sales-skills/sales-braze

Braze Platform Help

Help the user with Braze platform questions — from Canvas Flow journey orchestration and cross-channel campaigns through BrazeAI, Braze Data Platform, segmentation, Catalogs, Feature Flags, and REST API integrations.

Step 1 — Gather context

If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. What area of Braze do you need help with?

   • A) Canvas Flow — journey orchestration, multi-step cross-channel flows
   • B) Campaigns — single-send or API-triggered messages
   • C) Email — templates, drag-and-drop editor, Liquid, Connected Content
   • D) Push notifications — iOS, Android, web push, rich push (for cross-platform strategy, hand off: /sales-push-notification {your question})
   • E) In-app messages / Content Cards — modals, slideups, persistent cards (for cross-platform strategy, hand off: /sales-in-app-messaging {your question})
   • F) SMS / MMS / RCS / WhatsApp / LINE — mobile messaging channels
   • G) BrazeAI — predictive models, generative content, AI agents, Decisioning Studio
   • H) Segmentation — real-time segments, SQL segments, CDI Segments, filters
   • I) Braze Data Platform — Cloud Data Ingestion, Currents streaming, data transformation
   • J) Catalogs — product data, location data, dynamic personalization
   • K) Feature Flags — controlled rollouts, A/B testing features
   • L) Transactional email — dedicated API for time-sensitive 1:1 messages (for cross-platform, hand off: /sales-transactional-email {your question})
   • M) Deliverability — domain auth, IP warmup, sender reputation (for cross-platform, hand off: /sales-deliverability {your question})
   • N) REST API — endpoints, authentication, rate limits, SDKs
   • O) Integrations — Braze Alloys, CDP connectors, data warehouse sync
   • P) Liquid templating / Connected Content — dynamic personalization
   • Q) Admin — workspaces, API keys, SCIM, permissions, billing
   • R) Migration from Appboy or another platform
   • S) Something else — describe it

2. What's your role?

   • A) Marketing / CRM / lifecycle marketer
   • B) Growth / product manager
   • C) Developer / engineer
   • D) Data / analytics
   • E) Admin / ops
   • F) Other

3. What are you trying to accomplish? (describe your specific goal or question)

If the user's request already provides most of this context, skip directly to the relevant step. Lead with your best-effort answer using reasonable assumptions (stated explicitly), then ask only the most critical 1-2 clarifying questions at the end.

Step 2 — Route or answer directly

If the request maps to a specialized skill, route:

• Push notification strategy → /sales-push-notification
• In-app messaging strategy → /sales-in-app-messaging
• Email marketing strategy (opt-in) → /sales-email-marketing
• Transactional email architecture → /sales-transactional-email
• Cross-platform deliverability → /sales-deliverability
• Tool integration architecture → /sales-integration
• Lead scoring models → /sales-lead-score
• Live chat / chatbot → /sales-live-chat
• Loyalty programs → /sales-loyalty

Otherwise, answer directly from platform knowledge using the reference below.

Step 3 — Braze platform reference

Read references/platform-guide.md for detailed module documentation, pricing, integrations, and data model.

You no longer need the platform guide details — focus on the user's specific situation.

Step 4 — Actionable guidance

Based on the user's area, provide:

1. Step-by-step instructions — exact Braze UI paths or API calls
2. Configuration recommendations — settings, plan considerations, gotchas
3. Verification steps — how to confirm the setup works
4. Next steps — what to do after the immediate task

Common setup workflows

First-time setup checklist:

1. Configure SDK integration (iOS/Android/Web) — install SDK, set API key and endpoint
2. Set up user identification — changeUser() with external_id
3. Track custom events and attributes — define your event taxonomy
4. Set up email domain authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC)
5. Configure push credentials (APNs certificate, FCM key)
6. Create your first segment based on user behavior
7. Build a simple campaign to test each channel
8. Set up Currents for data export (if needed)

Canvas Flow quickstart:

1. Dashboard → Messaging → Canvas → Create Canvas
2. Set entry schedule (action-based, scheduled, or API-triggered)
3. Add entry audience (segment or filters)
4. Build flow: add message steps, delays, decision splits
5. Add variants for A/B testing if desired
6. Set conversion events to track success
7. Review, test with internal users, then launch

API key setup:

1. Dashboard → Settings → APIs and Identifiers
2. Create New API Key — name it descriptively
3. Select only the permissions this key needs (principle of least privilege)
4. Note your REST endpoint (instance-specific URL)
5. Test: curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" https://rest.{instance}.braze.com/users/export/ids -d '{"external_ids": ["test_user"]}'

Gotchas

Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about plan-gated features and integration gotchas that may be outdated.

