Channel routing

Defined in src/mailgun/client.ts as dispatchChannelFor(apiSource):

function dispatchChannelFor(apiSource: string): DeliveryChannel {
  const normalized = apiSource.toLowerCase();
  if (normalized === "airbnb" || normalized === "bookingcom") {
    return "ota_message";
  }
  return "email";
}

Returns either "ota_message" (use Beds24 thread which routes to OTA chat) or "email" (send via Mailgun).

Per-channel behavior

Channel	Email	Beds24 thread
Direct	✅ if booking.email present	⚠️ context-dependent
VRBO	✅ if booking.email present	⚠️ context-dependent
Airbnb	✅ if real email	✅ (routes to Airbnb chat)
Booking.com	✅ if real email	✅ (routes to BookingCom chat)

Phases that use channel routing

Phase	Email	Thread
T-14 / T-3 / T-1 pre-arrival	always (if email)	only for OTA
T-0 morning-of-arrival	always (if email)	only for OTA
Checkout-eve	always (if email)	always (host-side record)
Add-on confirmations (M4e)	always (if email)	always
Airbnb confirm (M10)	yes (if email)	yes (primary path for OTA)

Why thread for OTA

OTA guests typically book under a relay email (e.g., +abc123@guest.airbnbmail.com) that the OTA forwards to the guest’s real inbox. Sending direct to the relay email works but isn’t ideal — the OTA chat is the canonical thread.

Beds24’s /bookings/messages endpoint handles the OTA-side relay automatically: when we POST a message with source=host and the booking is an Airbnb/Booking.com one, Beds24 forwards into the OTA messaging system.

SMS

Twilio SMS via Mailgun is only used for:

• Cleaner notifications (heads-up, T-2, time-commit)
• Guest add-on confirmations (M4e) — only if booking.phone looks real
• Internal Bill alerts (bounces, watchdog, Twilio failures)

We don’t send guest pre-arrival SMS by default — BA’s AAs that did that were no-ops anyway (smsenable=0 across the board).

Source

• src/mailgun/client.ts — dispatchChannelFor
• src/workflows/pre-arrival-messages.ts — uses dispatchChannelFor
• src/workflows/channel-specific.ts — runAirbnbConfirm, runBookingComPaidFlag
• Channel-specific behaviors documented in Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO, Direct