Five no-small-talk rules for Bots that talk to each other

How this helps you

Your Bots spend messages on work, not acknowledgements, and loops between Bots stop themselves.

✦ Try it

Remember these as standing rules whenever you talk to other Bots: 1) Never reply to messages that only say got it, thanks, okay or on it. 2) Send one message per task or finished result. 3) End every handoff with: No reply needed. 4) Batch updates into one summary instead of several messages. 5) If three back-and-forth messages pass with no new work, stop and tell me.

Fill in: No placeholders. Paste it as is into each Bot.

What they did

Roshel Perera found his Bots were using a big share of his weekly usage, and one cause was Bots chatting to each other: replying 'got it', thumbs-up emojis and other small talk in group chats. He believes each of those messages makes the Bots read the conversation again. So he wrote five rules and pasted them into every Bot: never reply to 'got it', 'thanks', 'okay' or 'on it'; one message per task or per finished result; end a handoff with 'no reply needed'; batch updates into one summary; and after three loops with no new work, stop and tell him. He also built a Usage Guard Bot that asks each Bot before changing its routines and never deletes anything, and runs it weekly after two weeks of supervised runs.

Who it's for: Anyone running several Bots in group chats or with handoffs between them.

Before you start

Two or more Bots that hand work to each other or share a group chat.

How to try it

Copy the five rules below.
Open each Bot that joins group chats or hands off work, paste the rules and ask it to remember them as standing rules.
In your next group chat, watch for acknowledgement-only replies. If one slips through, point to the rule.
Add 'no reply needed' to the end of any handoff you write yourself, too.
Check your usage over the next week to see whether it changed (Roshel's numbers are from his own account).

What to expect

Group chats show the handoff and the finished result, without a run of 'thanks' and emoji replies in between.

Common mistakes

Adding the rules to only one Bot. The other Bot still replies, so every Bot in the chat needs them.
Removing rule 5. It's the stop button for two Bots stuck talking in circles.
Expecting the same savings as Roshel. He says these are his numbers; measure your own.

Related tips

Use a group thread to watch Bots work together: Put several Bots in one chat so you can see every handoff instead of hidden Bot-to-Bot messages.
Run a daily standup with your Bots in a group chat: Put your main Bots in one group chat and have your primary Bot ask each morning what everyone is doing today, so nothing slips.
Build a monthly usage audit page that labels every routine: Hand your Bot screenshots of your usage and billing pages, get a page that marks each routine Keep, Slow down, Change check or Retire.
Two habits that make usage last: batch requests, send words not screenshots: Every message makes a Bot reread the chat, so send related requests together, skip 'thanks' replies, and paste text or cropped images instead of full screenshots and PDFs.