SDK integration (iOS/Android/Web) — install SDK, set API key and endpoint
2. Set up user identification — `changeUser()` with external_id
3. Track custom events and attributes — define your event taxonomy
4. Set up email domain authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC)
5. Configure push credentials (APNs certificate, FCM key)
6. Create your first segment based on user behavior
7. Build a simple campaign to test each channel
8. Set up Currents for data export (if needed)

**Canvas Flow quickstart:**
1. Dashboard → Messaging → Canvas → Create Canvas
2. Set entry schedule (action-based, scheduled, or API-triggered)
3. Add entry audience (segment or filters)
4. Build flow: add message steps, delays, decision splits
5. Add variants for A/B testing if desired
6. Set conversion events to track success
7. Review, test with internal users, then launch

**API key setup:**
1. Dashboard → Settings → APIs and Identifiers
2. Create New API Key — name it descriptively
3. Select only the permissions this key needs (principle of least privilege)
4. Note your REST endpoint (instance-specific URL)
5. Test: `curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" https://rest.{instance}.braze.com/users/export/ids -d '{"external_ids": ["test_user"]}'`

## Gotchas

*Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about plan-gated features and integration gotchas that may be outdated.*

1. **Instance-specific endpoints**: Braze has 10+ regional instances (US-01 through US-10, EU-01/02, AU-01, etc.). Using the wrong instance URL for your API calls will silently fail. Always check your dashboard for the correct REST endpoint.
2. **Canvas vs Campaign confusion**: Braze has both "Campaigns" (single-step) and "Canvas" (multi-step). Users asking about "sequences" or "journeys" want Canvas, not Campaign. Users asking about "blasts" or "one-time sends" want Campaign.
3. **MAU-based pricing can spike unexpectedly**: Braze charges by Monthly Active Users, not contacts. If you run a reactivation campaign that wakes up dormant users, your MAU count (and bill) will increase. Warn users about this when designing win-back campaigns.
4. **Liquid vs Handlebars**: Braze uses Liquid templating (like Shopify), NOT Handlebars (like SendGrid/Postmark). Syntax is `{{${first_name}}}` not `{{first_name}}`. The double-dollar-sign wrapping is Braze-specific Liquid.
5. **Connected Content rate limits**: Connected Content API calls happen at send time. If you send to 1M users and each message calls an external API, that's 1M API calls to your server. Implement caching (`{% connected_content ... :cache_max_age 300 %}`) and ensure your API can handle the load.

- **Self-improving**: If you discover something not covered here, append it to `references/learnings.md` with today's date.

## Step 5 — Related skills

- `/sales-push-notification` — Push notification strategy across platforms
- `/sales-in-app-messaging` — In-app messaging and content card strategy across platforms
- `/sales-email-marketing` — Opt-in email marketing strategy across platforms
- `/sales-transactional-email` — Transactional/triggered email delivery strategy
- `/sales-deliverability` — Cross-platform email deliverability (SPF/DKIM/DMARC, warmup, reputation)
- `/sales-integration` — Connect Braze with data warehouses, CDPs, and other tools
- `/sales-live-chat` — Live chat and chatbot strategy
- `/sales-loyalty` — Customer loyalty program design
- `/sales-lead-score` — Lead/engagement scoring models
- `/sales-do` — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do`

## Examples

### Example 1: Building an onboarding Canvas
**User says**: "How do I create a 7-day onboarding journey in Braze for new app users?"
**Skill does**: Guides through creating a Canvas with action-based entry (session start, first time = true) → Day 0 welcome push + in-app → Day 1 email with getting started guide → Day 3 Decision Split (completed setup? yes → feature highlight Content Card, no → reminder push) → Day 7 survey in-app message. Includes setting conversion event