fd-seed

name	fd-seed
description	Seed realistic local-dev support threads using the fd CLI. Use when asked to seed threads, create test data, populate the inbox, or generate believable support fixtures for development.
license	MIT
metadata	{"author":"front-desk","version":"1.0"}

Seed support threads with fd

Use agent intelligence to author varied, believable thread fixtures, then seed them through the local fd CLI. The CLI is dumb pipes; this skill is the realism playbook.

When to use

• "Seed threads", "create test data", "populate inbox"
• Need realistic inbox content for UI or pipeline work
• Testing thread list, detail, search, or worker synthesis locally

Prerequisites

1. bun dev running (API + web)
2. DISCORD_BOT_KEY in apps/api/.env.local (CLI reads it automatically)
3. CLI built: bun run --filter cli build
4. Optional defaults in apps/cli/.env.local:
   • FD_DEV_ORG=acme
   • FD_API_URL=http://localhost:3333/api/ls
   • FD_WEB_URL=http://localhost:3000

Flow

1. Resolve the org — if the user didn't name one and FD_DEV_ORG isn't set, list orgs and pick (see below)
2. Invent fixtures — write varied, realistic opener threads (see guidelines below)
3. Write JSON — single object or array to a temp file (e.g. /tmp/seed-threads.json)
4. Run CLI — parse stdout JSON for created thread URLs/ids
5. Verify — threads appear in the inbox with correct title, author, and message

Selecting an org

When no org is given (no --org, no FD_DEV_ORG), list the available organizations and resolve the slug before seeding:

bun run --filter cli fd org list

Stdout is JSON: { "organizations": [{ "id", "name", "slug", "url" }] }. If exactly one org exists, use its slug. If several, ask the user which slug to seed into rather than guessing.

bun run --filter cli fd thread create --org acme --fixture /tmp/seed-threads.json

For a quick one-off without a file:

bun run --filter cli fd thread create \
  --org acme \
  --title "Webhook deliveries failing since yesterday" \
  --author "Priya Sharma" \
  --message "Our integration started returning 502s around 6pm UTC. Retries aren't helping."

During active CLI development, use bun run --filter cli dev thread create ... instead of fd.

Fixture schema

Each entry requires three fields:

Field	Type	Notes
title	string	Min 3 chars. Specific, customer-voice subject line
author	string	Display name only (e.g. "Michael Chen")
message	string	Opening message body — plain text, first person

[
  {
    "title": "Can't export billing history as CSV",
    "author": "Jordan Lee",
    "message": "I'm trying to download invoices for our accountant but the export button spins forever. Chrome on macOS, started this morning."
  }
]

Authors dedupe by normalized name within an org (fd-{orgId}-{name} metaId).

Realism guidelines

Personas

Rotate believable customer types:

• Individual user — password resets, billing confusion, feature how-tos
• Team admin — seat limits, SSO, audit logs, permission errors
• Developer integrator — webhooks, API keys, rate limits, SDK bugs
• Finance/procurement — invoice mismatches, PO numbers, tax/VAT

Tone

• First person, conversational, slightly imperfect
• Include one concrete detail (browser, timestamp, error snippet, plan tier)
• Match urgency to topic — billing/outage = stressed; feature ask = casual
• Avoid marketing speak and internal jargon

Variety rules (especially for batches)

• No duplicate root causes in one batch (one login issue, one billing issue, etc.)
• Mix urgencies: at least one low, one medium, one high when seeding 5+
• Mix topics: auth, billing, integrations, bugs, feature requests
• Vary message length: short question vs. detailed repro steps
• Different author names — don't reuse the same persona unless intentional

Anti-patterns

• Generic "I have a problem with your product" openers
• Identical sentence structure across threads
• All caps or all exclamation marks
• Lorem ipsum or obviously fake company names in every thread
• Copy-pasting Devtools SAMPLE_THREADS verbatim

Example fixtures

Billing batch (3 threads)

[
  {
    "title": "Charged twice for the same renewal",
    "author": "Michael Chen",
    "message": "Our Pro plan renewed on March 1 and I see two identical $49 charges on the company card. Can you confirm whether one is a hold?"
  },
  {
    "title": "Need VAT number on invoices",
    "author": "Elena Rossi",
    "message": "We're in Italy and our finance team needs VAT IDs on every invoice before they can approve payment. Is there a field for that in billing settings?"
  },
  {
    "title": "Downgrade didn't apply at renewal",
    "author": "Sam Okonkwo",
    "message": "I switched us to Starter last week but today's receipt still shows Enterprise pricing. We only have 4 seats now."
  }
]

Integration incident (single)

{
  "title": "Slack replies not threading back",
  "author": "Alex Kim",
  "message": "Since we reconnected Slack yesterday, new messages land in the channel but don't attach to the existing FrontDesk thread. Thread ID in the payload looks correct."
}

Output contract

Stdout is always JSON:

{
  "created": [{ "id": "...", "title": "...", "shortId": 42, "url": "http://localhost:3000/support/acme/threads/42-..." }],
  "failed": [{ "index": 2, "title": "...", "error": "Title must be at least 3 characters" }]
}

• Exit 0 — all succeeded
• Exit 1 — one or more failed (partial success still listed under created)
• Use --fail-fast to stop on first error
• Use --verbose for stderr progress logs

Pipeline note

Seeded threads behave like real user-created threads once the API enqueues the worker pipeline on thread.create (parallel fix, not CLI scope). Until then, threads appear in the inbox but may not trigger synthesis immediately.

Related

• CLI README: apps/cli/README.md
• Plan: docs/plans/devtool-cli.md
• In-browser Devtools remain unchanged — CLI is a parallel, agent-friendly path