What do the AI / Human / Hold / Muted modes do in the inbox?

Every conversation in HostPal has a "mode" that decides whether the AI replies or whether you handle the guest yourself. You toggle it in the top-right of any conversation.

AI (default) — the bot answers guest messages automatically using your property knowledge. This is where every conversation starts.

Human ("You") — the bot is paused. New guest messages still appear in your inbox with a red "needs attention" dot, but no automatic reply is sent. You reply yourself by typing in the message box.

Hold — the bot sends one polite acknowledgement to the guest ("Thanks, we'll get back to you shortly") and then stays silent until you flip back. Useful when you need a few hours to gather information but want the guest to know they've been heard.

Muted — total silence. The bot doesn't reply to anything, not even emergencies. Use this very rarely — for example, if a guest is being abusive and you've decided to end the conversation entirely.

How modes change automatically:

• Sending a manual reply in the inbox auto-flips AI → Human so the bot doesn't talk over you on the next message.
• The bot itself flips to Human if it detects a complaint, a restricted topic (configured per property), or three low-confidence replies in a row.
• After 2 hours of no host activity, conversations in Human mode auto-revert to AI so messages aren't left unanswered if you forget. Each new reply you send resets that timer.

What you'll see in your inbox while in Human mode:

• The conversation moves to the top of your inbox on every new guest message.
• A red dot ("needs attention") appears until you reply or switch back to AI.
• The mode toggle shows a countdown — "Auto-resumes in 1h 47m" — so you always know when the bot will take back over.