diff --git a/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
index 68b938c1..8997adc1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 name: Run Tests
 on:
   pull_request:
+    paths-ignore:
+      - "README.md"
   push:
     branches:
       - develop
       - main
+    paths-ignore:
+      - "README.md"
 jobs:
   run_tests:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8058efa6..e0f534c2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,22 +1,575 @@
-# Firebase-Functions
+## Repository Structure
 
-## First Time Setup
+We have 5 main repositories for all the codes in CheckMate. In the architecture diagram below, these are at the top, in light grey.
+
+- User and Checkers Product Repository (this one)
+  - Handles WhatsApp bot, Telegram bot, and Telegram WebApp interactions for both users and checkers
+- [ML Repository](https://github.com/bettersg/checkmate-ml)
+  - Handles the OCR of image messages and the auto-categorisation of messages
+- [Agents Repository](https://github.com/bettersg/checkmate-agents)
+  - Handles the GenAI agent stuff
+- [Referrals Repository](https://github.com/bettersg/checkmate-referrals)
+  - Handles referral links on the ref.checkmate.sg subdomain
+- [Website Repository](https://github.com/bettersg/checkmate-website)
+  - Basically the [website](https://checkmate.sg)
+
+## Architecture
+
+Project is deployed on Google Cloud. Cloud Architecture comprises
+
+- Firebase Functions (Orange below)
+- Firestore (Green Below)
+- Cloud Run (Blue Below)
+  - Cloud run is used for services that take too long to cold start
+- Cloud Pub/Sub (Pink Below)
+
+These SaaS are also being used in the product.
+
+- OpenAI
+  - Used for GenAI features
+- Typesense
+  - Used as vector DB and search engine
+
+Finally, there are 3 main user interfaces, these are colored in dark grey.
+
+- WhatsApp number/bot for users
+- Telegram webapp for checkers
+- Web endpoint for referrals
+
+See below diagram for how the elements of the cloud architecture work together:
+
+```mermaid
+flowchart TB
+  A[User's WhatsApp]:::touchpoint
+  B[Referral Endpoint]:::touchpoint
+  C[Telegram Web App]:::touchpoint
+  classDef function fill:#FFD700
+  classDef database fill:#90EE90
+  classDef queue fill:#FFB6C1
+  classDef container fill:#ADD8E6
+  classDef touchpoint fill:#D3D3D3
+  subgraph Firebase Functions
+    direction TB
+    subgraph webhookHandlers
+      direction TB
+      webhookHandler:::function
+    end
+    subgraph eventHandlers
+      direction TB
+      onUserPublish:::function
+      onInstanceCreate:::function
+      onInstanceDelete:::function
+      onInstanceUpdate:::function
+      onMessageUpdate:::function
+      onMessageWrite:::function
+      onCheckerUpdate:::function
+      onVoteRequestUpdate:::function
+    end
+    subgraph apiHandlers
+      direction TB
+      apiHandler:::function
+      internalApiHandler:::function
+      telegramAuthHandler:::function
+    end
+    subgraph batchJobs
+      direction TB
+      checkSessionExpiring:::function
+      scheduledDeactivation:::function
+      sendInterimPrompt:::function
+      resetLeaderboard:::function
+    end
+    referralHandler:::function
+    subgraph agents
+      direction TB
+      agent-openai-asst-7fuliefohzfueuejhpyy7ntl:::function
+    end
+  end
+
+  subgraph PubSub
+    direction TB
+    userEvents:::queue
+    agentQueue:::queue
+  end
+
+  subgraph Firestore
+    direction TB
+    users[(Users)]:::database
+    checkers[(Checkers)]:::database
+    messages[(Messages)]:::database
+    instances[(Instances)]:::database
+    voteRequests[(Vote Requests)]:::database
+    blasts[(Blasts)]:::database
+    referrals[(Referrals)]:::database
+  end
+
+  subgraph Cloud Run
+    mlService:::container
+    seleniumChrome:::container
+  end
+
+  subgraph SaaS
+    OpenAI
+    Typesense
+  end
+
+  subgraph Github Repos
