/suede-sms

name: suede-sms
description: "Suede AI SMS and MMS marketing discipline: whether SMS fits, consent-aware flows (welcome, cart recovery, post-purchase, win-back), exact message copy with segment counts, cadence and quiet hours, number types and platforms, and measurement, checked against current TCPA opt-out rules and A2P 10DLC registration. Use when evaluating SMS as a channel, designing or auditing a text message program, or drafting texts. NOT FOR: email campaigns (use suede-emails), phone-number capture UX (use suede-site-alchemy), or legal certification of a program, which needs counsel; this skill never sends, schedules, imports, or registers anything."
metadata:
  version: 1.1.0

Suede AI SMS Programs

Design consent-aware message programs for commerce, mobile, and SaaS use cases where immediacy can earn its interruption cost. It combines sequence logic, sender identity, cadence, carrier constraints, and measurement without claiming legal certification or sending messages.

Before Starting

**Check for product marketing context first:** If `.agents/product-marketing.md` exists (or `.claude/product-marketing.md`, or the legacy `product-marketing-context.md` filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Gather this context (ask if not provided):

1. Business Type

• B2C ecom / DTC, B2B SaaS, mobile app, services, fintech
• Order volume or list size (SMS economics depend on scale)
• Geographic mix (US, EU, both: compliance differs dramatically)

2. Current State

• Existing SMS program (platform, list size, opt-in rate, opt-out rate, revenue/send)
• Email program (SMS works best as a layer on top, not a replacement)
• Phone number type: short code, toll-free, long code (10DLC)
• Sequences already running (so a new flow does not double-tap the same contact)

3. Compliance Posture

• US: A2P 10DLC registration complete? (Carriers block unregistered 10DLC traffic outright since February 1, 2025)
• Opt-in mechanism in use? (Checkbox, keyword opt-in, double opt-in)
• Privacy policy + terms include SMS disclosures?

4. Goal

• Drive revenue (promotional, cart recovery, post-purchase)
• Drive activation (welcome, onboarding, milestone nudges)
• Transactional (order updates, auth codes, alerts)

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When SMS Beats Email

SMS is not "another email." Use it where the channel's properties win:

| Use Case | SMS or Email? | Why | |----------|---------------|-----| | Abandoned cart recovery | **SMS first** | Texts are read within minutes; the cart is still top of mind | | Order/shipping updates | **SMS** | Customers want it now, on their phone | | Flash sale / limited drop | **SMS** | Urgency channel; immediate read | | Auth codes / 2FA | **SMS** (or app) | Latency-sensitive, must arrive in seconds | | Welcome series | **Email primary, SMS layer** | Email carries the long-form content | | Educational nurture | **Email** | Too much text for SMS, costs add up | | Newsletter | **Email** | Wrong channel for SMS | | Win-back lapsed customers | **Both** | SMS for the strong nudge, email for the offer detail | | Post-purchase upsell | **SMS** | High open rate, ride the purchase momentum |

**General rule**: SMS earns the right to interrupt because of opt-in. Use it for messages that genuinely benefit from immediacy. If it could wait 24 hours, send it via email.

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Compliance: Read First

**Compliance is the foundation, not an afterthought.** TCPA statutory damages run $500 per message, up to $1,500 when willful (47 U.S.C. 227(b)(3)), and class actions multiply that across every recipient. The basics:

US: TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act)

1. **Express written consent** required for marketing SMS. Implied consent doesn't count. 2. **Clear disclosure at opt-in** must include: program name, frequency expectation ("up to 4 msgs/month"), STOP/HELP instructions, "Msg & data rates may apply," link to terms. 3. **Honor opt-outs immediately and on any reasonable request.** Since April 11, 2025 the FCC requires honoring revocation made by any reasonable means, explicitly including replies of stop, quit, end, revoke, opt out, cancel, or unsubscribe, within 10 business days at the latest. Platforms should process keywords instantly; free-text requests ("please stop texting me") count too. One confirmation text is allowed within 5 minutes, with no marketing in it. The separate "revoke-all" provision (one opt-out covering unrelated message types) is delayed to January 31, 2027. 4. **Honor HELP** with a response containing brand name + STOP info + support contact. 5. **Quiet hours**: federal rules bar telephone solicitations before 8am or after 9pm recipient-local. Several state laws are stricter (Florida, Oklahoma, and Washington use 8am to 8pm, and Texas brought marketing texts under its telephone solicitation law in September 2025): default to 9am to 8pm recipient-local and check each state in scope. 6. **Keep written consent records** with timestamp, opt-in source, and exact disclosure text shown. Auditable.

US: A2P 10DLC Registration

Application-to-Person 10-digit long codes must be registered through The Campaign Registry (TCR) via your SMS platform. Since February 1, 2025 US carriers block unregistered 10DLC traffic instead of throttling it; Twilio, for example, returns error 30034 (https://www.twilio.com/docs/api/errors/30034). Registration now also expects a privacy policy and SMS terms linked from the opt-in form, and carriers compare live traffic against the registered sample messages.

**Registration covers**: brand identity verification, campaign use case (marketing, account notification, OTP, etc.), sample messages, opt-in mechanism, opt-out language. Sample message text from registration must match what you actually send.

EU/UK: GDPR-derived consent

• Explicit opt-in required (no pre-checked boxes)
• Right to withdraw consent must be as eas