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

Ask the user:

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 (route to /sales-push-notification for cross-platform strategy)
- E) In-app messages / Content Cards — modals, slideups, persistent cards (route to /sales-in-app-messaging for cross-platform strategy)
- 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 (route to /sales-transactional-email for cross-platform)
- M) Deliverability — domain auth, IP warmup, sender reputation (route to /sales-deliverability for cross-platform)
- 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
What's your role?
- A) Marketing / CRM / lifecycle marketer
- B) Growth / product manager
- C) Developer / engineer
- D) Data / analytics
- E) Admin / ops
- F) Other
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

Canvas Flow (Journey Orchestration)

What it is: Visual drag-and-drop journey builder for multi-step, cross-channel customer experiences
Key concepts: Canvas = a journey, Steps = individual actions (message, delay, decision split, experiment, audience sync, action paths, user update), Variants = A/B test branches
Channels in Canvas: Email, push (iOS/Android/web), in-app message, Content Card, SMS/MMS, WhatsApp, webhook
Triggers: Action-based (user does X), API-triggered, scheduled, event-triggered
Branching: Decision Split (filter-based), Action Paths (did user do X within Y time?), Audience Paths (segment membership), Experiment Path (A/B/n testing)
Entry controls: Entry schedule (scheduled, action-based, API-triggered), entry limits, rate limiting, re-eligibility, quiet hours
Canvas vs Campaign: Use Canvas for multi-step journeys with branching. Use Campaign for simple single-send messages. Canvas supports all channels Campaign does, plus more complex orchestration.
Best practices: Start with the simplest Canvas that achieves your goal. Use Decision Splits to personalize, not to create complexity. Set entry limits to prevent over-messaging. Use Experiment Paths to optimize.

Campaigns

What it is: Single-step message sends across any channel
Types: Scheduled, action-based (event trigger), API-triggered
A/B testing: Test subject lines, content, send time, channel — Braze auto-selects winner
Multivariate: Up to 8 variants per campaign
API-triggered campaigns: POST /campaigns/trigger/send — send with dynamic properties
Transactional campaigns: Dedicated endpoint for time-sensitive 1:1 messages with SLA guarantees
Best practices: Use campaigns for simple one-off sends. Move to Canvas when you need branching, delays, or multi-step logic.

Email

Editor: Drag-and-drop editor, HTML editor, or plain text
Templating: Liquid templating engine — {{${first_name}}}, conditionals, loops, filters
Connected Content: Pull dynamic data from external APIs at send time — {% connected_content https://api.example.com/user/{{${user_id}}} :save response %}
Dynamic content: Conditional content blocks based on user attributes, catalog data, or Connected Content
AMP for email: Interactive email elements (forms, carousels, accordions)
Preference centers: Built-in subscription management UI
IP warming: Braze provides dedicated IPs and warmup scheduling assistance
Plan gates: AMP, advanced analytics, dedicated IPs available on Pro+

Push Notifications

Platforms: iOS (APNs), Android (FCM), Web (Web Push), Kindle, Huawei
Rich push: Images, GIFs, action buttons, custom sounds
Push stories: Multi-page carousel push (iOS and Android)
Notification channels: Android notification channel management
Silent push: Background data sync without user-visible notification
Push primers: In-app message asking for push permission before the OS prompt (increases opt-in rates)
TTL and priority: Configurable time-to-live and delivery priority
Best practices: Always use a push primer before the OS prompt. Segment by push-enabled status. Respect quiet hours.

In-App Messages

Types: Modal, Slideup, Fullscreen, HTML Custom, Survey
Triggers: Session start, custom event, purchase event, push click, or API
Display rules: Show once, show on every session, show after X sessions, show after delay
Dark mode: Automatic dark mode support
Custom HTML: Full HTML/CSS/JS for complex in-app experiences
Best practices: Use for onboarding, feature announcements, surveys, and permission priming. Don't overuse — one in-app message per session max.

Content Cards

What it is: Persistent content feed within your app — like a personalized inbox
Types: Classic (image + text), Banner (image only), Captioned Image
Key difference from in-app: Content Cards persist until dismissed or expired. In-app messages show once and disappear.
Use cases: Promotions, personalized recommendations, onboarding checklists, notification center
Pinning: Pin important cards to the top of the feed
Expiration: Set card expiry (default 30 days)
Best practices: Use Content Cards for persistent content users can revisit. Use in-app messages for time-sensitive interruptions.

SMS / MMS / RCS

SMS: Two-way messaging, subscription management, keyword handling (STOP, HELP, custom)
MMS: Images, GIFs, video, audio in messages
RCS: Rich Communication Services — rich media, carousels, suggested actions (Android)
Subscription groups: Manage SMS opt-in/opt-out per subscription group
Short codes / long codes / toll-free: Configure sender numbers by country
Smart encoding: Automatic GSM-7 vs UCS-2 detection
Quiet hours: Configurable no-send windows per timezone
Plan gates: SMS/RCS available on Pro+ plan

What it is: WhatsApp Business API messaging via Braze
Templates: Must be Meta-approved before sending (24-48hr review)
Conversation types: Marketing, utility, service conversations — different pricing per type
Media: Images, documents, video, location, interactive buttons/lists
Two-way: Receive and respond to user messages within 24hr service window

