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Tenant maintenance requests by text n8n template

What it does

Tenants text a maintenance number. A keyword rule catches gas, smoke, fire and carbon monoxide before any AI, sends a scripted safety reply and pages on-call. Other requests are classified by Claude into trade, priority and a technician summary, matched to your preferred vendor, logged as a work order row and answered in the tenant's language. You need n8n, Twilio, Google Sheets, an Anthropic API key and Slack.

What this workflow does

  1. Tenant text (Twilio) (Webhook) receives the text and any photo links.
  2. Normalize and emergency screen (Code) runs a fixed keyword rule first. Gas, smoke, fire, carbon monoxide and sparking are life-safety. Flooding, leaks through a ceiling, sewage, no heat and lockouts are urgent. Opt-out words are noted so the workflow never replies to them.
  3. Find tenant by phone (Google Sheets) matches the number to a tenant, property and unit.
  4. Route and build prompt (Code) decides the path. Life-safety texts skip the model entirely.
  5. Route request (Switch) sends life-safety texts to Twilio: reply to tenant (the scripted safety message) and Slack: page on-call at the same time, unknown numbers to the exceptions channel, and the rest to classification.
  6. Claude: classify request (HTTP Request) returns trade, priority, a two-line summary, location, start time, entry permission, pets, missing details and a reply in the tenant’s language, as strict JSON.
  7. Parse and pick vendor key (Code) handles refusal, max_tokens and API errors with a safe fallback, and never lets the model downgrade an urgent keyword hit.
  8. Find preferred vendor (Google Sheets) looks up the vendor and not-to-exceed amount for that trade and property.
  9. Append work order (Google Sheets) writes the work order as “Ready” or “Needs review” with reasons. Twilio: reply to tenant confirms the request or asks for one missing detail.
  10. Slack: maintenance exceptions gets unknown numbers and failed sends.

Before you import

  • A Twilio number for maintenance texts and an Anthropic API key.
  • A Google Sheet with Tenants, Vendors and Work orders tabs, and a Slack app with chat:write.
  • If you want work orders created in your PM software, check your API access. Buildium publishes an API that is available on certain plans; AppFolio and Yardi usually require partner or customer-specific approval.

Setup

  1. Build the three tabs. Use E.164 phone numbers and add the column headers shown on the Append work order node.
  2. Set the Twilio number’s incoming message webhook to the production URL.
  3. With your maintenance lead, review LIFE_SAFETY, URGENT and the scripted safety reply, and replace REPLACE_WITH_EMERGENCY_PHONE.
  4. Replace REPLACE_WITH_SHEET_ID, REPLACE_WITH_TWILIO_NUMBER, REPLACE_WITH_ONCALL_CHANNEL_ID and REPLACE_WITH_MAINTENANCE_CHANNEL_ID.

Test it

Text “I smell gas” from a test number and confirm the safety reply and the on-call page arrive within seconds, with no model call. Text a leaky sink in Spanish with a photo and check the work order row and the Spanish reply. Text from a number not in the Tenants tab and confirm it lands in Slack.

Make it production-ready

  • Replay a few months of real past messages through the keyword screen. A chirping smoke alarm battery will page on-call, which is the right side to err on.
  • Replace the sheet append with a call to your PM software’s work order API once you trust the classification, or keep the sheet as a review queue.
  • Add owner approval above a dollar threshold, vendor dispatch and reminders, and follow your state and local entry notice rules.
  • Add an error workflow, and limit follow-up questions to a few before creating the work order anyway.
  • claude-haiku-5-5 is a cheaper option at high volume.

Read the full guide at How to automate tenant maintenance requests, or talk to us about connecting your PM software.

Next steps

01 Browse free n8n templates Fifty starter workflows you can import today. No email required. 02 Take the 5-minute AI readiness assessment Get a score and a recommended first project in your browser. 03 Get a written scope and estimate Tell us what you want to automate. We reply within two business days.