+    Repo1[Users and Checkers Repo]
+    Repo2[ML Repo]
+    Repo3[Agents Repo]
+    Repo4[Referrals Repo]
+  end
+
+  A --fires--> webhookHandler
+  webhookHandler --publishes--> userEvents
+  userEvents --triggers--> onUserPublish
+  onUserPublish --creates--> messages
+  onUserPublish --creates/updates--> users
+  onUserPublish --creates--> instances
+  onUserPublish --calls--> mlService
+  onUserPublish --calls--> OpenAI
+  mlService --calls--> OpenAI
+  onInstanceCreate --creates--> voteRequests
+  messages --triggers--> onMessageWrite
+  messages --triggers--> onMessageUpdate
+  instances --triggers--> onInstanceCreate
+  onInstanceCreate --publishes--> agentQueue
+  onInstanceCreate --syncs--> Typesense
+  onInstanceUpdate --syncs--> Typesense
+  onInstanceDelete --syncs--> Typesense
+  onMessageWrite --syncs---> Typesense
+  instances --triggers--> onInstanceUpdate
+  instances --triggers--> onInstanceDelete
+  checkers --triggers--> onCheckerUpdate
+  voteRequests --triggers--> onVoteRequestUpdate
+  onVoteRequestUpdate --updates--> checkers
+  onVoteRequestUpdate --updates--> messages
+  C --calls--> apiHandler
+  apiHandler --updates --> voteRequests
+  referralHandler --creates --> referrals
+  agents--calls --> seleniumChrome
+  agents--calls --> internalApiHandler
+  internalApiHandler --updates --> voteRequests
+  C --authenticates--> telegramAuthHandler
+  agentQueue --triggers--> agents
+  Repo1 --deploys--> eventHandlers
+  Repo1 --deploys--> apiHandlers
+  Repo1 --deploys--> batchJobs
+  Repo1 --deploys--> webhookHandlers
+  Repo2 --deploys --> mlService
+  Repo3 --deploys --> agents
+  Repo4 --deploys --> referralHandler
+  B --triggers--> referralHandler
+
+
+  %%Dummy Link For Aesthetic Purposes%%
+  apiHandler ~~~ internalApiHandler
+  internalApiHandler ~~~ telegramAuthHandler
+  checkSessionExpiring~~~scheduledDeactivation
+  scheduledDeactivation~~~sendInterimPrompt
+  sendInterimPrompt~~~resetLeaderboard
+  agent-openai-asst-7fuliefohzfueuejhpyy7ntl ~~~ apiHandler
+  userEvents ~~~ agentQueue
+  userEvents ~~~ agentQueue
+  onMessageWrite ~~~ Repo1
+```
+
+## Data
+
+The primary data store is Firestore, which is a noSQL db. The entity-relationship diagram below shows the logical relation between various data entities in our application, but since this is a noSQL db, how each entity and relationship is implemented differs.
+
+### Definitions
+
+- message: Top-level collection, called `messages`. Basically a group of instances with the same/similar contents.
+- instance: Subcollection under each Message, called `instances`. An instance refers to a particular WhatsApp message sent in by a user.
+- voteRequest: Subcollection under each Messaage, called `voteRequests`. A voteRequest represents a request to the checkers to vote on a message.
+- checker: Top-level collection, called `checkers`
+- user: Top-level collection, called `users`
+- blast: Top-level collection, called `blasts`
+- userBlast: A Subcollection under each `blast`, where relationship to user is implement as the document ID, which is the user's ID (a.k.a WhatsApp number). Basically tracks a blast received by a user.
+- customReply: Map (a.k.a object) under each message, called `customReply`. Relationship to checker implement by `DocumentReference` field `lastUpdatedBy`. Basically tracks details of a custom reply, which overrides the generic category-based response if it is present.
+- closestMatch: Map (a.k.a object) under each instance called `closestMatch`. `DocumentReference` fields `instanceRef` and `parentRef` point to the closest matching instance, and its parent message respectively.
+- leaderboardStats: Map (a.k.a object) under each checker, called `leaderBoardStats`. Exists to facilitate tracking and calculation of the leaderboard.
+- programData: Map (a.k.a object) under each checker, called `programData`. Details related to the volunteer program.
