# Blocking

Spara automatically monitors all incoming messages for harmful content. When a lead sends messages that violate safety thresholds, Spara blocks the lead to protect your team and maintain a safe sales environment.

## How blocking works

Every message a lead sends is evaluated in real time using OpenAI's content moderation model. The model checks for categories including harassment, illicit content, violence, hate speech, sexual content, and self-harm. Each message receives a category score between 0 and 1.

Spara tracks a cumulative moderation score across all of a lead's messages. When the total score reaches **1.0 or higher**, the lead is automatically blocked. A single severe message (e.g., a threat or illicit request) can trigger a block immediately, while milder violations accumulate over multiple messages.

When a lead is blocked:

* Spara stops responding to the lead's messages
* The lead appears as **Blocked** on the [**Leads**](https://app.spara.co/leads) page
* A [Notifications](/platform/settings/notifications.md) is sent if the Blocked event is enabled in your notification settings

## Moderation categories

Spara evaluates messages against these categories, based on [OpenAI's moderation policy](https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/moderation):

| Category       | Examples                                                    |
| -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Harassment** | Insults, threats, or abusive language directed at the agent |
| **Illicit**    | Requests for illegal goods, services, or activities         |
| **Violence**   | Threats of violence or graphic violent content              |
| **Hate**       | Discriminatory language targeting protected groups          |
| **Sexual**     | Explicit sexual content or solicitation                     |
| **Self-harm**  | Content promoting or describing self-harm                   |

## Manual blocking and unblocking

Your team can manually override the automatic moderation system:

* **Block a lead** — Manually block a lead from the lead detail page, regardless of their moderation score. This prevents Spara from responding to them.
* **Unblock a lead** — Manually unblock a lead that was automatically flagged. Once unblocked, Spara will not re-block the lead automatically, even if they send additional flagged messages. This is useful when a false positive occurs.

## FAQ

### Can I adjust the sensitivity of the moderation?

The moderation thresholds are not configurable per-organization. They are calibrated to block clearly harmful content while minimizing false positives.

### What happens to a blocked lead's data?

Blocking a lead does not delete any data. Their conversation history, field data, and activity remain visible on the Leads page. The lead simply cannot receive further responses from Spara.

### Does moderation apply to email messages?

Yes. Both chat messages and email messages from leads are evaluated for harmful content and contribute to the lead's cumulative moderation score.


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