Auto Messages (labeled Auto Reminders on the page itself) is where every automated text and email Teddy sends on your behalf is configured. Open it from the sidebar under COMMUNICATION → Auto Messages. The URL is /auto-reminders — a minor naming inconsistency between the sidebar label and the URL/page title.
Auto Messages are one of Teddy's most valuable features. A small grooming shop running them well can cut no-shows dramatically, recover dormant clients, and save hours per week that would otherwise be spent manually texting reminders.
The Auto Messages home page shows four tappable cards, one per category:
Calls — a single reminder that fires after any call handled by your AI receptionist
Appointments — reminders, confirmations, and status notifications tied to appointments (the biggest category by far)
Clients — birthday messages and new-client welcome texts
Sent History — a log of every automatic message Teddy has actually sent
Tap any card to drill into that category's list of reminders.
Each category page shows a table of reminders with these columns:
Name — the reminder's name (e.g., "After Call Text," "Upcoming Appointment Reminder," "Birthday Notification")
Description — a one-line summary of what the reminder does and, when relevant, what appointment status it fires on
Email and Text — icons showing which delivery methods are available for this reminder. Some reminders can go by both; some are text-only.
Active — whether the reminder is currently turned on
Within a category page, reminders may be grouped into sections with a heading and subheading. For example, Appointments has two sections: Reminders (upcoming-appointment nudges) and Updates (status-change notifications). Clients has Reminders (birthdays) and New Client Form Follow Up.
Tap any reminder row to open its edit page. You'll see:
Name and description at the top
Text Template — the actual message body that gets sent. It's a regular text area you can type in.
Variable pills — tappable chips like Store name that insert placeholder variables into the message. When the message is actually sent, Teddy substitutes in the real value (your store name, the client's first name, the appointment date, and so on). The available variables depend on the reminder.
Toggle switch — turns the reminder on or off at the bottom of the form (look for a green/gray switch labeled with the reminder's name)
Save button — commits your changes
Some reminders also have separate email and text bodies if the reminder supports both channels. In that case you'll see two text areas.
The toggle at the bottom of the edit page is the master switch for that reminder. If it's on (green), Teddy will send that message automatically whenever its trigger fires. If it's off (gray), the message is suppressed — the trigger still happens (an appointment still gets scheduled, a call still happens), but Teddy won't send the notification.
You can turn a reminder off temporarily (for a holiday week, say) and back on later without losing your customized message body.
A few rules of thumb that apply to every Auto Message template:
Sound like a human, not a robot. "Hey Pablo, indio3's appointment is coming up!" beats "Dear valued client, this is a reminder that your pet has an upcoming grooming appointment."
Use the client's first name. Most templates include the {client_first_name} variable by default — keep it.
Reference the pet by name when possible. Clients care way more about their pet than about you.
Keep it short. Clients read the first sentence and maybe the second. Bury the lede and it won't get read.
Include the "why" in the first line. Why are they getting this text? What do you want them to do? The answer should be obvious inside 5 seconds.
Always ask for a reply or action. "Can you confirm (Y/N)?" is way more effective than a statement with no call to action.
Available variables vary by reminder, but the common ones are:
Store name — your shop's name
Client first name / last name — the client's name fields
Pet name / pet names — the pet or pets on the upcoming appointment
Appointment date / time — the appointment time window
Service name — the service being performed
Every variable is a tappable pill on the edit page. Tap where you want it in the template body, then tap the pill — Teddy inserts the variable token (e.g., {first_name}) at your cursor.
Teddy ships with sensible defaults for every reminder — they're already written in a friendly, clear tone, and most shops can leave them alone for weeks before customizing. When you do customize, start by reading the default template first and just adjusting the bits that don't match your voice. Don't rewrite from scratch unless you have to.
Tip: When you first start using Teddy, leave every reminder on and only turn things off after you've seen how they behave in practice. Most no-show improvements come from reminders that shops initially dismissed as "too many texts."
