What it is, and why we built it
The agent is a Signal account run by software. Add its number to your forum's group, we register the group, and it starts working. It takes the admin out of forum time.
About 10 minutes of every meeting goes to booking dates 3–4 months out.
Propose dates, everyone ticks a poll, the date locks itself.
One conflict means the whole group regroups and starts over.
Postpone, new poll, new date. No calendar call.
Topic votes are a thumbs up in the chat, with no clear record.
Every vote is counted, one per person, and the list is always visible.
The agenda is built by hand and printed.
Drafted from the votes as text, PDF and phone-friendly images.
See it in action
A short walkthrough recorded in a test group: proposing topics, voting, a private comment, picking a date, rescheduling, and the agenda. Watch the demoOpens in a new tab on Headstorm's SharePoint.
Talking to it
Plain words, no exact commands. It stays quiet unless you need it.
Tag it to ask for something
Start with @agent, reply to one of its messages, or message it directly. Votes, comments, added dates and poll ticks are picked up without a tag.
It ignores ordinary chat
Two exceptions: if someone clearly asks to discuss something at a meeting, it offers to add a topic (the first 👍 adds it and counts as a vote for; typed votes on a suggestion don't count). If someone types their availability, it asks them to tick the poll instead.
It speaks up on its own for
Scheduling messages (reminders, the date confirmation, a notice when the deadline passes) and agenda updates.
When it records something, it reacts to your message
Your own reactions and poll ticks get no reply, to keep the chat clean. Signal still shows them.
@agent what next? and it tells you the exact phrase to use.A meeting, start to finish
Eight steps. Members set the topics and the date; the moderator drafts and signs off the agenda.
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1Anyone
Propose topics
Give a title, a time estimate, and why it matters in your own words. “Buyer wants an answer this month” becomes urgent.
Leave out the time and it asks. If the urgency is unclear, it asks once to confirm.
Priya@agent topic: succession plan for my CFO, 45 minutes✅ -
2Everyone
Vote on topics
React 👍 or 👎 to the agent's message about a topic, tick it in the topic poll (counts as a vote for), or type it in the group: “+1 for succession planning.”
The topic poll goes up when dates are proposed (step 3), if there are two or more topics. Want to comment privately? Message the agent directly.
Forum AgentNew topic: Succession plan for CFO · 45 min · medium👍 4 · 👎 1 -
3Anyone
Propose dates
List the options. A date poll goes up, along with a topic poll if there are two or more topics on the list.
Up to 10 dates per round. Anyone can add one later.
Marco@agent schedule a meeting on Mon 2 Nov 09:00–12:00 and Mon 9 Nov 09:00–12:00📅 -
4Everyone
Tick the date poll
Tick every date that works. An unticked date counts as a no.
A group reminder 24 hours later, then daily, says how many haven't answered. It never names anyone.
✓ Mon 2 Nov, 09:00–12:00 7/8✓ Mon 9 Nov, 09:00–12:00 8/8 -
Can't make it?
Anyone can type @agent postpone the meeting or @agent add Tue 10 Nov 09:00–12:00. A new date poll replaces the old one and you're back at step 4. The poll even stays open past its deadline.
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5Automatic
Date confirmed
A date locks only when every member ticks it. If several qualify, the earliest wins.
Forum AgentEveryone can make Mon 9 Nov, 09:00–12:00. That's our date. ✅ -
6Moderator
Draft the agenda
The moderator asks when voting feels done. Topics are ordered by priority (urgent, high, medium, low), then by score, with a line where the available time runs out.
It won't draft on its own: the topic poll doesn't show who has yet to vote.
Moderator@agent draft the agenda✅Forum AgentDraft agenda · 165 of 180 min. Sent as text, PDF and page images. -
7Anyone
Agenda updates
As votes shift, ask @agent update the agenda. Otherwise it reposts at most once a day, and only if the order changed.
Want to move a topic or change its time? Ask; it goes through when more than half the forum agrees.
Dana@agent move succession to first🗳️5 of 8 agree · change made -
8Moderator
Approve the final agenda
Posted as final for the meeting. After this, “update the agenda” stops; changes need majority support before the meeting starts, or a moderator redraft.