+
+```mermaid
+erDiagram
+
+    message {
+        string machineCategory
+        boolean isMachineCategorised "whether this message was autocategorised"
+        string originalText "text as sent by user"
+        string text "pii-stripped text. For text, shows the latest iteration of the instance"
+        string caption "Latest caption for image, if applicable"
+        timestamp firstTimestamp "Timestamp of first instance"
+        timestamp lastTimestamp "Timestamp of latest instance"
+        timestamp lastRefreshedTimestamp "Timestamp where details were last updated"
+        boolean isPollStarted "Whether or not a voting poll has been started for this message"
+        boolean isAssessed "Should message be considered assessed and ready for reply"
+        timestamp assessedTimestamp "Timestamp of when message was assessed"
+        timestamp assessmentExpiry "When assessment should expire, if any, currently not used"
+        boolean assessmentExpired "Whether assessment has expired, currently not used"
+        boolean isScam
+        boolean isIllicit
+        boolean isSpam
+        boolean isLegitimate
+        boolean isUnsure
+        boolean isInfo
+        boolean isSatire
+        boolean isIrrelevant "Should message be considered assessed and ready for reply"
+        number truthScore "mean vote score for info votes"
+        string primaryCategory "either scam, illicit, irrelevant, spam, legitimate, misleading, untrue, accurate, unsure, or pass"
+        number instanceCount "number of instances"
+        string rationalisation "genAI created rationalisation of why the message might have ben categorised as such"
+    }
+
+    customReply {
+        string type "text or image"
+        string text
+        string caption
+        timestamp lastUpdatedTimestamp
+    }
+
+    instance {
+        string source
+        string id "whatsapp message id needed to reply"
+        timestamp timestamp "when instance was created"
+        string type "text/image"
+        string text "text if text message or ocr-extracted text if image message"
+        string textHash "md5 hash of text or ocr-extracted text"
+        string caption "caption of image, if applicable"
+        string captionHash "md5 hash of caption"
+        string sender "sender name or number, extracted by OCR, if applicable"
+        string imageType "either convo, email, letter, others"
+        string ocrVersion "'1' for paddleOCR or '2' for genAI-vertex"
+        string from "Sender ID or phone number"
+        string subject "letter or email subject"
+        string hash "Image hash, for image only"
+        string mediaId "Media ID from whatsApp, for image only"
+        string mimeType "For image only"
+        string storageUrl "Cloud storage URL of image, if applicable"
+        boolean isForwarded "Not used for now"
+        boolean isFrequentlyForwarded "Not used for now"
+        boolean isReplied "System has replied to the citizen with a final assessment"
+        boolean isInterimPromptSent "Have we sent an interim prompt"
+        boolean isInterimReplySent "Have we sent an interim reply"
+        boolean isMeaningfulInterimReplySent "track is a non-unsure meaningful interim reply was sent"
+        boolean isRationalisationSent "Has the rationalisation been sent"
+        boolean isRationalisationUseful "Is the rationalisation feature useful"
+        boolean isReplyForced "track if final reply is forced after 23 hrs"
+        boolean isMatched "track if message was matched"
+        boolean isReplyImmediate "track if final reply is immediate"
+        string replyCategory "scam, illicit, untrue, misleading, accurate, spam, legitimate, irrelevant, irrelevant_auto, unsure"
+        timestamp replyTimestamp "time of reply to the sender"
+        string matchType "either exact, stripped, similarity or none"
+        array embedding "embedding"
+        boolean scamShieldConsent "whether users consented to sending the message to scamshield, for scam and illicit only"
+        boolean isSatisfactionSurveySent "whether satisfaction survey is sent"
+        number satisfactionScore "satisfaction score given by user on NPS survey"
+    }
+
+    closestMatch {
+        documentReference instanceRef "reference to the instance that was matched"
+        documentReference parentRef "reference to the parent message of the instance that was matched"
+        string text "text of the closest match"
+        string score "similarity score"
+        string algorithm "algorithm used to calculate similarity"
+    }
+
+    voteRequest {
+        string platformId "whatsapp number or telegram Id"
+        string platform "whatsapp/telegram/agent"
+        boolean hasAgreed "whether person has agreed to vote"
+        boolean triggerL2Vote "whether or not a vote should be triggered"
+        boolean triggerL2Others "whether or not L2 scam message should be triggered"
+        string sentMessageId "message id of the forwarded dubious message to checkers"
+        number truthScore "number between 1 and 5. Legacy implementations before release 2.10.0 have the field vote instead on a 0-5 scale, which truthScore replaces"
+        string category "scam, illicit, info, satire, legitimate, spam, irrelevant, unsure, pass, or null for not yet voted"
+        string reasoning "reasoning for the vote, for GenAI to post"
+        timestamp createdTimestamp "time when vote request is sent to user"
+        timestamp acceptedTimestamp "time when user first viewed the message"
+        timestamp votedTimestamp "time when user has voted"
+        boolean isCorrect "whether the vote aligns with majority. Null if majority is unsure or if category is pass"
+        number score "score that this vote contributes to the leaderboard"
+        number duration "number of minutes taken since start of vote to vote"
+    }
+
+    checker {
+        string name
+        string type "human or ai"
+        boolean isActive "whether checker is active and receiving votes from the system"
+        boolean isOnboardingComplete "whether onboarding is complete"
+        boolean isAdmin "whether checker is an admin"
+        string singpassOpenId "Singpass Open ID, not in use"
+        string telegramId "telegram ID"
+        string whatsappId "whatsapp phone number"
+        string tier "tier of checker, either beginner, intermediate, or expert"
+        number level "Not used for now, for future gamification"
+        number experience "Not used for now, for future gamification"
+        number numVoted "Number of messages voted on"
+        number numReferred "Number of new users referred"
+        number numReported "Number of non-trivial instances sent in sent in"
+        number numCorrectVotes "Number of votes that align with majority, for messages that didn't end with unsure"
+        number numNonUnsureVotes "Number of votes on messages that didn't end as unsure, for computing accuracy"
+        number numVerifiedLinks "Not used for now"
+        number voteWeight "Everyone equal for now"
+        string preferredPlatform "whatsapp/telegram"
+        string getNameMessageId "ID of the message sent to prompt factChecker for their name. Used to track reply on whatsapp."
