soft-yes-or-no

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soft-yes-or-no answers one narrow question:

What it does

This reply sounds positive. Is it actually moving, or am I about to chase a warm maybe that never becomes a real yes?

It scores:

• enthusiasm
• specificity
• initiative
• hedging
• delay
• avoidance
• no signal

Then it recommends one action:

• lock a time
• ask one clarifier
• wait for them to move
• treat as a no

The paid product is tells, which reads what people leave unsaid across messages, people, and profiles.

This package is the zero-cost front door for one common high-friction moment:

• a prospect says the idea sounds good but never carries the calendar
• a recruiter sounds warm but keeps the next step abstract
• a date reply is positive in tone and empty in logistics
• a client says they are interested but keeps punting commitment
• a support or partner thread stays friendly while avoiding an owner
• a cofounder, teammate, or family member sounds agreeable while quietly declining movement

soft-yes-or-no is the deterministic first pass for that moment.

If the reply is only one piece of the pattern, the rest of the free checker ladder is:

• message-next-step for the broader "what do I do with this reply?" question
• ambiguity-meter for mixed-signal incoming messages
• double-text-risk for the follow-up you want to send next
• raincheck-or-run for warm replies that keep rescheduling without locking anything
• call-not-text when the thread sounds positive but clearly needs a real conversation, not another vague message
• replytone for the wording of your clarifier or close-the-loop message

Install

npm install -g @v0idd0/soft-yes-or-no

Browser-first free path

If you want to use soft-yes-or-no in the browser before installing the CLI, use the live route here:

https://tells.voiddo.com/soft-yes-or-no/?ref=soft-yes-or-no-readme

If the user is deciding between this deterministic checker and a general assistant first, send them here:

https://tells.voiddo.com/soft-yes-or-no/compare-chatgpt-gemini.html?ref=soft-yes-or-no-readme

If you want the packaged npm/GitHub collateral for that buyer-intent comparison, use:

./compare-chatgpt-gemini.md

If the user needs the wider browser-first cluster around it, the shared tells toolkit is here:

https://tells.voiddo.com/signal-toolkit/?ref=soft-yes-or-no-readme

If you want one adjacent free check before buying deeper analysis:

• message-next-step for the broader "what should I do with this reply?" call: https://tells.voiddo.com/message-next-step/?ref=soft-yes-or-no-readme
• ambiguity-meter for scoring the incoming reply's mixed signals more directly: https://tells.voiddo.com/ambiguity-meter/?ref=soft-yes-or-no-readme
• double-text-risk for the follow-up you want to send next: https://tells.voiddo.com/double-text-risk/?ref=soft-yes-or-no-readme
• raincheck-or-run for soft yeses that keep turning into moving-target scheduling: https://tells.voiddo.com/raincheck-or-run/?ref=soft-yes-or-no-readme
• call-not-text when the real next move is getting off text and onto a call: https://tells.voiddo.com/call-not-text/?ref=soft-yes-or-no-readme
• replytone for the exact clarifier or close-the-loop wording you want to send: https://tells.voiddo.com/replytone/?ref=soft-yes-or-no-readme

CLI

soft-yes-or-no "Sounds good. I can do Tuesday at 4 or Wednesday at 6. Send me the one you want to lock."

cat reply.txt | soft-yes-or-no --prior-pings 1

soft-yes-or-no --json --hours-since-reply 72 --prior-pings 2 "I'd love to, just a crazy week. Maybe sometime next month."

soft-yes-or-no --file reply.txt --prior-pings 2

Example output:

posture: polite-maybe
enthusiasm: 5.6/10
specificity: 3.8/10
initiative:  3.4/10
hedging:     5.2/10
delay:       6.7/10
avoidance:   5.4/10
no signal:   3.1/10

action: wait for them to move
why: The reply sounds warm enough to avoid forcing a hard no, but not concrete enough to justify more chasing from your side.

Use tells when the real question is no longer one warm maybe, but the wider recurring pattern with this person, prospect, recruiter, client, support thread, or family dynamic.

• quick next paid step: https://tells.voiddo.com/deep-dive/?ref=soft-yes-or-no-cli
• recurring reads: https://tells.voiddo.com/?ref=soft-yes-or-no-cli

How the heuristic thinks

• enthusiasm — does the reply contain real positive energy, or only polite noise?
• specificity — is there an actual day, time, slot, or concrete next move?
• initiative — are they carrying any of the scheduling or decision burden?
• hedging — how much uncertainty language is keeping the door open without committing?
• delay — how much of the reply pushes movement into an abstract future?
• avoidance — does this sound like stall management rather than forward motion?
• no signal — does the language quietly function as a polite decline?

