Retargeting

# Not live yet (gaps #2)
curl -X POST "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/campaigns?mode=try" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"play":"retargeting"}'

 1import { $ } from 'startup-builder'
 2
 3return await $.Campaign.create({ play: 'retargeting' }, { mode: 'try' })   // dry run on the day-0 Startup, 2026-08-24 · Not live yet, gaps #2

npx startup-builder do Campaign.create --json '{"play":"retargeting"}' --try   # Not live yet (gaps #2)

{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "return await $.Campaign.create({ play: 'retargeting' }, { mode: 'try' })   // dry run on the day-0 Startup, 2026-08-24 · Not live yet, gaps #2",
    "mode": "try"
  }
}

 1{
 2  "type": "https://startupbuilder.dev/errors/refused",
 3  "title": "Refused",
 4  "status": 422,
 5  "detail": "retargeting can’t start yet: 1 check fails and 1 warns.",
 6  "checks": [
 7    {
 8      "check": "use-when",
 9      "status": "pass",
10      "observed": "1,840 past Visitors and Contacts in 90 days",
11      "doc": "/plays/retargeting#check-use-when",
12      "fix": "Keep 1,000 or more own Visitors in 90 days, or run editorial-seo first.",
13      "then": "Metric.query"
14    },
15  …

curl "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/events?where=name%20in%20(%22Visit.ended%22%2C%20%22Checkout.abandoned%22%2C%20%22Contact.stalled%22%2C%20%22Registration.missed%22%2C%20%22Watch.replayed%22%2C%20%22Customer.converted%22%2C%20%22Consent.withdrawn%22%2C%20%22Audience.resized%22%2C%20%22Experiment.matured%22)&limit=1" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY"

# Not live yet (gaps #7)
curl -X POST "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/triggers/fire?mode=try" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"like":"event_8211"}'

# Not live yet (gaps #7)
curl "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/decisions?where=on%20%3D%20%22visitor_903%22" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY"

# Not live yet (gaps #7)
curl "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/actions?where=on%20%3D%20%22visitor_903%22" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY"

 1import { $ } from 'startup-builder'
 2
 3const { events: [last] } = await $.Event.list({ where: 'name in ("Visit.ended", "Checkout.abandoned", "Contact.stalled", "Registration.missed", "Watch.replayed", "Customer.converted", "Consent.withdrawn", "Audience.resized", "Experiment.matured")', limit: 1 })   // { play } compiled to this Play’s Trigger Events
 4const { subject } = await $.Trigger.fire({ like: last.$id }, { mode: 'try' })   // the same Event again, in try mode · Not live yet, gaps #7
 5const { decisions: [decision] } = await $.Decision.list({ where: `on = "${subject}"` })   // what it chose, and why · Not live yet, gaps #7
 6const { actions } = await $.Action.list({ where: `on = "${subject}"` })   // what it did, with its checks · Not live yet, gaps #7
 7return { decision, actions }

npx startup-builder do Event.list --json '{"where":"name in (\"Visit.ended\", \"Checkout.abandoned\", \"Contact.stalled\", \"Registration.missed\", \"Watch.replayed\", \"Customer.converted\", \"Consent.withdrawn\", \"Audience.resized\", \"Experiment.matured\")","limit":1}'
npx startup-builder do Trigger.fire --json '{"like":"event_8211"}' --try   # Not live yet (gaps #7)
npx startup-builder do Decision.list --json '{"where":"on = \"visitor_903\""}'   # Not live yet (gaps #7)
npx startup-builder do Action.list --json '{"where":"on = \"visitor_903\""}'   # Not live yet (gaps #7)

{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "const { events: [last] } = await $.Event.list({ where: 'name in (\"Visit.ended\", \"Checkout.abandoned\", \"Contact.stalled\", \"Registration.missed\", \"Watch.replayed\", \"Customer.converted\", \"Consent.withdrawn\", \"Audience.resized\", \"Experiment.matured\")', limit: 1 })   // { play } compiled to this Play’s Trigger Events\nconst { subject } = await $.Trigger.fire({ like: last.$id }, { mode: 'try' })   // the same Event again, in try mode · Not live yet, gaps #7\nconst { decisions: [decision] } = await $.Decision.list({ where: `on = \"${subject}\"` })   // what it chose, and why · Not live yet, gaps #7\nconst { actions } = await $.Action.list({ where: `on = \"${subject}\"` })   // what it did, with its checks · Not live yet, gaps #7\nreturn { decision, actions }",
    "mode": "try"
  }
}

 1{
 2  "decision": {
 3    "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/decisions/decision_701",
 4    "$type": "Decision",
 5    "choice": "retargeting-audiences",
 6    "reason": "a Visit that ended at the pricing Page with no signup, from a Visitor with advertising Consent, outside the standing holdout: the 0–7 day window",
 7    "stakes": "low",
 8    "options": [
 9      "retargeting-audiences",
10      "audience-split-holdout",
11      "ad-tag-consent-gate",
12      "retargeting-pacing",
13      "retargeting-creative"
14    ],
15  …

action_1 keeps this Visitor out of the 20 % standing holdout. action_2 adds them to the 0–7 day window at the next hourly upload, where the Ads say nothing about the Visit itself.

