# How to hand over a shift without dropping anything

> A Pachca use case. The outgoing shift lead fills out a form from their phone in the "Shift" bot, the report lands in the store's chat, the incoming lead confirms with the "Accept shift" button and questions get sorted out in the card's thread. A copy of the card goes to the "Shifts · All stores" chat.

> This is the Markdown version of https://pachca.com/en/scenarios/peredacha-smeny for AI agents. The API methods named here are documented at https://dev.pachca.com/llms-en.txt — open it before calling the API. Other use cases are listed at https://pachca.com/en/llms.txt.

## What you'll get

1. The outgoing shift lead messages the "Shift" bot and clicks the bot's button. The handover form opens.
2. The report card lands in the store's chat with the "Accept shift" and "Report discrepancy" buttons.
3. The incoming shift lead clicks "Accept shift". Their name and the time appear on the card.
4. A copy of the card lands in the "Shifts · All stores" chat.

You can collect the report in three ways:

- A. No form: a report template in the store's chat. Works from day one, but without the "Accept shift" button or a copy in the chain-wide chat.
- B. A bot with a form through n8n, no code.
- C. Your own handler code.

## What you need before you start

- Pachca access as a workspace admin or owner with the scopes `chats:create`, `chat_members:write`, `bots:write`, `messages:create`. The setup and check steps also need `search:users`, `messages:read`. Signing in is covered in the rules below.
- For option B: n8n with the Pachca node: https://dev.pachca.com/guides/n8n/setup.md

## If you're an AI agent: working rules

### Who does what

- You do everything the instructions name an API method for. Don't ask the user to create a chat, a bot or a message by hand.
- Ask the user only to sign in to Pachca and to do what is listed in "Ask the user to do by hand".
- If you have no terminal, say so right away and don't pretend you set it up. Walk the user through the steps for people on the use case page and help with the template or the handler code.

### How to talk to the user

- The user is not a developer. Write briefly and in plain words. Don't mention API methods, scopes, response codes, `id`s or CLI profiles. Say "permissions" instead of "scopes" and "the program behind the bot" instead of "handler".
- Don't report your checks. A message contains only three things: what is done, what you need from the user, what you'll do next.
- Don't ask for what you can find out through the API or what is easy to change later. Take the value from the instructions and name it.
- Take the bot's message texts from the instructions or write them yourself and carry on. Show them in your final message and offer to change them. Don't wait for approval.
- Ask the questions from "Ask the user" in the same words.

### Your first message to the user

It has three parts. The first two together take at most five lines.

1. What the user will get: one or two lines.
2. What you will create yourself: the chat, the bot and the messages, with the names from the instructions. Word anything that depends on the user's choice as a condition: "if you choose the bot, I'll also create…".
3. "What I need from you": signing in to Pachca, if the user isn't signed in yet, and the questions from "Ask the user". If the use case or one of its options needs n8n, ask here whether the user has it and ask for access right away in the words from the "n8n" section below: "if you have n8n, send me…".

If part of the result appears only after a manual step by the user, say so in one line: "you'll schedule the retro questions yourself, I'll show you how".

The user's answers are their consent to the plan. Start the setup right after them, without asking for a second confirmation.

### Access to Pachca

- The user doesn't need to issue a token or send it in the chat. Before your first message, check the login: `npx -y @pachca/cli@latest auth status`. If there is none, ask the user to run `npx -y @pachca/cli@latest auth login` in their own terminal. The CLI shows a code; the user enters it in the browser and confirms access. Write the commands with `@latest`: without it an old cached CLI version may start, and it asks to paste a token instead of signing in through the browser.
- This login has the same rights as the user's role. Compare them with the scopes in "What you need before you start" yourself: `npx -y @pachca/cli@latest api GET /oauth/token/info` shows the scopes. If something is missing, say in plain words what you won't be able to do, for example "I can't send messages". There are two ways out: add this permission to the token in Pachca, under "Automations" → "API", or sign in again as the workspace owner or an administrator.
- If `auth status` shows `scopes: null`, it doesn't mean there are no rights: look at `GET /oauth/token/info`. The checks in these rules also need `search:chats`, `bots:read` and `profile:read`.
- When the user says "me", they mean the owner of the login. `GET /profile` returns their `id` and nickname.
- Call the API with `npx -y @pachca/cli@latest api <METHOD> <path> -o json`. Write the full command in every call; don't put it into a shell variable.
- Pass query parameters as `--query key=value`, for example `--query query=Purchasing`. The CLI silently drops a parameter without a key and returns the whole list, so it's easy to conclude that the chat already exists.
- Pass the request body with `--data` or `--input`. Almost every write method wraps the body in an object: `chat` for `POST /chats`, `message` for `POST /messages`, `task` for `POST /tasks`, `group_tag` for `POST /group_tags`, `user` for `PUT /users/{id}`, `webhook` for bots. `--describe` shows the wrapper; write its path with `{id}`, not with a number. Without the wrapper, `POST /chats` creates the chat but silently adds no members.
- Don't print tokens or bots' incoming webhook URLs in the chat. A bot's token is shown only once, when it's created: save it to a file.