1. Instance-specific endpoints: Braze has 10+ regional instances (US-01 through US-10, EU-01/02, AU-01, etc.). Using the wrong instance URL for your API calls will silently fail. Always check your dashboard for the correct REST endpoint.
2. Canvas vs Campaign confusion: Braze has both "Campaigns" (single-step) and "Canvas" (multi-step). Users asking about "sequences" or "journeys" want Canvas, not Campaign. Users asking about "blasts" or "one-time sends" want Campaign.
3. MAU-based pricing can spike unexpectedly: Braze charges by Monthly Active Users, not contacts. If you run a reactivation campaign that wakes up dormant users, your MAU count (and bill) will increase. Warn users about this when designing win-back campaigns.
4. Liquid vs Handlebars: Braze uses Liquid templating (like Shopify), NOT Handlebars (like SendGrid/Postmark). Syntax is {{${first_name}}} not {{first_name}}. The double-dollar-sign wrapping is Braze-specific Liquid.
5. Connected Content rate limits: Connected Content API calls happen at send time. If you send to 1M users and each message calls an external API, that's 1M API calls to your server. Implement caching ({% connected_content ... :cache_max_age 300 %}) and ensure your API can handle the load.

• Self-improving: If you discover something not covered here, append it to references/learnings.md with today's date.

Step 5 — Related skills

• /sales-push-notification — Push notification strategy across platforms
• /sales-in-app-messaging — In-app messaging and content card strategy across platforms
• /sales-email-marketing — Opt-in email marketing strategy across platforms
• /sales-transactional-email — Transactional/triggered email delivery strategy
• /sales-deliverability — Cross-platform email deliverability (SPF/DKIM/DMARC, warmup, reputation)
• /sales-integration — Connect Braze with data warehouses, CDPs, and other tools
• /sales-live-chat — Live chat and chatbot strategy
• /sales-loyalty — Customer loyalty program design
• /sales-lead-score — Lead/engagement scoring models
• /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: Building an onboarding Canvas

User says: "How do I create a 7-day onboarding journey in Braze for new app users?" Skill does: Guides through creating a Canvas with action-based entry (session start, first time = true) → Day 0 welcome push + in-app → Day 1 email with getting started guide → Day 3 Decision Split (completed setup? yes → feature highlight Content Card, no → reminder push) → Day 7 survey in-app message. Includes setting conversion events and A/B variant setup. Result: Complete onboarding Canvas with branching, multi-channel messages, and success metrics

Example 2: Setting up Currents data export

User says: "I need to stream Braze engagement events to our Snowflake data warehouse" Skill does: Walks through Dashboard → Data Settings → Currents → Create New Current → Snowflake → configure connection credentials, select events to stream (email opens, push clicks, in-app impressions, purchases), set data format. Explains the Snowflake Data Sharing alternative for zero-ETL access. Result: Real-time engagement data flowing from Braze to Snowflake

Example 3: Using Connected Content for personalized recommendations

User says: "How do I pull product recommendations from our API into Braze email at send time?" Skill does: Shows Connected Content syntax: {% connected_content https://api.example.com/recs/{{${user_id}}} :save recs :cache_max_age 900 %} → iterate with {% for item in recs.products %} → build product cards in email. Covers error handling ({% if connected_content_status == 200 %}), caching, and load testing. Result: Dynamically personalized product recommendation emails pulling from external API

Troubleshooting

Canvas not sending to expected audience

Symptom: Canvas shows 0 entries or far fewer users than expected Cause: Entry audience filters too restrictive, rate limiting too aggressive, re-eligibility disabled, or entry schedule not matching expected trigger Solution: 1) Check entry audience — preview the segment size. 2) Verify the trigger event is actually firing (check user profile event log). 3) Check rate limiting settings. 4) Ensure re-eligibility is enabled if users should enter multiple times. 5) For API-triggered Canvas, verify the API call includes the correct canvas_id.

Push notifications not delivering

Symptom: Push campaigns show sends but low/zero deliveries Cause: Invalid push tokens, expired APNs certificate, incorrect FCM key, or users unsubscribed Solution: 1) Check push token validity in user profiles. 2) Verify APNs certificate or FCM key in Dashboard → Settings → App Settings. 3) Check push subscription status — filter segment by "Push Enabled". 4) For iOS, ensure push primer was shown and user accepted. 5) Test with a known-good device first.

Connected Content returning errors

Symptom: Emails rendering with blank personalization or error fallbacks Cause: External API unreachable at send time, rate limited, or returning unexpected format Solution: 1) Test the API URL manually with a sample user_id. 2) Add error handling: {% if connected_content_status == 200 %}. 3) Add caching: :cache_max_age 300 to reduce API calls. 4) Ensure your API can handle the send volume (1 call per recipient). 5) Add a fallback: {% else %}Default content here{% endif %}.