≈ +$950 ARR a month at $280

Worth

35 min week 1, then 10 a week

Your time

$15 per added trial, ~$280 a month

Spend

Day 3: the first trial from a retargeted click

First signal

1,000+ own Visitors in 90 days, conversions sent

Use it when

Under 1,000: editorial-seo · no server conversion: send one (Integration.call)

Not yet when

Worth’s formula: about +6.5 trials per $100 × $280 a month × 0.15 trials to paid (your last 90 days) × $347 Pro ARR ≈ +$947. Under First signal: About 7 weeks to tell +5 trials per $100 at 1,000 Visitors a month with 20 % held out; at 1,000 in 90 days, about 14 weeks.

Start it this weekCopy Anchor Link

npx startup-builder add play retargeting   # 1 · writes plays/retargeting.mdx (Not live yet, gaps #5)

# 2 · dry run; below, its 422 on 2026-08-24
curl -X POST "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/campaigns?mode=try" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"play":"retargeting"}'

# 3 · keep it, at You approve each one
curl -X POST https://api.sb/leaseline.app/campaigns \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"play":"retargeting"}'

# on
curl -X PATCH https://api.sb/leaseline.app/campaigns/retargeting \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"endsAt":null}'

# off: every Campaign pauses through the proxy
curl -X PATCH https://api.sb/leaseline.app/campaigns/retargeting \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"endsAt":"now"}'

{
  "type": "https://startupbuilder.dev/errors/refused",
  "title": "Refused",
  "status": 422,
  "detail": "retargeting can’t start yet: 1 check fails and 1 warns.",
  "checks": [
    {
      "check": "use-when",
      "status": "pass",
      "observed": "1,840 past Visitors and Contacts in 90 days",
      "doc": "/plays/retargeting#check-use-when",
      "fix": "Keep 1,000 or more own Visitors in 90 days, or run editorial-seo first.",
      "then": "Metric.query"
    },
    {
      "check": "baseline",
      "status": "pass",
      "observed": "2.2 trials per 100 own Visitors with no Ads, n 1,610 in 90 days",
      "doc": "/plays/retargeting#check-baseline",
      "fix": "Read it once; it fills Before in Your number.",
      "then": "Metric.query"
    },
    {
      "check": "conversion-send",
      "status": "fail",
      "observed": "no server-side trial has reached Facebook or Google Display",
      "doc": "/plays/retargeting#check-conversion-send",
      "fix": "Send one test trial from your server; each Venue stays off until it lands.",
      "then": "Integration.call"
    },
    {
      "check": "role-unstaffed",
      "status": "warn",
      "roles": [
        "marketing-lead"
      ],
      "owned": 0,
      "doc": "/plays/retargeting#check-role-unstaffed",
      "fix": "Staff the Marketing Lead, or leave it: approvals and the kill switch come to you.",
      "then": "Role.staff"
    }
  ]
}

The Ads cost what the Venues bill, capped at $280 a month by your Limit: about $15 for each added trial. Hourly Audience uploads and the daily drift read cost about $0.20 a day (Worker cost). At 1,000 Visitors a month the same cap holds.

When it startsCopy Anchor Link

{
  "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/events/event_8211",
  "$type": "Event",
  "name": "Visit.ended",
  "at": "2026-10-19T13:48:20Z",
  "seq": 8211,
  "data": {
    "visitor": "visitor_903",
    "lastPage": "/pricing",
    "seconds": 128,
    "converted": false,
    "consent": {
      "advertising": true
    },
    "optOutSignal": false
  }
}

npx startup-builder trigger Visit.ended --like event_8211   # replays the Visit
npx startup-builder clock advance --by 7d   # moves the member from the 0–7 to the 8–30 day window
npx startup-builder listen Visit.ended --forward-to http://localhost:3000/hook

Who runs itCopy Anchor Link

Paid media · your agent (role:paid-media-manager, worker_7) holds the Key Result. The plan, every new concept and every raise come to you (Dana Okafor, person, worker_1) for approval, because the Marketing Lead Role has no person. It writes to no one; it builds Audiences and Ads. Your number links to Did it work.

What it reads · What it may call. It reads your own Visits and Contacts after the consent gate, the Venues’ server-side conversions and spend. No Ad mentions or implies a Visit, a Page or anything else the Person did.