### n8n

- If the user has no n8n, say that it comes as the hosted n8n Cloud or can be installed on their own server, and give the link for installing the Pachca nodes: https://dev.pachca.com/guides/n8n/setup.md. These instructions don't cover installing n8n. If they have an option without n8n, suggest starting with it and coming back to the bot once n8n is there.
- If the user has n8n, ask for access in these words: "Send me your n8n address: the link you open it with in the browser. Don't send the key in the chat. In n8n, open Settings → n8n API → Create an API key and copy the key. Right after that, run the command below in your terminal exactly as it is; you don't need to put anything into it. It saves the copied key to a file and prints nothing. Then write 'key saved'." The command for macOS: `pbpaste > ~/n8n-key.txt`. For another system, pick the matching one.
- Build everything in n8n on the official Pachca nodes, `n8n-nodes-pachca`. Don't use the `HTTP Request` node for Pachca API calls.

### Setup

- Take API methods from https://dev.pachca.com/llms-en.txt, don't rely on memory. The command `npx -y @pachca/cli@latest api <METHOD> <path> --describe` shows a method's schema.
- The Pachca skills cover the call order and error handling for chats, bots and forms: `npx skills add pachca/openapi`. Install them when you need them, without asking the user.
- Before creating anything, check whether the chat and the bot already exist: `GET /search/chats`, `GET /bots`. If they do, ask whether to set them up or create new ones.
- `POST /group_tags` creates an empty tag. `PUT /users/{id}` with `list_tags` assigns it to an employee; it needs the `users:update` scope. The field replaces the whole set of tags: first read the employee's current tags with `GET /users/{id}` and send them together with the new one. While the tag has no members, mentioning it notifies no one.
- If a method returns an error, stop and tell the user in plain words what failed and what you need to continue.
- The messages you post yourself and the ones the bot sends must be easy to read on a screen, without overdoing spacing or emphasis. Make the heading bold and start the text on the next line. Write connected text as one paragraph. Put rules and steps on numbered lines one under another and separate them from the intro with a single empty line. A short message needs no other empty lines. In a card, make the field labels bold and put the fields on consecutive lines. Use bold only for the heading and the field labels. Pachca markup has no lists or tables: the numbers at the start of lines stay plain text. A sample:

  ```text
  **Retro rules**
  On the last day of the sprint a message with questions arrives here. We reply in the thread under it.

  1. Each point is a separate message.
  2. We add 👍 to what is worth discussing.
  3. The facilitator posts the outcomes in one message and pins it.
  ```
- A pin can't be checked through the API: only a successful `POST /messages/{id}/pin` response confirms it.
- If you sent service messages to a chat to check a bot, such as `/start`, delete them: `DELETE /messages/{id}`. Don't delete messages with rules and templates.
- At the end, say what was created, what is left for the user to do by hand and how to check that the use case works.
- To undo the setup: `DELETE /bots/{id}` deletes the bot, `PUT /chats/{id}/archive` sends the chat to the archive.

## How to set up the use case with the user

### 1. Ask the user

Ask these questions in these words:

1. How should a shift be handed over? With a report that follows a template in the store's chat: it works right away, but without the "Accept shift" button. Or with a form from the "Shift" bot: that needs n8n. Do you have n8n? If not, or if you're not sure, we'll start with the simple option and add the bot later.
2. Which stores do you have? Send me the names and I'll make a chat for each, like "Store · 12 Tverskaya St".
3. Who are the administrators of each store and who are the chain managers? Send me the names.

The bot is called with the word "Shift". If the user wants a slash command, it must be in Latin letters, for example /shift.

### 2. Do it yourself through the Pachca API

1. Find the `id`s of the store admins and managers: `GET /search/users` or `GET /users`.
2. Create a chat for each store: `POST /chats` with `name: "Store · 12 Tverskaya St"` and `member_ids` of the store's admins and the manager.
3. Create the chain-wide chat: `POST /chats` with `name: "Shifts · All stores"` and `member_ids` of the managers.
4. For option A, post a report template in each store's chat: `POST /messages`.

