Switchboardpreview
Switchboard turns a plain-English request into a reviewed, signed, step-by-step change to an Ody phone system. Private preview, in the app only.
Switchboard is live for a small number of allowlisted workspaces. It runs inside the Ody app for workspace owners and admins. There's no REST endpoint and no MCP tool for it, and that's deliberate (see Why there's no API). This page explains how it works, so builders know what it can change in an account and how that relates to the API.
Switchboard is Ody's AI setup operator. An admin describes a phone-system change in their own words, for example:
"After 6pm, ring the on-call tech for 30 seconds, then let the AI take a message."
Switchboard replies with a plan: numbered steps, what each one changes, what it costs, and a before-and-after view of the account. The admin can talk the plan through ("make that 45 seconds", "I meant Jordan, not Luis"), approve or skip individual steps, run a check, and then have Ody build it, using the same code paths the Settings screens use.
#Where it fits
| Settings screens | REST API / MCP | Switchboard | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who drives | A person, screen by screen | Your code, or an assistant with a key | An admin, in conversation |
| Granularity | One setting at a time | One resource call at a time | A whole multi-step change, planned together |
| Auth | App session | API key + scopes | App session, admin or owner only |
| Confirmation | Each save | Your code decides; MCP clients ask | Explicit per-step approval, then a signed plan |
| What it can change | Everything | Contacts, conversations, numbers, 10DLC, the agent, webhooks | Routing, hours, ring orders, call flows, voicemail, the agent (see Actions) |
All three end up calling the same domain functions, so a change Switchboard builds looks the same as one made by hand: same audit, same billing.
#The loop
describe ─► plan ─► talk it through ─► approve steps ─► check ─► build
│ │ │ │ │ │
"after model each message per step, catalog runs only
6pm…" proposes, re-plans; kept then the checks, what was
code steps keep their whole plan no writes signed
validates decisions is signedDetails are in Plans and the build loop.
#Why there's no API
A Switchboard build can rewire how every call into a business is answered. The design lets that happen only with a signed-in human admin approving in the app:
- The routes accept only an app session. A request carrying an
ody_live_/ody_test_key gets404, as if the feature didn't exist. - They are not mounted on
/v1/api(an API key mustn't be able to approve a plan),/v1/mcp(a remote ChatGPT or Claude session mustn't be able to build), or any job or webhook route.
If you want to automate phone-system changes today, use the specific REST endpoints: agent configuration, number routing. They're scoped, rate-limited and logged per key.
#Learn more
- Plans and the build loop — Plan structure, revisions, approval, the signature, checks and builds.
- Actions — The catalog of changes Switchboard can make, with risk tiers and costs.
- Safety model — Signatures, risk caps, spend caps, concurrency and prompt-injection defences.