You hold the paid media Key Result: 7 added trials per $100 by 2026-12-31.       ← worker, metric
On each Trigger, pick the Tactic that acts and say why.                          ← triggers, tactics
Your own Visitors and Contacts only; 20 % held out of every Campaign.            ← your file, line 2; first-party
Three windows: 0–7, 8–30 and 31–90 days; a converter leaves all three.           ← your file, line 4
No Ad mentions a Visit, a Page or a cart.                                        ← copyRules 3
A Price in an Ad equals the Offer’s live Price.                                  ← copyRules 2; price

The slow loop. The weekly Decisions kept the windows and the 20 % holdout, and no Change was merged in the window, so there is no replay or read-back to print. One concept retired on day 30 under its window’s median, a Tactic’s own rule.

Bring your own agent (folded) starts at You approve each one for anything that spends; Audience moves it may make at It does it when it matches the seated agent’s converter removal. POST /{namespace}/roles/{role}/staff seats it.

npx startup-builder eval --scenario retargeting-1840 --agent "claude -p" --seat paid-media-manager   # seated: +6.5 trials per $100, 0 converters served past 24 h · yours: +5.9, 2 converters served for 30 h

What it can do nextCopy Anchor Link

When it hands to youCopy Anchor Link

This Play hands no subject to a person: the record names no hand-off. What lands in your queue is approvals: the plan, each new concept and any raise, plus a hard comment now and then. As captured (draft and checks are Not live yet, gaps #7).

[
  {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/approvals/approval_121",
    "$type": "Approval",
    "verdict": "approved",
    "deadline": "2026-08-26T17:00:00Z",
    "draft": "Plan: Facebook and Google Display, 3 windows, 20 % held out, $10 a day, trial started as the conversion",
    "route": "retargeting-plan",
    "checks": [
      {
        "check": "conversion-send",
        "status": "pass"
      },
      {
        "check": "first-party",
        "status": "pass"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/tasks/task_744",
    "$type": "Task",
    "assignee": "worker_1",
    "due": "2026-09-23T17:00:00Z",
    "on": "ad_31",
    "brief": {
      "who": "a commenter on the 8–30 day Ad",
      "said": "Does it work for HOAs?",
      "chose": "retargeting-creative",
      "why": "a question on a live concept only you can answer; the comment stays up",
      "never": [
        "hide it"
      ]
    }
  }
]

You answer with POST /{namespace}/approvals/{approval}/approve or POST /{namespace}/approvals/{approval}/refuse, POST /{namespace}/tasks/{task}/claim (Take this one) or POST /{namespace}/tasks/{task}/return with a reason, each a one-call window. An Approval unanswered by its deadline expires, and nothing new spends. A Task nobody claims by its due time goes up a Role through POST /{namespace}/tasks/{task}/escalate, and person-promise fires.

On time: you, 11 of 11 within 1 business day, median 2 h, n 11, ■□□□ Too early to tell beside Other Startups’ 93 % on time. Your queue: in week 1, 4 approvals (the plan and 3 concepts); then about 1 concept and 1 comment a week.

The fixed line: POST /{namespace}/deals/{deal}/assign sets owner to the receiving person, the agent is never a Deal’s owner, and Meetings land on the owner’s calendar under the owner’s name.

When it won’t sendCopy Anchor Link

The captured refusal, then the Stop that fired as a Campaign.paused reason (Not live yet, gaps #2); the concept that ran instead is in Example.

{
  "type": "https://startupbuilder.dev/errors/refused",
  "title": "Refused",
  "status": 422,
  "detail": "The 0–7 day concept did not run: it says the reader looked at the pricing Page.",
  "checks": [
    {
      "check": "claims-resolve",
      "status": "fail",
      "doc": "/plays/retargeting#check-claims-resolve",
      "fix": "Say what Leaseline does, from an approved Page; never the Visit.",
      "then": "Content.draft"
    },
    {
      "check": "price",
      "status": "pass"
    }
  ]
}

[
  {
    "reason": {
      "limit": "converter-leak",
      "observed": "6 converters still served at 26 h",
      "bound": "24h",
      "window": "Google Display, 0–7 days"
    },
    "doc": "/plays/retargeting#stop-converter-leak",
    "task": "task_731"
  }
]

Did it workCopy Anchor Link

A standing 20 % of your own Visitors and Contacts was held out of every Campaign at random on their first Visit (rules m–o); each figure’s call is POST /{namespace}/metrics/query by node and by arm, and every node above the leaf is Not live yet (gaps #4).

