sales-f5bot

What this skill does

# F5Bot Platform Help

## Step 1 — Gather context

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

Ask the user:

1. **What do you need help with?**
   - A) Setting up keyword monitoring (choosing keywords, filtering)
   - B) Reducing noise / too many irrelevant alerts
   - C) Configuring notifications (email timing, Slack, Discord, webhooks)
   - D) Using the API to manage alerts programmatically
   - E) RSS/JSON feed setup
   - F) AI semantic alerts (Ultra tier)
   - G) Plan limits and upgrade decision
   - H) Something else — describe it

2. **Which plan are you on?**
   - A) Free (200 keywords, 50 hits/day, email only)
   - B) Power ($14.17/mo annual — 350 keywords, RSS/JSON, scheduled delivery)
   - C) Ultra ($58.33/mo annual — 1000 keywords, AI alerts, API, Slack/Discord)
   - D) Not sure / haven't signed up yet

3. **What's your goal?**
   - A) Brand monitoring (track mentions of my product)
   - B) Lead generation (find people asking for solutions)
   - C) Competitor monitoring
   - D) Customer research / market trends

**If the user's request already provides context, skip to Step 2.**

## Step 2 — Route or answer directly

- Multi-platform monitoring (not just Reddit/HN/Lobsters) → `/sales-social-listening [question]`
- Reddit monitoring with AI comment generation → `/sales-keymentions [question]`
- Reddit monitoring with competitive intelligence → `/sales-threadlytics [question]`
- Developer-first monitoring with API/MCP on all plans → `/sales-octolens [question]`
- Community monitoring across 15+ platforms with API → `/sales-syften [question]`
- Social listening tool comparison → `/sales-social-listening which tool should I pick`

Otherwise, answer directly from the platform reference below.

## Step 3 — F5Bot platform reference

**Read `references/platform-guide.md`** for the full platform reference — capabilities, pricing, data model, filtering flags, API endpoints, webhook setup, and code examples.

Answer the user's question using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.

## Step 4 — Actionable guidance

Focus on the user's specific situation:

1. **Noise reduction** — use multi-word keywords with the `whole` flag, add `exclude=` for false positives, use `only-url=` to restrict to specific subreddits, use `no-url=` to block noisy subreddits
2. **Hit limit management** — if hitting 50/day on free, upgrade to Power (1,000/day) or tighten keywords first
3. **Integration** — API and webhooks require Ultra ($58.33/mo). For cheaper programmatic access, consider Syften (API at €39.95/mo) or RedShip (API at $19/mo)
4. **AI alerts** — Ultra-only semantic alerts match on meaning, not just keywords. Write natural language descriptions of what you want to find

If you discover a gotcha or tip not covered in `references/learnings.md`, append it there.

## Gotchas

*Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about plan-gated features and pricing that may change.*

- **50 hits/day cap on free tier is brutal for common keywords.** If you track "CRM" you'll exhaust the limit in minutes. Use multi-word phrases or upgrade to Power (1,000 hits/day).
- **API and webhooks are Ultra-only ($58.33/mo annual).** Free and Power users have no programmatic access. If you need API access at a lower price, Syften starts at €39.95/mo with API.
- **No regex or wildcards.** Keywords match exactly as entered (case-insensitive). You cannot use patterns — add each variation as a separate keyword.
- **Matches can trigger from URLs and titles, not just body text.** If getting unexpected matches, use `in-body` or `in-title` flags (Power+) to restrict where keywords match.
- **`only-reddit` and `only-url` flags are OR-based.** If you use `only-reddit only-url=/r/saas`, you get ALL Reddit matches plus the subreddit — remove `only-reddit` to restrict to just that subreddit.
- **Slack/Discord require Ultra tier.** Free and Power users can only receive email alerts. Use webhooks on Ultra to route to Slack/Discord channels.
- **Webhook retries stop after 3 failures.** If your endpoint goes down, F5Bot will retry (immediate → 5 min → 1 hour → 15 hours), then give up. Monitor webhook delivery logs.

## Related skills

- `/sales-social-listening` — Social listening strategy across all platforms — tool comparison, monitoring setup, competitive intel, crisis detection
- `/sales-syften` — Syften platform help — fast community monitoring across 15+ platforms with API/webhooks
- `/sales-redditmentions` — RedditMentions — cheapest paid Reddit monitoring at €4.49/mo
- `/sales-keymentions` — KeyMentions — Reddit monitoring with AI comment generation and auto-publish
- `/sales-octolens` — Octolens — developer-first social listening with API/MCP on all plans
- `/sales-threadlytics` — Threadlytics — Reddit-specific monitoring with 500M+ indexed conversations
- `/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: Set up monitoring for a SaaS product on a budget
**User says**: "I just launched a project management tool and want to know when people on Reddit ask for recommendations — but I'm on the free plan"
**Skill does**:
1. Reads platform guide for keyword strategy and filtering
2. Suggests intent-rich keywords: "best project management tool", "project management recommendation", "looking for task manager", competitor names
3. Recommends using `only-url=/r/productivity only-url=/r/SaaS only-url=/r/Entrepreneur` to restrict to relevant subreddits
4. Adds `exclude=minecraft exclude=game` to remove gaming false positives
5. Warns about the 50 hits/day limit and suggests monitoring keyword hit rates
**Result**: Targeted monitoring on free tier with noise reduction

### Example 2: Push F5Bot alerts to a CRM via webhooks
**User says**: "How do I send F5Bot alerts to my internal tool automatically?"
**Skill does**:
1. Confirms Ultra plan required for webhooks and API
2. Reads API reference for webhook payload format
3. Shows webhook setup: configure URL in API Dashboard, receive JSON POST with alert data
4. Provides example payload and shows how to parse `content_html`, `url`, `tags` fields
5. Notes retry policy (stops after 3 failures) and suggests monitoring the webhook log
**Result**: Working webhook integration pushing alerts to user's pipeline

### Example 3: Free tier noise is overwhelming
**User says**: "I'm tracking 'automation' on F5Bot but getting 50 alerts before noon and they're all irrelevant"
**Skill does**:
1. Explains 50 hits/day free limit means common words exhaust quota fast
2. Suggests narrowing: "marketing automation tool" or "automation for small business" instead of "automation"
3. Adds `exclude=home exclude=industrial exclude=factory` flags
4. Recommends `only-url=` to restrict to business subreddits only
5. If still insufficient, suggests Power plan ($14.17/mo) for 1,000 hits/day and `in-body` flag
**Result**: Noise reduced, hit limit managed

## Troubleshooting

### Alerts not arriving
**Symptom**: Set up keywords but no email alerts received
**Cause**: No matches yet (F5Bot only emails when matches exist), email in spam, or keyword is too specific
**Solution**: Post your keyword to r/test — expect an email within minutes. Check spam/promotions folder. If using a common word that should match frequently, verify the keyword wasn't rejected as too common (free tier restriction). Upgrade to Power to remove common word restrictions.

### Hitting 50 hits/day limit before noon
**Symptom**: Stop receiving alerts partway through the day on the free plan
**Cause**: Keywords are too broad, matching high-volume terms across all of Reddit
**Solution**: Use multi-word phrases with the `whole` flag. Add `exclude=` for recurring false positives. Use `only-url=` to restrict to 3-5 relevant subreddits. If legitimate volume exceeds 50/day, upgrade to Power ($14.17/mo, 1,000 hits/