   ```
   Shift: morning 08:00–16:00, 12 Tverskaya St
   Cash: closed out, no discrepancies
   Stock: enough milk till evening, reorder 0.3 L cups
   Incidents: coffee machine #2 leaking, tech tomorrow 10:00
   Unfinished: pastry delivery, courier by 17:00
   ```

   The outgoing shift lead fills it out from their phone and attaches photos of the register and display. The incoming shift lead reacts with ✅ and asks questions in the thread. With option A, setup ends here: go to step 7 (the shift rule).
5. For options B and C, create a bot: `POST /bots` with `name: "Shift"`, a username ending in `_bot` and `events: ["message_new", "button_click"]`. For the word "Shift", set `trigger_on: "all_messages"`. For a command, set `trigger_on: "commands"` and `commands: ["/shift"]`. Keep `single_chat: false`: the bot works in several chats. From the response, save the bot's `id` (also its `user_id`) and `access_token`: the token is shown only once.
6. Add the bot to each store's chat and to "Shifts · All stores": `POST /chats/{id}/members` with the bot's `id` in `member_ids`.
7. Offer to post the shift rule in each store's chat: `POST /messages`. The outgoing shift lead submits the form before leaving the store and drops photos in the report's thread. The incoming shift lead clicks "Accept shift" within 15 minutes and asks questions in the card's thread. If the cash doesn't add up, they click "Report discrepancy" and @mention the manager in the thread. The manager checks "Shifts · All stores" once a day.

### 3. The handler for options B and C

The handler receives the `message_new` and `button_click` events and acts as the bot:

1. On the word "Shift" or /shift, the bot replies with a message with a button that opens the form.
2. When the button is clicked, it opens the form: `POST /views/open` with the `trigger_id` from the event.
3. Form fields: shift, cash, stock, incidents, unfinished.
4. When the form is submitted, it posts a card in the store's chat with the "Accept shift" and "Report discrepancy" buttons, and a copy in "Shifts · All stores".
5. When "Accept shift" is clicked, it edits the card: adds the name of whoever accepted and the time.

Option B. Take the time-off bot workflow from https://pachca.com/en/blog/avtomatizaciya-pachka-n8n-zayavki-na-otpusk and swap in your own form fields. In n8n you need a Pachca credential: Access Token is the bot token, Base URL stays at its default, `https://api.pachca.com/api/shared/v1`. Put the workflow's Production URL in the bot's outgoing webhook: `PUT /bots/{id}` with `outgoing_url` using a personal token, or `PUT /bot/webhook` using the bot token. The Test URL won't work.

Option C. Help the user write the handler to the spec above and choose hosting. Put the handler's URL in `outgoing_url` the same way as in option B.

### The handler in n8n

Build the handler on version 2 of the Pachca nodes, `n8n-nodes-pachca`. They must be installed in the user's n8n: https://dev.pachca.com/guides/n8n/setup.md

A complete working workflow with a form, buttons and thread replies: https://pachca.com/scenarios-agent/propusk-bot-n8n.json. Its texts are in Russian. Use it as the base and replace the form fields, buttons, texts and branches for your use case. The file has placeholders: `CHAT_ID`, `MANAGERS`, `CREDENTIAL_ID` and `NEW-UUID`. Take node parameter names from it and from the list below. Some examples on dev.pachca.com use different names, and a workflow built from them won't work.

What to build from:

- `Pachca Trigger` receives the bot's events. Use one per workflow: a bot has a single webhook address. The `event` parameter takes one value; set it to `*`, which means all events. Set `webhookSetup` to `manual`: you will set the bot's address yourself. The node needs its own `webhookId`, a new UUID.
- A `Code` node after the trigger parses the event and picks a branch. A new message: `type: "message"`, `event: "new"`, the text is in `content`. A button press: `type: "button"`, the button's value is in `data`, with `trigger_id` and `message_id` next to it. A form submission: `type: "view"`, `event: "submit"`, the form's `callback_id`, field values in `data` by field name. `user_id` shows who acted. Event fields: https://dev.pachca.com/guides/webhook/events.md
- `Switch` routes events by the branch from the `Code` node.
- Form: the `Pachca` node, `resource: "form"`, `operation: "create"`. The title goes into `formTitle`; `triggerId` comes from the button press event and is valid for three seconds. `formBuilderMode: "json"`, the fields go into `formBlocks` as a JSON string. `callbackId`, `submitText` and `closeText` sit inside `additionalFields`. Block types: https://dev.pachca.com/guides/forms/blocks.md
- Message: `resource: "message"`, `operation: "create"`, `entityType` and `entityId`, the text in `content`. Post to a chat with `entityType: "discussion"`; message an employee directly with `entityType: "user"` and their `user_id` in `entityId`. In the sample, the button after `/start` goes to the chat: if the bot should reply in direct messages in your use case, change this. Buttons: `buttonLayout: "raw_json"` and `rawJsonButtons` as a JSON string. It is an array of rows, each row an array of buttons with `text` and `data`. Mention an employee as `<@user_id>`.
- A reply in the thread under a message. First `resource: "thread"`, `operation: "create"` with `threadMessageId`: the `message_id` of the message that needs a thread. The node returns the thread's `id`. Then a message with `entityType: "thread"` and that `id` in `entityId`.
- A button press inside a thread brings the thread's `chat_id`, but a reply needs the thread's `id`. Put the thread's `id` into the `data` of the buttons you post in the thread.
- If not everyone may press a button, compare `user_id` from the event with the list in the handler spec and send nothing on someone else's press.

