Answer keywords like MENU and HOURS automatically

Rosa runs a taco truck. Her sign says “Text MENU, HOURS or WHERE to 555-555-0100”, and while she’s cooking she can’t answer. She wants each of those words answered within seconds from her own number, and WHERE answered with wherever the truck is parked today, which changes every morning.

What you’ll have

• An answer from your number within seconds to anybody who texts one of your keywords.
• Everything else left for you to answer yourself.
• Stop words handled the usual way: STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE and the rest are never treated as keywords.

What you need

• A BlueBot account with your Mac connected, and a Mac that stays awake: an answer can only go while it’s on.
• Your keywords and their answers.

Let BlueBot see texts from new people

Keywords are mostly texted by people you’ve never texted. By default the Mac copies to BlueBot only the chats with people BlueBot has texted, so a stranger’s MENU would stay in Messages and never reach a rule. Open Settings in the dashboard and set Which chats to copy to Everything, or make this request:

curl -X PATCH "https://usebluebot.com/api/v1/settings" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BLUEBOT_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "inbound_mode": "everything"
  }'

That copies every chat on your Mac, personal ones included, into BlueBot. If your business number is also your personal number, think about that before you turn it on.

There are two ways to build the replies. Keyword rules in the dashboard need no code and suit answers that stay the same. The API way is a webhook handler, for answers that come from your own data, such as today’s location.

With keyword rules

Keyword rules are set up in the dashboard; they have no API yet.

Hi from Rosa’s Tacos. Tacos $3.50 (carnitas, al pastor, pollo, hongos), burrito $11, quesadilla $9, horchata $4. Text WHERE to find the truck today.

We’re open Tuesday to Saturday, 11 AM to 2 PM and 5 PM to 9 PM. Text WHERE to find the truck today.

A text that matches no rule is left for you to answer from the inbox or your phone.

Keep WHERE out of the rules if it changes every day: a rule’s answer is fixed until you edit it. The API way below answers it from wherever you record the day’s spot.

With the API

The handler gets every incoming text through a webhook, reads it the way BlueBot reads stop words (trimmed, in lower case, without a full stop or an exclamation mark at the end), and answers the keywords it knows. The answer’s Idempotency-Key is the incoming text’s id, so a webhook delivered twice is answered once.

curl -X POST "https://usebluebot.com/api/v1/webhooks" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BLUEBOT_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://rosastacos.example/hooks/bluebot",
    "events": [
      "message.received"
    ],
    "description": "Keyword replies"
  }'

// app/hooks/bluebot/route.ts (Next.js)
import BlueBot, { WebhookVerificationError } from '@usebluebot/sdk';
import { todaysSpot } from '@/lib/schedule'; // your own data: where the truck is today

const client = new BlueBot({ apiKey: process.env.BLUEBOT_API_KEY });

const ANSWERS: Record<string, () => Promise<string> | string> = {
  menu: () => 'Hi from Rosa’s Tacos. Tacos $3.50 (carnitas, al pastor, pollo, hongos), burrito $11, quesadilla $9, horchata $4. Text WHERE to find the truck today.',
  hours: () => 'We’re open Tuesday to Saturday, 11 AM to 2 PM and 5 PM to 9 PM. Text WHERE to find the truck today.',
  where: async () => {
    const spot = await todaysSpot();
    return spot ? `Today we’re at ${spot.place} until ${spot.until}. See you there.` : 'We’re closed today. Text HOURS for when we’re open.';
  },
};

// The way BlueBot reads a stop word: trimmed, lower case, no full stop or exclamation mark at the end.
const keywordOf = (text: string | null) => (text ?? '').trim().toLowerCase().replace(/[.!]+$/, '');

export async function POST(request: Request) {
  const payload = await request.text();
  let event;
  try {
    event = client.webhooks.verify(payload, request.headers, process.env.BLUEBOT_WEBHOOK_SECRET);
  } catch (error) {
    if (error instanceof WebhookVerificationError) return new Response('Bad signature', { status: 400 });
    throw error;
  }

  if (event.type !== 'message.received') return new Response(null, { status: 204 });
  const message = event.data;
  const answer = ANSWERS[keywordOf(message.text)];
  if (!answer || message.chatId || !message.from) return new Response(null, { status: 204 }); // not a keyword, or a group chat

  await client.messages.send(
    { to: message.from, text: await answer(), metadata: { keyword: keywordOf(message.text), in_reply_to: message.id } },
    { idempotencyKey: `keyword-${message.id}` },
  );
  return new Response(null, { status: 204 });
}

curl -X POST "https://usebluebot.com/api/v1/messages" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BLUEBOT_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: keyword-msg_2Bf8QzD4kJmA6nXwEuTr1c" \
  -d '{
    "to": "+15555550123",
    "text": "Today we’re at Pier 7, by the ferry, until 2 PM. See you there.",
    "metadata": {
      "keyword": "where",
      "in_reply_to": "msg_2Bf8QzD4kJmA6nXwEuTr1c"
    }
  }'

Answer texts as fast as you can, but answer the webhook first if your lookup is slow: BlueBot waits 10 seconds for a reply before it counts the delivery as failed and tries again. The Idempotency-Key makes the retry safe either way.

Test it

Text MENU to your BlueBot number from your own phone, then HOURS, then a text that isn’t a keyword.

When it goes wrong

• The Mac is asleep. A text that arrives while the Mac sleeps is read when it wakes, and the answer goes then. Keep a Mac that answers keywords awake: in System Settings, Energy, stop it sleeping when the display is off.
• A keyword in a sentence. “What’s on the menu?” doesn’t match a whole-message rule. Add a contains rule for menu below the whole-message ones if you want it answered, and expect it to catch “I loved the menu” too.
• Somebody texts MENU every five minutes. Each one is answered. A handler can remember when it last answered a person and skip a repeat within an hour.
• Quiet hours. A keyword answer is a text like any other and waits through quiet hours. For a business that’s open late, set quiet hours to match.

Next