How It Works
Qualifying Phase
Your job begins in the qualifying phase. Sparky's AI gathers all the details it needs — what the problem is, any relevant context, your location, and urgency — to properly categorise and match the job.
Quoting Phase
Once an electrician is matched and contacted, the job moves to the quoting phase. You'll see real-time updates as the electrician reviews the job details and provides their quote.
Payment Phase
When you approve the quote, the payment is held and the job enters the payment phase. You can track the payment status and see confirmation that funds are secured.
Completion Phase
During the work itself, the job is in the completion phase. You receive notifications as the job progresses, and the electrician can update the status as milestones are reached.
Review Phase
After the work is done, the 24-hour review period begins. You can confirm satisfaction, leave feedback, and the payment is finalised automatically once the review period closes.
Benefits for Electricians
- Clear job lifecycle means you always know what's expected at each stage — no ambiguity about next steps.
- Real-time status updates reduce customer calls asking 'what's happening?' — they can see progress themselves.
- Automatic phase transitions handle the admin. When you mark a job complete, the review period starts automatically.
- Multi-channel notifications (push, SMS, email) ensure you never miss a job update or customer message.
- Complete job history provides a record of all work done through Sparky for your own bookkeeping.
Benefits for Customers
- See exactly where your job stands at any moment — qualifying, quoting, payment, completion, or review — in real time.
- Receive instant notifications when your job status changes, via push notifications, SMS, or email.
- No need to chase the electrician or Sparky for updates. The system proactively tells you what's happening.
- Complete transparency from first message to final payment. Every step is tracked and visible.
- Job history keeps a record of all your electrical work, useful for home documentation and future reference.
Under the Hood
Job tracking is powered by Convex's real-time subscription system. Every job in Sparky follows a 5-phase state machine: qualifying, quoting, payment, completion, and review. Each phase transition triggers serverless functions that update the job record and broadcast changes to all subscribed clients instantly via Convex's reactive queries. When a job's status changes, the notification system fans out alerts across multiple channels: Expo push notifications for immediate mobile alerts, Twilio SMS for text messages, and Postmark emails for detailed updates. The state machine enforces valid transitions (e.g., a job can't skip from qualifying to completion) and each phase has defined entry conditions and exit criteria. The Convex agent framework manages the AI's role in progressing jobs through phases, with lifecycle hooks that trigger appropriate actions — like initiating electrician outreach when a job enters the quoting phase, or scheduling the 24-hour review timer when completion is confirmed.
