Headcount Buddy

An SMS helper for amateur sports teams.

View project on GitHub

Headcount Buddy help

A short orientation to what the assistant does, then a list linking every topic.

1. START, STOP, and INFO

The text keywords every teammate can use — START to opt in, STOP to opt out, INFO/HELP for a quick reminder.

2. Getting help

How to get unstuck — ask the assistant a question, share feedback, or reach a human.

3. What we support: definitions and scope

A plain-English glossary of the building blocks — sports, group and event types, play formats, RSVP states, and organizer roles.

4. About: cost, access, and who builds Headcount Buddy

The basics people ask — who builds Headcount Buddy, how to get access, and what it costs.

5. Getting your team or group on board

How to get your team or group on board while we’re in limited alpha, and the sports and group types we support.

6. Create your team by text

How an approved organizer sets up their own team over SMS — what to have ready, and what happens next.

7. Your first text from the assistant

What to expect the first time the assistant texts you.

8. Building your roster

How an organizer adds teammates, and how the assistant gathers the details it needs directly from players.

9. The welcome a new teammate gets

What the assistant sends someone joining a team, when it arrives, and why you only ever get it once per team.

10. Asking your team to RSVP

How to ask your whole team to RSVP in one text — the assistant collects replies, chases holdouts automatically, and keeps you posted on progress.

11. Replying to RSVPs

How a player replies by text — yes/no/maybe, changing an answer, bringing guests, and what happens as an event nears.

12. Reminders

How the assistant’s reminders work — it nudges people who haven’t replied on a schedule (for both scheduled events and ‘find a time’ availability requests), and an organizer can send a reminder on demand.

13. When the assistant texts you

The hours the assistant sends at, and why it never texts you in the middle of the night or several times back-to-back — with the one exception for genuinely time-sensitive, event-imminent notices.

14. Headcount: is it on?

How the assistant handles too many or too few yeses, gives you the full picture on demand, and checks in if you’re still short near start.

15. Setting up and changing events

How to create, edit, and cancel events by text — and how teammates are automatically kept in the loop on changes.

16. Playing league matches

How league matches work — what makes a match different from a scrimmage, and how the assistant helps you field one.

17. Finding a time that works

How the assistant sets up an event with no fixed time yet — it asks everyone when they’re free, finds the times that work, and books it. Also covers matches against another team.

18. Sharing the load: co-organizers and event owners

How to hand off a single event, or add a co-organizer with full authority — and how that person is notified.

19. Finding subs when you’re short

How the assistant finds substitutes across the groups you run when an event is short — opt-in, outreach, and clean close-out.

20. Sharing payment info

How the assistant relays who-owes payment info — set details, save handles, and let it handle the reminders. We don’t process money.