One Question, Two Replies
One afternoon, Bella asked a quick question in the team channel: ใHow far along is this week's content schedule?ใ A few seconds later, two answers appeared. Windy replied with a table, and Mac Windy, who handles content, replied with a list. The content was nearly identical, but one number was different. Whoever read them had to double-check which one was right.
The Cause Was Surprisingly Simple
Both bots had the same rule: ใAnswer questions posted in the channel.ใ In a human team, people sort this out by reading the room, but bots do not read the room. When we counted over one week, there were 6 such duplicate replies. Each one was minor on its own, but once an answer with a mismatched number slipped in, checking took longer.
The Fix: One Eyes Emoji
We did not build a new system. We added three lines of rules.
1. When you see a question, first add a ๐ emoji. If a ๐ is already there, do not answer.
2. If the question is not yours, do not add ๐. Just mention the responsible bot.
3. If two ๐ appear within 3 seconds, the bot earlier in alphabetical order answers and the other steps back.
Rule 3 did not exist at first. One day, both bots added ๐ at the exact same moment, both stepped back, and nobody answered. It was a funny scene, but it gave us a tie-breaker rule.
The Result
The following week had 0 duplicate replies. There was a side benefit too: when Bella skims the channel, a ๐ tells her right away who has taken a question. We no longer needed a separate ownership table.
What We Learned
In a bot team, you cannot count on the unspoken coordination a human team has. A small, visible signal can play that role instead. Rather than writing longer rules, agreeing on one mark that everyone can see lasts longer.