> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.latentcast.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Campaigns and batches

> Produce your whole list in groups you control: the campaign wizard, how a batch runs, and what to do when one stalls.

**Where:** Distribution ▸ Campaigns, then **New campaign**

A <Tooltip tip="The production run for one signed-off Personalization Profile. It is locked to that profile and holds the batches."><strong>campaign</strong></Tooltip> takes one proven profile and produces it for everybody. It is
locked to that profile for its whole life, which is what makes a campaign something you can reason
about: every video in it was made under the same rules.

## Setting one up

<Steps>
  <Step title="Profile and automation">
    Choose the profile, then decide how far a run goes on its own. Every run always personalizes;
    these three switches decide what follows.

    | Switch                    | On means                                                             |
    | ------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
    | **Proxy videos**          | Scenes that changed for a recipient get their presenter animated     |
    | **Publish**               | Each finished story is rendered and published automatically          |
    | **Narrative review gate** | Every run pauses after the scripts are written, so you can read them |

    For a first campaign, switch the review gate on.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Targets and batches">
    Pick people from your list into one or more batches. This step also holds the
    <Tooltip tip="The moment in the story that GIFs and animations start from."><strong>frame anchor</strong></Tooltip>: the moment your preview images and animations start
    from. Leave it unset and the system picks a window around the personal moments.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Channels">
    Tick the channels you will send on, such as email, LinkedIn or WhatsApp. This writes the matching
    outreach copy for each recipient. It does not send anything.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review">
    Name the campaign and check the summary. Saving activates it and locks the profile.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Batches, and why they are small

A <Tooltip tip="A group of recipients produced together. The unit of work, and the sheet the results land in."><strong>batch</strong></Tooltip> is a group of people produced together. It references rows in your
list rather than copying them, so your list stays the single source of truth.

**A batch holds up to 25 recipients.** That is a deliberate limit, not a performance ceiling: it
keeps any single mistake small and reviewable. Split a larger list across several batches and run
the first one before you commit to the rest.

When you pick people, two guards run:

* **Duplicates** inside your selection are collapsed.
* **Overlap warnings** appear when someone is already in another batch of this campaign, or another
  campaign on the same profile. Overlap is allowed, since re-running someone can be intentional, but
  it should never happen by accident. Each membership produces and costs separately.

Your selection is kept as you search, so you can assemble a mixed batch across several searches, and
a separate tab shows who is already in the batch you are editing.

**Blocking** a person keeps them in the batch but skips them in every run until you unblock them.
Use it for the row with a data problem you have not fixed yet.

## Running a batch

Press **Run**. Every person moves through up to four <Tooltip tip="One of the four stages of a run, each with its own progress bar on the batch card."><strong>phases</strong></Tooltip>, and the batch
card shows one progress bar for each.

| Phase           | What happens                                      |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| **Personalize** | Each person's story is written and produced       |
| **Proxy**       | The presenter is animated for scenes that changed |
| **Render**      | Each story becomes a real video and is published  |
| **Assets**      | Preview images and outreach copy are built        |

<Note>
  **A batch is only complete when the last preview image is built, not the last video.** Ready means
  sendable. Hold your send until the whole card is green.
</Note>

A pulsing bar is working now. Phases your campaign did not switch on say so instead of showing a
bar, and the batch comes to rest when it reaches one. Carry it forward by hand from the batch's menu
with **Generate proxies** or **Publish**.

Runs are throttled on purpose: a batch feeds the pipeline steadily rather than all at once, so
expect even progress rather than everything finishing together.

<Frame caption="A campaign with five completed batches: the profile and automation along the top, then one card per batch with its four phase bars.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/latentcast/IQao64bAvXRWz47P/images/guides/campaign-page.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=IQao64bAvXRWz47P&q=85&s=52c91ee7117dbb89f10c9269d122930f" alt="A campaign page" width="1440" height="900" data-path="images/guides/campaign-page.png" />
</Frame>

## Controls

| Action           | What it does                                                                                          |
| ---------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Pause**        | Stops new work starting. Anything in flight finishes cleanly, and resuming picks up where it stopped. |
| **Stop**         | Cancels the batch's open work. Finished work is kept.                                                 |
| **Retry failed** | Re-runs only the people who failed, from the phase they failed in.                                    |

## When a batch will not start

The most common reason is consent. A batch whose presenters have not all consented tells you so
before it runs: it names each presenter who is blocking, counts the recipients affected, and offers
a direct route to the cast to chase them. Re-check once they have acted.

## Reading a failure

Failure is a visible state rather than a mystery. The batch card counts failures per phase and shows
the most recent reason. Inside the batch, each failed person carries their own reason.

"Waiting for presenter master" is not a failure. Each presenter's shared scenes are produced once
and then reused for all of their recipients, so the first person of a presenter takes longer and the
rest are quick. That is the system saving you time and money.

## Next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Reviewing before you send" href="/docs/guides/campaigns/reviewing-before-you-send">
    Read every script before anything is rendered.
  </Card>

  <Card title="The manifest and sending" href="/docs/guides/campaigns/manifest-and-sending">
    Collect the results and get them into your sending tool.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>