Scout, the OpenATS assistant

Where Scout talks to you#

• Scout at the top of the sidebar: everything it has for you.
• The bot in the corner of every page, with what Needs you.
• Slack direct messages, once your workspace has connected Slack.
• An optional Morning digest email when something’s waiting, and your week on Mondays.

What it raises on its own#

• A candidate who has waited two business days for a reply.
• A scorecard that’s overdue.
• A candidate stalled late in the process.
• No reply five days after outreach, with at most two follow-ups.
• People already in OpenATS who fit an open role and haven’t been on it. Scout checks open roles daily, newly published ones first, and says so: it doesn’t add anyone itself.
• A client whose bar for a role has moved.
• Slack channels nobody has linked yet (for admins).

Past-candidate picks leave out anyone marked do-not-contact, unsubscribed, or whose email bounced, and are ordered and explained by what each person said they want: their recorded preferences.

A client’s reviewers#

For an agency’s role, the role page has {client}’s reviewers: who reviews profiles, in the order they see them, and what each decided. Add decisions with Paste a client update (Scout reads them, you confirm with Read decisions) or Add a decision by hand. Recording a decision never moves anyone in the pipeline. Check before sending lists who to look at against their past reasons, and in Scout’s chat, Check the next batch against a client’s reviewers… does the same for a batch you’re about to send.

What it drafts#

Replies, follow-ups, nudges (to a candidate or to a client), and a follow-up after a call. Each one waits for you: Send now, Schedule, or edit it first. A draft that mentions pay or an offer is only approved in OpenATS, not from Slack.

For an accommodation, a visa or a negotiation, the hand-off card asks “Want me to draft a reply?”. Draft a reply writes one only when you ask, and it goes only once you’ve edited it into your own words, or picked a client’s saved visa answer. It’s never offered for distress, a minor, legal action, discrimination or harassment.

On a role, the Kickoff brief is written from the client’s kickoff call, every line quoted from it. Review and apply proposes criteria, interview steps and a job description draft for you to accept. After an interview, Scout prefills the post-call card from the transcript (Move forward, Hold or Pass, a rating and feedback) without choosing anything for you.

What it will never do#

• Send anything without asking you first.
• Reject, advance, or talk pay.
• See more than you can see in OpenATS.
• Use age, health, family, origin or anything like them.
• Share your conversations with it: they’re yours alone.

Pause Scout#

1. 1

   Step 1: Open Settings → Scout.

2. 2

   Step 2: Under Scout for you, turn it off.

   While it’s paused it suggests nothing, and OpenATS keeps reading and learning as usual.

Admins can pause it for everyone under Scout for everyone: nobody gets suggestions and Scout doesn’t run until an admin turns it back on. If you’re away for three days or more with a pile of unread items, Scout nudges you, then pauses its background work for you until you’re back.