> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.icustomer.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.icustomer.ai/pulse/families.md). # Families The three pulse families: Opportunity, Stall, and Milestone, and what each one asks of you. Every pulse is stamped with exactly one family, and the family tells you at a glance why the moment matters: * **Opportunity** asks you to act on something good, before the window closes. * **Stall** means an edge of the loop cannot advance, and the pulse brings the reason and the remedy with it. Work waiting on your call is a stall whose remedy is your click; something going wrong is a stall with its root cause attached. * **Milestone** marks a first worth seeing. No action needed; worth ten seconds. Every stall names the [loop edge](/getting-started/the-loop.md) it fired from, so the pulse never just says "blocked": it says which step, what is in the way, and what would clear it. The full catalog, with the five stall edges and examples per family, lives in [Pulse families](/reference/pulse-families.md) in Reference. ## Families in the app In the app, the queue is also sorted by tabs: **Needs you**, **Activation**, **Digest**, **Setup**, **Alert**, **Inbound**, and **Insight**. Tabs group items by what they are and where they came from; the family says why a pulse matters. One pulse carries both, so a failed sync sits in the Alert tab as a Stall, and a hot reply sits in Inbound as an Opportunity. ## How families shape behavior Families and severity tiers are the queue's two filters. A pulse's family also sets expectations for its mode: a **decide** pulse carries a pending action and can interrupt; an **inform** pulse never interrupts, it folds into the [daily digest](/pulse/daily-digest.md) and is measured by whether it was worth reading. Families are stamped by the system, never hand-assigned, so filtering by family always means the same thing, in the app, in email, and in Slack. Per-family delivery preferences are covered in [Delivery](/pulse/delivery.md); acting on a pulse is covered in [Acting on a pulse](/pulse/acting.md). --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the following URL with the `ask` and `goal` query parameters: ``` GET https://docs.icustomer.ai/pulse/families.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is what the user is ultimately trying to achieve, the reason they need the answer. Sharing it helps GitBook give you a better, more relevant answer. A goal is most helpful when it describes the outcome the user wants rather than restating the question. For example, with `ask=how do I create an API token`, a goal like `automate deployments from our CI pipeline` lets GitBook tailor the answer to that use case. 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.