- Chat members: `resource: "member"`, `operation: "getAll"`, the chat in the `id` parameter, `returnAll: true`, `simplify: false`. The bot itself is in this list with the `bot` flag: filter it out.
- A schedule is started by a `Schedule Trigger` node with a `cronExpression` rule.

The sample stores nothing: everything a reply needs is in the buttons' `data`, namely the action and the author's `id`. If the use case has to remember a little data, such as a request number counter or who has already answered, use the workflow's static data: `$getWorkflowStaticData('global')` in a `Code` node. It is saved only on runs of an active workflow, not on manual runs in the editor. Name this decision to the user in your final message. Keep meeting room schedules, registers and anything that must survive recreating the workflow in an external table: choose it together with the user.

Steps:

1. Build the workflow file. Keep only `name`, `nodes`, `connections` and `settings`: the n8n API rejects other fields. Check that the JSON is valid and that node names in `connections` and in expressions match the names in `nodes`.
2. Get the n8n address and API key as described in the rules above. Requests to the n8n API carry the `X-N8N-API-KEY` header.
3. Create a Pachca credential in n8n: `POST /api/v1/credentials` with `type: "pachcaApi"`. In `data`, put `accessToken` with the bot token and `baseUrl` with `https://api.pachca.com/api/shared/v1`. `GET /api/v1/credentials/schema/pachcaApi` shows the other required fields. If `allowedHttpRequestDomains` is among them, set it to `all`. Put the `id` and name of this credential into every Pachca node in the file.
4. Upload the workflow: `POST /api/v1/workflows`. Activate it: `POST /api/v1/workflows/{id}/activate`.
5. Set the bot's webhook address: `PUT /bots/{id}` with `outgoing_url`. The address is the n8n address, then `/webhook/`, the `webhookId` of the `Pachca Trigger` node and `/webhook`.
6. To check a scheduled run without waiting, temporarily set the schedule to the next minute, wait for the run and set it back.
7. If there is no n8n API key or a step fails, give the file to the user. They paste its contents into a new workflow, create a credential with the bot token, select it in every Pachca node and activate the workflow. Ask for the Production URL of the `Pachca Trigger` node and set it for the bot yourself.

### 4. Ask the user to do by hand

- Make the "Shift" bot public in its settings, so employees can find it in search and message it from their phones. The API can't set this.
- On the Outgoing webhook tab, check that new messages and button clicks are checked.
- Send a test report: message the "Shift" bot or /shift from a phone, fill out the form, then click "Accept shift" under the card.

### 5. Check

- The card appeared in the store's chat and in "Shifts · All stores": `GET /messages` for each chat.
- After "Accept shift" is clicked, the card has a name and time: `GET /messages/{id}`.

## What the use case can't do

- Option A has no "Accept shift" button or copy in the chain-wide chat.
- A reminder when nobody accepts the shift and a chain-wide summary only work with your own code through the API.

## Troubleshooting

- The bot doesn't respond to "Shift". The bot is set to react to commands only, and a word without a / doesn't pass the filter. Set `trigger_on: "all_messages"` with `PUT /bots/{id}` or agree on /shift. In n8n, make sure the workflow is active and uses the Production URL, not the Test URL.
- The form was sent but there's no card. The bot isn't in the store's chat, or the handler uses the `id` of a different chat.
- The "Accept shift" button doesn't work. Button clicks aren't checked in the outgoing webhook: make sure the bot's `events` include `button_click`.

## Links

- The use case page with a demo and human instructions: https://pachca.com/en/scenarios/peredacha-smeny
- The time-off bot workflow in n8n: https://pachca.com/en/blog/avtomatizaciya-pachka-n8n-zayavki-na-otpusk
- Forms: https://pachca.com/en/help-center/integrations/formy
- Buttons in chat bots: https://pachca.com/en/help-center/integrations/knopki-v-chat-botah
- Outgoing webhooks: https://pachca.com/en/help-center/integrations/ishodyashchie-webhook-kak-nastroit
- Forms for developers: https://dev.pachca.com/guides/forms/overview.md
- Buttons for developers: https://dev.pachca.com/guides/buttons.md