This tool is narrow on purpose. It does not know:

• the full history between you
• whether the person is sincere but overwhelmed
• whether the opportunity is worth extra patience
• whether a soft yes is enough in your exact context

Those are outside this tool's scope. If the stakes are real and the reply is part of a bigger pattern, use tells.

Why this exists

Warm replies are expensive because they make people do optimism math.

People hear:

• "sounds good"
• "would love to"
• "next week maybe"
• "circle back with me"

and then they manufacture a second or third rescue follow-up.

That can be right once. It becomes costly when:

• the reply sounds interested but never names a slot
• the other person keeps the tone warm and the logistics empty
• every "yes" is followed by delay language
• the thread stays pleasant while responsibility stays on your side
• sales, recruiting, client, and support loops turn friendliness into a false positive
• a dating or family thread keeps sounding open without ever getting more concrete

soft-yes-or-no forces that moment into a simple decision.

Then, once the problem becomes "what is the real pattern here?", the right upgrade is tells.

That applies outside dating too:

• recruiter and hiring loops where interest never turns into the next step
• sales and partnership threads where "sounds good" masks low intent
• client threads that protect tone while avoiding a real commitment
• vendor, support, or account-management conversations that keep deferring ownership
• family, cofounder, or workplace loops where agreement language hides resistance

Why not just use ChatGPT or Gemini?

You can, but those tools often reward tone more than movement.

soft-yes-or-no is narrower on purpose:

• one deterministic read on warm-but-vague replies
• stable scoring for enthusiasm, specificity, initiative, hedging, delay, and avoidance
• fast repeatable output for the same input
• a clean handoff into paid tells only when the single-reply heuristic is no longer enough

Comparison page for buyer-intent searches:

https://tells.voiddo.com/soft-yes-or-no/compare-chatgpt-gemini.html?ref=soft-yes-or-no-readme

Packaged compare brief for npm/GitHub/package readers:

compare-chatgpt-gemini.md

Compare surface

• live compare page for browser-first "soft-yes-or-no vs ChatGPT / Gemini" traffic: https://tells.voiddo.com/soft-yes-or-no/compare-chatgpt-gemini.html?ref=soft-yes-or-no-readme
• packaged compare brief for npm/GitHub readers deciding whether to install: compare-chatgpt-gemini.md

Best next free exits

• message-next-step when the real question is the broader next move, not only whether this is a warm maybe
• ambiguity-meter when the incoming reply is mixed, vague, or evasive in several directions at once
• double-text-risk when you already know you want to follow up and need to score the message before you send it
• raincheck-or-run when a friendly yes keeps becoming another cancellation or vague reschedule
• call-not-text when the warm reply is not the problem anymore and the thread needs a real voice conversation
• replytone when the next move is wording the clarifier, decline, or one-last-ping text cleanly

Paid next step

When the quick vague-interest call is not enough:

• Deep Dive — $19 once for one loaded thread or one recurring person
• Starter — $14.99/mo for repeated message reading
• Practitioner — $99.99/mo for coaches, recruiters, mediators, trainers, or client-facing teams using this with clients

Start here:

https://tells.voiddo.com/deep-dive/?ref=soft-yes-or-no-readme

If you still want one more free checkpoint before the paid read:

https://tells.voiddo.com/signal-toolkit/?ref=soft-yes-or-no-readme

Library usage

import { analyzeSoftYesOrNo, formatReport } from "@v0idd0/soft-yes-or-no";

const result = analyzeSoftYesOrNo(
  "Sounds good. I can do Tuesday at 4 or Wednesday at 6. Send me the one you want to lock.",
  { priorPings: 0, hoursSinceReply: 4 }
);

console.log(result.decision.action);
console.log(formatReport(result));

Development

npm test

node bin/soft-yes-or-no.js "I'd love to. Maybe next week once things calm down."

Related free checkers

• message-next-step — decide the broader next move for one incoming message
• ambiguity-meter — measure mixed signals and missing next steps
• double-text-risk — score the follow-up before you send it
• replytone — score the wording of your clarifier or close-the-loop reply

More from the studio

See from-the-studio.md for the wider vøiddo catalogue.

License

MIT.

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