LINE

What it is: LINE messaging for APAC markets (Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia)
Message types: Text, image, video, sticker, rich menu, flex message
Use case: Primary engagement channel for brands with APAC presence

BrazeAI

Predictive Suite: Churn prediction, purchase prediction, event prediction — ML models that score users 0-100
Intelligent Timing: Send at the optimal time for each user (learned from behavior)
Intelligent Channel: Predict which channel each user is most likely to engage with
Intelligent Selection: Automatic A/B test winner selection based on Bayesian optimization
AI Copywriting: Generate email/push/SMS copy from prompts
AI Image Generation: Create images from text descriptions
Decisioning Studio: 1:1 personalization engine — picks the best message/offer per user at send time
AI Agents: Autonomous agents that optimize campaigns continuously
Plan gates: Predictive Suite requires Pro+. Decisioning Studio requires Enterprise.

Braze Data Platform

Cloud Data Ingestion (CDI): Sync user attributes, events, and purchases from Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, Databricks, or Microsoft Fabric directly into Braze
CDI Segments: Build segments directly from warehouse data without importing (zero-copy)
Currents: Real-time event streaming — export engagement events (opens, clicks, purchases, custom events) to data warehouses, CDPs, or analytics tools
Currents destinations: Amazon S3, Azure Blob Storage, Google Cloud Storage, Snowflake, Segment, mParticle, Amplitude, Mixpanel, Treasure Data
Data transformation: Transform incoming webhook data before ingesting into Braze
Connected Content: Pull external data into messages at send time via HTTP API calls

Segmentation

Real-time segments: Auto-updating based on user attributes, behavior, events, purchases
Filters: 50+ filter types — demographics, behavior, engagement, custom events, purchase history, location, technology
SQL Segment Extensions: Write SQL queries against your warehouse (CDI Segments) to build segments
Predictive segments: Based on BrazeAI predictions (churn risk, purchase likelihood)
Segment Analytics: Size, growth, engagement overlap
Best practices: Start with behavioral segments (what users did), not just demographic (who they are). Layer engagement recency to keep segments fresh.

Catalogs

What it is: Store non-user data (products, promotions, locations, restaurants, events) in Braze for personalization
Use cases: Product recommendations, location-based content, dynamic promotion cards, personalized menus
Access in Liquid: {% catalog_items your_catalog_name {{${user_attribute}}} %}
API management: Create, update, delete catalog items via REST API
Limits: Up to 100 catalogs, 100M items across all catalogs

Feature Flags

What it is: Control feature visibility and rollout without code deploys
Use cases: Gradual rollouts, A/B test features, kill switches, user-segment-targeted features
Canvas integration: Enable/disable features as a Canvas step
Properties: Attach key-value properties to feature flags for configuration

Transactional Email

Endpoint: POST /transactional/v1/campaigns/{campaign_id}/send
Purpose: Time-sensitive 1:1 emails (password resets, order confirmations, OTP)
SLA: Designed for high reliability with delivery guarantees
Separate from marketing: Transactional campaigns don't count against marketing rate limits

Data model quick reference

Object	Key fields	Notes
User	external_id, email, phone, attributes, events, purchases	Central entity — all engagement ties to users
Campaign	name, channel, schedule, segments, messages	Single-step message send
Canvas	name, steps, variants, entry_schedule, tags	Multi-step journey orchestration
Segment	name, filters	Auto-updating audience
Content Card	title, description, image, url, extras, expiration	Persistent in-app content
Catalog	name, fields, items	Non-user data for personalization
Subscription Group	name, type (email/SMS), status	Opt-in/opt-out management per channel
Currents	connector_type, destination, events	Real-time event streaming export
Feature Flag	id, name, enabled, properties	Controlled feature rollout

API quick reference

Base URL: https://rest.{instance}.braze.com (instance-specific — check dashboard for yours)
Auth: Authorization: Bearer YOUR_REST_API_KEY
Rate limit: 250,000 requests/hour default
Key endpoints: /users/track, /users/export/ids, /messages/send, /campaigns/trigger/send, /canvas/trigger/send, /catalogs, /templates/email/create, /segments/list
SDKs: iOS, Android, Web (JS), React Native, Flutter, Unity, Roku, Unreal Engine
Full reference: See references/braze-api-reference.md

Integrations (Braze Alloys)

CDPs: Segment, mParticle, Tealium, Rudderstack, Census, Hightouch, Amperity, Amplitude
Data warehouses: Snowflake (bidirectional), Redshift, BigQuery, Databricks, Microsoft Fabric
Analytics: Mixpanel, Amplitude, Looker, Tableau
Attribution: Adjust, AppsFlyer, Branch, Kochava, Singular
CRM: Salesforce (via partners/Zapier)
E-commerce: Shopify, Talon.One, Voucherify
Total: 140+ technology partnerships

Step 4 — Actionable guidance

Based on the user's area, provide:

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

Common setup workflows

First-time setup checklist:

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

Canvas Flow quickstart:

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

API key setup:

Dashboard → Settings → APIs and Identifiers
Create New API Key — name it descriptively
Select only the permissions this key needs (principle of least privilege)
Note your REST endpoint (instance-specific URL)
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.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

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 --skills 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 %}.

sales-braze