Step 1 — Gather context

Which Vitally plan? (Tech-Touch, Hybrid-Touch, High-Touch, unsure)

Skip-ahead rule: if the user's prompt already contains enough context, skip to Step 2.

Step 2 — Route or answer directly

When routing, provide the exact command with the user's original question.

Otherwise, answer directly using the platform reference.

Step 3 — Vitally platform reference

Read references/platform-guide.md for the full platform reference — modules, pricing, integrations, data model, workflows.

If the question involves API endpoints, also read references/vitally-api-reference.md.

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. For health score questions, walk through indicator selection and weighting. For automation issues, trace the trigger→condition→action chain. For integration problems, check field mappings and sync direction.

If you discover a gotcha, workaround, 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from research — review these, especially items about plan-gated features and integration gotchas that may be outdated.

• Initial setup is the hardest part. G2 reviewers consistently flag the learning curve — plan 2-4 weeks for full data integration and health score tuning. Don't try to configure everything at once.
• Health scores need 6-10 months before adjusting. Changing weights too early means you can't track trends. Start simple (4 indicators max), validate against actual churn, then refine.
• Bidirectional CRM sync can create loops. If you push health scores to Salesforce AND pull Salesforce fields into health score inputs, test carefully to avoid circular updates.
• Rate limit is 1000 req/min sliding window. The API returns 429 when exceeded with RateLimit-Remaining and RateLimit-Reset headers. Batch operations via Postman bulk endpoints are available.
• DELETE is permanent. Deleting an Account or Organization via API "permanently destroys the record and all data that exclusively belongs to it." No undo.
• Custom trait updates are additive. Omitting a trait in a PUT request keeps its current value. To remove a trait, explicitly set it to null.
• Conversations API doesn't send messages. It creates/updates conversation records as reference points. It does NOT start conversations or send outbound messages to customers.
• EU vs US data centers use different base URLs. US: https://{subdomain}.rest.vitally.io/resources/, EU: https://rest.vitally-eu.io/resources/.
• Self-improving: If you discover something not covered here, append it to references/learnings.md with today's date.

Related skills

• /sales-customer-success — Customer success strategy: health scores, churn prevention, onboarding, expansion, playbook design, CS platform comparison. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-customer-success
• /sales-customer-feedback — NPS, CSAT, CES, VoC program design — survey methodology, response rates, closed-loop feedback. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-customer-feedback
• /sales-integration — Connect Vitally to CRM, billing, and analytics tools via native integrations, Zapier, or API. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-integration
• /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: Health score isn't reflecting at-risk accounts

User: "My health score shows green for accounts that churned last month — what's wrong?"

Approach: Read platform-guide.md health scores section. Audit indicator selection — likely missing usage/engagement signals or weighting login frequency too heavily. Check if data sources (product analytics via Segment/Mixpanel, support tickets via Zendesk) are syncing correctly. Recommend adding a lagging indicator like "days since last login" and a leading indicator like "support ticket trend."

Example 2: Playbook automation not triggering

User: "I set up a renewal playbook to create tasks 90 days before renewal but nothing happens."

Approach: Read platform-guide.md automation section. Check: (1) Is the nextRenewalDate trait populated on accounts? (2) Is the trigger condition using the right field name (custom traits use vitally.custom. prefix)? (3) Is the playbook active (not draft)? (4) Does the account match the segment filter? Walk through the trigger→condition→action chain.

Example 3: REST API custom traits not updating

User: "I'm PUTting traits via the API but they don't show up in the UI."

Approach: Read vitally-api-reference.md. Check: (1) Trait keys must use the vitally.custom. prefix from the Custom Fields admin panel. (2) Traits merge on update — omitted traits aren't deleted. (3) Verify the Authorization: Basic header is correctly base64-encoded. (4) Check the response status — 400 means malformed body, 401 means auth issue.

Troubleshooting

Data not syncing from CRM

• Check integration status. Go to Settings → Integrations and verify the connection is active (not disconnected or errored).
• Check field mappings. Vitally only syncs whitelisted fields — verify the fields you expect are selected in the integration settings.
• Check sync direction. Some fields are one-way (CRM → Vitally). If you need bidirectional sync, both directions must be explicitly enabled.

Dashboards showing stale data

• Check data source refresh schedule. Integrations like Snowflake and BigQuery sync on a schedule (not real-time). Check when the last sync completed.
• Check segment definitions. If a dashboard filters by segment, verify the segment criteria match your expectations — segments are recalculated periodically.

NPS surveys not being received

• Check email delivery. Vitally sends NPS via connected email (Gmail/Outlook) or transactional providers (SendGrid/Mailgun). Verify the sending integration is connected and the sender isn't hitting limits.
• Check throttling rules. Vitally may throttle surveys to avoid over-surveying — check if the user was recently surveyed.
• Check user email validity. Verify the user record has a valid email and isn't unsubscribed (unsubscribedFromConversations: true).