RedHub AI
How the gate works
How the Template Merge & Mail-Merge Engine gate works
This tool grades a mail-merge template against its data list before a single message goes out. Each signal is scored 0–2; the verdict is the weakest one — then a gate that can only make it worse.
The 4 signals
A placeholder with no source data column - or a malformed, unclosed token - is a structural fault: it renders wrong in every row identically, so it forces HOLD no matter how many rows are individually clean. Structure dominates the per-row count; a template that can't map can't merge.
Why: Every placeholder maps to a column and no token is malformed, so the template structure is sound. But the rows aren't all merge-clean: one row is missing its required company field and one carries an invalid email. The weakest signal is row readiness, so the template reads FIX ROWS - sound structure, fixable rows. Had a placeholder pointed at no column, that structural fault would force HOLD regardless of how clean the rows were.
A clean sheet didn’t save it. The verdict is the weakest signal — and a top trigger is dispositive on its own — so it names the one thing to fix first. Grades template-to-data integrity before you merge; it never fills or guesses a missing value, and it is not a mail-merge sender and not legal, compliance, or deliverability advice. You are the sender.