Automations
Configuring Herald Shield
Herald Shield is the AI-driven enforcement automation. Configure your escalation ladder - what happens at each offense level, and whether fines post automatically or wait for board review.
Last updated September 25, 2026
Herald Shield is the AI agent that handles repeat violations. The conceptual overview is in Escalations and repeat offenders. This article is the configuration playbook.
What you’re configuring
Herald Shield has two main pieces:
- Submission settings - how Herald handles a complaint while a resident is filing it, including whether a complaint with no violation is stopped before it reaches you
- Violation Escalation - for confirmed violations, the ladder of actions that fire as offenses at the same address repeat
Step 1 - Turn on Herald Shield
Automate → Configuration → Herald Shield Automation card
Use the switch in the header to turn the automation on.
Herald Shield’s escalation needs a plan that includes automations. Without one, violations are still logged and you act on them by hand, but nothing is escalated or fined automatically.
Step 2 - Submission settings
Three switches:
- Guided Questions - Herald asks the resident clarifying follow-up questions while they file a complaint
- AI Resolution Shortcuts - shows admins Herald’s recommendation and quick-resolve buttons on a violation
- Auto-dismiss No Violation - when Herald finds no violation, the submission is blocked and the resident sees Herald’s analysis of their complaint against your rules. Blocked complaints are listed under Blocked Submissions on this screen, with the original complaint, what Herald told the resident, and the covenant rule it reviewed.
For new users, leave Auto-dismiss No Violation off at first. With it off, those complaints reach the board as usual. Watch what Herald recommends for a few weeks before letting it turn complaints away on its own.
Step 3 - Build the escalation ladder
Under Violation Escalation, switch escalation on, then add steps. If you have no steps yet, you can start from the default ladder: Warning → Formal Warning → Fine.
Each step is an offense level. When Herald confirms a violation, it counts the earlier violations recorded at the same address and uses the matching step. The last step applies to every offense after it.
For each step you set:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Action | Warning / Formal Warning / Fine |
| Channels | In-App, Email, and Letter (Letter appears once Physical Mail is set up) |
| When this step triggers | Fine steps only: Auto-Fine & Close or Flag for Review |
| Use matched covenant rule’s fine amount when available | Fine steps only: uses the fine amount on the covenant rule Herald matched, and falls back to the step’s amount |
| Fine amount | Fine steps only: the dollar amount |
Two more settings apply to the whole ladder:
- Require photo evidence - Herald only escalates a violation whose report includes a photo
- Confidence Threshold - a slider on the screen. Herald Shield does not currently use it when deciding whether to act.
A typical configuration:
| Offense | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warning | Friendly in-app notice |
| 2 | Formal Warning | Firmer wording |
| 3 | Fine, $50, Flag for Review | Board approves before the fine is issued |
| 4+ | Fine, $100, Auto-Fine & Close | Repeat offenders are fined automatically |
Auto-Fine & Close vs. Flag for Review
Auto-Fine & Close - Herald Shield posts the fine to the property’s ledger, closes the violation, and notifies the resident.
Flag for Review - Herald Shield records the fine it recommends on the violation and leaves it open. A board member decides whether to issue it.
Recommendation: start with Flag for Review on every Fine step. New Fine steps default to Auto-Fine & Close, so change each one. Once you’ve seen a few cycles and trust Herald’s classifications, switch the routine steps to Auto.
Channels: what actually reaches the resident
Herald Shield sends the resident an in-app notice for every warning and fine, when a resident account is linked to the property.
Email and Letter can be selected on a step, but Herald Shield does not send them. If a step needs a mailed letter or an email, send it yourself from the violation, or through Physical Mail.
What Herald Shield does in practice
When a complaint is filed against a property:
- Herald analyzes the complaint against your covenant rules
- If no violation is found and Auto-dismiss is on, the submission is blocked
- If a violation is found, Herald Shield counts the earlier violations at that address
- The matching step is picked
- A Warning or Formal Warning is issued and the violation is closed. A Fine is posted and the violation is closed, or it’s flagged for review.
- For a flagged fine, a board member decides
Watching what Herald Shield does
Automate → Activity & Usage has a Herald Shield filter that lists blocked submissions, auto-resolved violations with their offense number, and flagged fines. Each violation also carries a note of what Herald Shield did. Review them regularly:
- Catch wrong classifications before they propagate
- Verify your steps are firing as intended
- Spot covenant rules that need clearer wording
Spend 10-15 minutes a week on this for the first month or two.
Keeping Herald Shield out of a case
When you file a violation yourself, the new-ticket form has a Let Herald Shield apply the escalation ladder checkbox. Uncheck it and Herald Shield leaves that violation alone. Use it for active negotiations, hardship cases, or disputed interpretations. The board can still resolve, dismiss, or fine by hand.
To pause escalation for everyone without turning Herald Shield off, switch Violation Escalation off. Your steps are kept.
Common mistakes
”Configured the first offense as a fine”
The first violation gets fined immediately. That skips the warnings, and residents will dispute it. Make offense 1 a warning.
”Left new Fine steps on Auto-Fine & Close”
You haven’t seen what Herald Shield is actually deciding. Stay on Flag for Review until you trust its accuracy on real cases.
”Herald Shield is too aggressive”
Move fine steps later in the ladder, so more warnings fire first, or switch them to Flag for Review.
”Herald Shield is too lenient”
Move fine steps earlier, raise the fine amounts on later steps, or switch routine steps from Flag for Review to Auto-Fine & Close.
Where to go next
- Escalations and repeat offenders - the conceptual overview
- Issuing a fine - the manual flow Herald Shield is automating
- Dues Chaser - a similar automation for dues collection