Communication Center: Workflow & Template Features

This document covers two related features: project-driven workflow recipients and multi-project template format. Both affect how deliveries are created and what content they contain.

Implementation date: January 27, 2026

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Part 1: Project-Driven Workflow (Recipients)

Overview

Workflows now use a project-driven recipient configuration: projects and personas are chosen independently, and only stakeholders who watch the selected projects and have the selected personas receive deliveries. Previously, selecting a persona auto-selected projects and all stakeholders with that persona received deliveries.

Before (Persona-Driven)

1. User selects persona → projects auto-selected.
2. Workflow runs → all stakeholders with that persona receive deliveries.
3. Projects enriched content but did not filter recipients.

After (Project-Driven)

1. User selects projects and personas independently.
2. Workflow runs → only stakeholders who watch the selected projects and have the selected personas receive deliveries.
3. Projects filter recipients and define delivery context (intersection with stakeholder’s watched projects).

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Changes Made (Project-Driven Flow)

1. Backend: app/services/delivery_schedule_service.rb

resolve_audience (lines 151–185)
- Before: Filter by persona first; projects only used for exclusion when in exclude mode.
- After: Filter by projects first (include: only stakeholders watching selected projects; exclude: exclude those watching selected projects), then filter by personas.
- Effect: Recipients are limited to stakeholders watching the chosen projects (and matching personas).

determine_project_contexts (lines 519–534)
- Before: With include mode, delivery context = union of stakeholder’s projects and workflow’s selected projects.
- After: With include mode, delivery context = intersection of stakeholder’s projects and workflow’s selected projects.
- Effect: Each delivery only includes data for projects that are both watched by the stakeholder and selected in the workflow.

2. Model: app/models/automation_workflow.rb

recipient_count
- Uses the same project-first filtering as resolve_audience so the UI shows the correct number of recipients.

3. Frontend: app/views/communication_center/automation/_workflow_form.html.erb

• Removed: HTMX on persona checkboxes that called communication_center_projects_for_personas_path and auto-filled projects.
  
• Now: Personas and projects are independent; no auto-selection.

4. Controller: app/controllers/concerns/communication_center/workflows_concern.rb

• Removed: projects_for_personas action (no longer used after HTMX removal).

5. Routes

• Removed: Route for /workflows/projects_for_personas.

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Example Scenarios (Project-Driven)

• Projects 1, 2 + Persona Executive: Only executives who watch Project 1 or 2 get a delivery; delivery context is only those projects they watch among {1, 2}.
• Include mode: Recipients = stakeholders watching selected projects with selected personas; context = intersection of their projects and workflow projects.
• Exclude mode: Recipients = stakeholders who do not watch the selected projects (and match personas); context = their projects minus the excluded ones.

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Testing (Project-Driven)

• Recipient count: Create workflow with projects + personas; confirm count matches stakeholders who watch those projects and have those personas.
• Context: For a stakeholder watching P1, P2, P3 and workflow selecting P1, P2, delivery should only contain P1 and P2.
• Exclude mode: Select P1, P2 as exclude; only stakeholders not watching P1 or P2 (and matching personas) receive deliveries.

Files modified: delivery_schedule_service.rb, automation_workflow.rb, _workflow_form.html.erb, workflows_concern.rb, config/routes.rb.

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Part 2: Multi-Project Template Format

Overview

Templates can be single-project (one delivery per project per stakeholder) or multi-project (one delivery per stakeholder containing all their watched projects from the workflow). Multi-project is for stakeholders who watch several projects and should get one combined email/SMS.

Current vs desired (for multi-project)

• Before: One delivery per stakeholder per project → multiple emails/SMS.
• After (multi-project format): One delivery per stakeholder → one email/SMS with sections/cards for each project (ordered by project_id ascending).

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Implementation Summary (Multi-Project Format)

1. Database: communication_templates.format_type ('single_project' | 'multi_project'), default 'single_project'.
2. Model: CommunicationTemplate — FORMAT_TYPES, multi_project?, single_project?, validation (see app/models/communication_template.rb).
3. UI: Template form has Format dropdown: "Single Project" | "Multi-Project" (see _template_form.html.erb).
4. Delivery creation (delivery_schedule_service.rb):
   
   • If template is multi_project, one delivery per stakeholder with project_ids in payload; otherwise unchanged (one delivery per project).
5. Variable resolution (template_variable_resolver_service.rb):
   
   • If payload has multi_project and project_ids, resolve_and_render_multi_project runs: resolve for each project, then:
   • Email: build_multi_project_email_html — project cards, color cycling (#F4B54E, #E1563B, #4498E2), grid layout.
   • SMS: build_multi_project_sms_text — one section per project, blank lines between.
6. Email view: delivery_email.html.erb footer can show all projects for multi-project; body comes from resolver (raw @body_content).
7. SMS: Body already comes from resolver; no extra change in send job.

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How It Works (Multi-Project)

• Single-project: format_type = 'single_project' → one delivery per project per stakeholder; each delivery resolved for that project.
• Multi-project: format_type = 'multi_project' → one delivery per stakeholder; payload has multi_project: true, project_ids: [72, 73, 74] (ascending). Resolver runs per project and combines into one HTML or SMS body.

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Multi-Project Email / SMS Structure

• Email: <div class="multi-project-email"> with <div class="project-card"> per project (background color from the three-color cycle).
• SMS: Plain text blocks, one per project, separated by blank lines.

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Files Modified (Multi-Project)

• db/migrate/..._add_format_type_to_communication_templates.rb
• app/models/communication_template.rb
• app/views/communication_center/communications/_template_form.html.erb
• app/controllers/concerns/communication_center/templates_concern.rb
• app/services/delivery_schedule_service.rb
• app/services/template_variable_resolver_service.rb
• app/views/application_mailer/delivery_email.html.erb

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Backward Compatibility

• Project-driven: Existing workflows with personas but no projects now filter by persona only (no project filter). Recommend auditing workflows and adding project selection where needed.
• Multi-project: Existing templates default to single_project; no change until format is set to Multi-Project.

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Summary

Feature	What changed
Project-driven workflow	Recipients = stakeholders watching selected projects with selected personas. Delivery context = intersection of stakeholder projects and workflow projects. Persona/project selection in UI is independent; no HTMX auto-selection.
Multi-project format	Template can be single- or multi-project. Multi-project creates one delivery per stakeholder with combined content for all relevant projects (email cards, SMS sections).

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