Moderator@agent approve the agenda✅
After the meeting
The moderator marks each topic: @agent succession discussed, or carried over (it goes back on the list), or closed.
Chat examples are illustrations. The agent's exact wording may differ.
Cheat sheet
Examples, not exact commands. Tap a phrase to copy it, then paste into Signal and edit.
House rules
Each one keeps the agent simple and quiet. If one gets in your way, tell us and we'll change it.
One vote per person per topic
Your latest vote, whether a reaction, poll tick or message, replaces the earlier one. Removing a reaction or unticking the poll takes your vote back to none. Votes of members who leave stop counting.
A score below zero keeps a topic off
Score is votes for minus votes against. The topic stays on the list and comes back once its score is back to zero or above.
The topic poll has no “no”
To vote against, react 👎 or say so. A poll tick replaces your earlier 👍 or 👎.Signal polls only allow ticks.
Polls hold 2 to 10 options
Up to 10 dates per round. The topic poll lists the 10 highest-ranked topics, including ones voted against; vote on the rest with reactions or a typed vote.A limit of the Signal software the agent uses.
Typed availability isn't counted
“I can't do the 2nd” won't register. Tick the poll; the agent will remind you.Free text is easy to misread.
Every member must tick a date
An unticked date rules it out. The earliest date everyone ticked wins.Forum attendance matters.
In this version
- Propose, vote, comment on, list, withdraw and search topics
- Priority from your words, which anyone can raise or lower
- Topic suggestions when someone clearly asks to discuss something
- Private and anonymous comments by direct message
- Date polls, added dates, deadline extensions, postponing, reminders and a notice when the deadline passes
- Agenda as text, PDF and images, with majority-approved changes
- Recording outcomes after the meeting
- Deleting what you wrote, anytime
- Membership in several forums with the same agent
Not yet
- Editing a topic's title or description after proposing it
- An automatic agenda draft once the date is set
- Topic-poll reminders, or reminders to individuals
- Location, attendee lists, calendar invites and minutes
- Per-item start times, forum name, opening and closing items on the agenda
- Removing a forum, or taking the agent out of a group
Security and privacy
What you write is encrypted, message text is deleted after 90 days, and you can delete what you wrote at any time.
Who sees your comments
All members, with your name.
Used in the agenda.Only you.
Not used in the agenda.All members, without your name.
Used in the agenda, unnamed.If you make a comment private or delete it, any view drawn only from it comes off the agenda. The agent only listens to groups Headstorm has registered; messages from other groups or non-members are dropped before they reach the AI model.
How long things are kept
| What | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Group and direct message text | 90 days (group setting can vary per forum), plus the agent's history of it |
| Topics, comments, agendas | Until a member deletes them |
| Summaries of group conversation | Kept after the 90-day clean-up, until a member deletes the source messages |
| Database backups | 7 days |
How it's protected
It runs on Headstorm's Microsoft Azure environment. Messages arrive via Signal's end-to-end encryption, and the AI model that reads them runs through Microsoft's Azure OpenAI service, not OpenAI directly. The text members write is encrypted with AES-256, under a key itself locked in Azure Key Vault, so a copy of the database alone can't be read. The database and file storage are also encrypted at rest. Names, Signal IDs, votes, priorities, time estimates and dates aren't covered by that extra layer. Logs hold no message text and no Signal IDs.
Deleting
Ask the agent to delete a message, comment, topic, your votes, a change request, or everything. It's permanent, and summaries that drew on it are fixed within the hour. Proposed dates and poll answers stay, and decisions already made stand.
Who has access
Moderators (initially the group's Signal admins) draft, approve and record outcomes. Headstorm admins sign in with Microsoft accounts to register groups and change settings; their admin page shows no member messages. The agenda names who proposed each topic. The agent is instructed not to name anyone in the topic summaries or members' views.
Tell us what to change
This version is deliberately bare-bones. We'd rather build what your forum needs than guess. Be on the lookout for a feedback survey link, or give your thoughts directly to Lawrence at forum. We'll spend 5 minutes each forum reviewing the ideas below.