# Muting a channel Twico listens for "please stop" signals in the channel itself. When someone explicitly tells the twin to be quiet, it mutes that channel for 24 hours — no more reads, no more replies, no agent calls. The 24-hour mute lifts on its own. **Override:** if anyone @-mentions the twin's account directly — a literal `@` — *during* an active mute, the mute is cleared immediately and the twin handles that message normally. The idea is that an explicit re-invitation should beat a previous "step out". Broadcast pings (`@here`, `@channel`, `@everyone`) do **not** override — they're not deliberate personal invitations. ## What triggers a mute The pre-agent gate scans the latest message (and the recent history when needed) for any of these patterns: * **Explicit dismissal:** "stop", "shut up", "stfu", "go away", "leave", "we don't need your assistant", "don't need your help", "be quiet". * **Addressed dismissal:** `@Litao stop` (or whoever the twin's name is) always triggers, regardless of phrasing. * **Meta-complaint:** "this bot is annoying", "the assistant is annoying", "spam" — only counts if the twin has posted in the channel recently (i.e. it's self-recognising as "the bot"). The detector is intentionally conservative — better to occasionally miss a stop signal than to mute on a conversational "let me stop you there". ## Where mutes show up * In **History**, each mute appears as a `muted` row with the reason (e.g. "contact said: 'we don't need your'"). The row fades to indicate the channel is suppressed. * The avatar menu's follow-up counter doesn't include mutes — they're not something you need to act on, just be aware of. ## Lifting a mute Three ways: 1. **Get @-mentioned directly** (the most natural — see the override above). The next time anyone tags `@` in the muted channel, the mute lifts and the twin handles that message normally. 2. **Wait it out** — mutes auto-expire after 24 hours. 3. **Cycle the channel policy** in [Channels](/twico/how-the-twin-behaves/auto-reply.md): set the channel to **off**, wait a few seconds, then back to **auto**. (This doesn't strictly clear the mute row, but combined with new traffic and an @-mention it's a clean recovery path.) --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://litao.gitbook.io/twico/how-the-twin-behaves/muting.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.