EPIC: WhatsApp chatbot for Decidim (first iteration)

[carolromero]

Summary

Introduce a WhatsApp chatbot as a new participation channel for Decidim, allowing participants to read and write content related to proposals in a single participatory space, with limited and configurable actions for a first iteration.

This EPIC focuses on proposals only, supports read + one write action, and enforces simple, guided commenting flows.

Problem statement

Participation in Decidim is currently limited to the web interface. This excludes participants in low-connectivity areas who primarily use messaging apps as the main communication channel.

A WhatsApp chatbot can lower barriers to participation while reusing Decidim’s existing interaction mechanisms.

Scope (first iteration)

Participatory space

• Only one participatory space can be active at a time
• The chatbot exposes read-only access to space information

Components

• Only one component can be readable/writable at a time
• For this EPIC, the component is Proposals

Write actions

• Only one write action can be enabled at a time
• Write actions can coexist with read actions
• If commenting is enabled, other write actions (e.g. creating proposals) are disabled

In-scope participant actions

Participation space

• Read short description
• Read long description
• Read main component

Proposals

• Read component name and announcement
• Read proposals (title, description)
• Comment on a proposal

Out of scope (explicitly)

• Multiple participatory spaces
• Multiple components
• Creating proposals
• Reading comments
• Replying to comments
• Voting or liking via WhatsApp