{
  "$id": "decisions/decision_701",
  "$type": "Decision",
  "choice": "retargeting-audiences",
  "reason": "a Visit that ended at the pricing Page with no signup, from a Visitor with advertising Consent, outside the standing holdout: the 0–7 day window",
  "stakes": "low",
  "options": [
    "retargeting-audiences",
    "audience-split-holdout",
    "ad-tag-consent-gate",
    "retargeting-pacing",
    "retargeting-creative"
  ],
  "by": "worker_7",
  "on": "visitor_903",
  "expected": "a trial started within 30d, or the member ages out at day 90",
  "reopensWhen": "Customer.converted for visitor_903, or 90d since the last Visit"
}

The leaf counts trials started within 30 days of a member’s last Visit, served against held out, per $100 of spend, over everyone assigned once the consent gate ran (rule m), to 300 matured in the held-out 20 %; at 368 assigned, 156 have matured, so the Experiment runs on.

How it moves it: served members saw a concept from approved Pages while still inside their 0–30 day window, at a 7-day frequency of 4.1, and none after converting past the first 24 h.

Guardrails: served against held out: paid per trial, 0.13 against 0.08 (new-paying-customers per trial), and refunds on retargeted trials, 0 of 10 against 0 of 1.

{
  "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/campaigns/retargeting",
  "$type": "Campaign",
  "play": "play:retargeting@1",
  "path": [
    "retargeting-trial-lift",
    "opened-deals-and-trials",
    "new-arr",
    "net-new-arr",
    "arr"
  ],
  "experiment": {
    "metric": "retargeting-trial-lift",
    "unit": "ratio",
    "heldBack": 368,
    "decision": null
  },
  "readout": {
    "value": 6.5,
    "n": 1840,
    "maturing": 212,
    "interval": [
      1.7,
      11.4
    ],
    "readability": "C",
    "basis": "held-back",
    "pooled": false
  },
  "ledger": {
    "spend": 520,
    "workerCost": 11,
    "hours": 1.8,
    "pipelineArr": 0,
    "wonArr": 3470,
    "projectedArr": 947,
    "paybackDays": 55
  }
}

Outside benchmark: this Play’s catalog record carries no sourced range yet, so Other Startups’ results stand in: +4.8 added trials per $100, ■■■□ Likely, n 22,400 Visitors.

Before it · After it. Before it: programmatic-seo, editorial-seo and promote-winners bring the Visitors. After it: product-led and instant-response take the trials and forms it brings back, and every converter leaves its windows.

ExampleCopy Anchor Link

Leaseline ran it from 2026-08-24 to 2026-10-19 (56 days) on Facebook and Google Display at $10 a day: 2,054 Visitors and Contacts entered, 214 had no tags (no Consent or an opt-out signal), and 1,840 were assigned, 1,472 served and 368 held out. Read every captured Ad and comment at ?threads=all; three follow the tables.

The 0–7 day Ad, Facebook, Sep 3 · Every renewal notice, 60 days out, for every owner you manage. Try Leaseline free for 14 days.¹

A Denver manager, served, Sep 4 · clicked, started a trial, and left every window within the hour. Paid for Pro on Sep 18: +$347 ARR, credited to the Ad’s coded link.²

- Still looking at our pricing page? Your renewals won’t wait.
+ Every renewal notice, 60 days out, for every owner you manage. Try Leaseline free for 14 days.

A commenter on the 8–30 day Ad, 2026-09-22 16:40 · “Does it work for HOAs?” · Leaseline, 16:42 · *Thanks for asking. Dana, our founder, answers this one herself, here, by tomorrow 17:00.*³ The comment stays up; the Brief went to you (task_744), and you replied at 09:15.

¹ What Leaseline does, from an approved Page, and nothing about the Visit. ² Credit by the coded link; the conversion came from your server, never the Venue’s own count. ³ The routed line, compiled from the Role’s Settings.

Your settingsCopy Anchor Link

---
holdout: 0.2      # a fifth of your own Visitors and Contacts never see an Ad
budget: $10/day
---
Windows: 0–7, 8–30 and 31–90 days since the last Visit. A trial started ends it.

$ npx startup-builder show plays/retargeting
holdout 0.2 · budget $10/day · windows 0–7, 8–30, 31–90 · trial ends it     your file  plays/retargeting.mdx:2,3,5 (Ask 2026-08-24)
worker role:paid-media-manager, owns never · chooses none (D38): the Decision picks a Tactic · approval every-send · checks conversion-send, opt-out, first-party, scale-gate, claims-resolve, price · stops 9 · placements facebook, instagram, google-display, youtube, linkedin    catalog  play:retargeting@1 (Not live yet, gaps #5)

Every key from the catalogCopy Anchor Link

Compiled, not written: edit the Play record retargeting and its Leaseline run, then regenerate. Every step runs from a sentence or a line of code. In your words: the CRM words you know, and where each lives here.