+        timestamp lastVotedTimestamp "When the checker last voted"
+    }
+
+    leaderboardStats {
+      number numVoted "number of votes cast where the parent message category is not unsure"
+      number numCorrectVotes "number of votes that align with majority, for messages that didn't end with unsure"
+      number totalTimeTaken "total time taken to vote where the parent message category is not unsure"
+      number score "total score"
+    }
+
+    programData {
+        boolean isOnProgram "Indicates if the user is currently on the program"
+        timestamp programStart "Start time of the program, can be null if not started"
+        timestamp programEnd "End time of the program, can be null if not completed"
+        number numVotesTarget "Target number of messages voted on to complete the program"
+        number numReferralTarget "Target number of referrals made to complete the program"
+        number numReportTarget "Number of non-trivial messages sent in to complete the program"
+        number accuracyTarget "Target accuracy of non-unsure votes"
+        number numVotesAtProgramStart "Number of votes checker has made at program start"
+        number numReferralsAtProgramStart "Number of referrals checker has made at program start"
+        number numReportsAtProgramStart "Number of non-trivial message reports checker has made at program start"
+        number numCorrectVotesAtProgramStart "Number of non-unsure correct votes checker has made at program start"
+        number numNonUnsureVotesAtProgramStart "Number of non-unsure votes checker has made at program start"
+        number numVotesAtProgramEnd "Number of votes checker has made at program end, can be null"
+        number numReferralsAtProgramEnd "Number of referrals checker has made at program end, can be null"
+        number numReportsAtProgramEnd "Number of non-trivial message reports checker has made at program end, can be null"
+        number numCorrectVotesAtProgramEnd "Number of non-unsure correct votes checker has made at program end, can be null"
+        number numNonUnsureVotesAtProgramEnd "Number of non-unsure votes checker has made at program end, can be null"
+    }
+
+    user {
+        number instanceCount "number of instances sent in"
+        timestamp lastSent "the last time the user sent an instance"
+        timestamp firstMessageReceiptTime "the first time the user sent something into the bot"
+        string firstMessageType "either prepopulated, normal, or irrelevant"
+        timestamp satisfactionSurveyLastSent "last time satisfaction survey was sent, used to implement cooldown for sending the survey"
+        string initialJourney "map mapping out the journey in the first 24 hrs of usage, where key is the timestamp of the step taken"
+        string referralId "referral code"
+        number referralCount "number of other users referred"
+        string utm "map containing utm parameters, source, medium, content, campaign, term"
+        string language "en or cn, users preferred language"
+        boolean isSubscribedUpdates "whether to blast msgs to this user"
+    }
+
+    blasts {
+        string type "image or text"
+        string text "text or caption if image"
+        string storageUrl "image storage url if applicable"
+        boolean isActive "the one that should be sent"
+        timestamp createdDate "when the blast was created"
+        timestamp blastDate "when the blast was sent out"
+     }
+
+     userBlast {
+        string feedbackCategory "positive, negative or neutral"
+        timestamp sentTimestamp "when blast was sent to user"
+     }
+
+    message ||--|{ instance: has
+    user ||--o{ instance: sends
+    message ||--o{ voteRequest: triggers
+    checker ||--o{ voteRequest: votes
+    instance ||--|| closestMatch: has
+    closestMatch ||--|| instance: is
+    checker ||--|| leaderboardStats: has
+    checker ||--|| programData: has
+    message ||--|| customReply: has
+    checker ||--|| customReply: composes
+    blasts ||--o{ userBlast: has
+    user ||--o{ userBlast: provides
+```
+
+## Application Flows
+
+The below diagram displays the core flow when users interact with the WhatsApp bot. Each subgraph corresponds to a particular function in functions/src/definitions/, and some nested subgraphs, if there, refer to subfunctions declared within the cloud functions. Some of the functions are also referenced in the above architecture diagram.
+
+Dotted lines refer to asynchronous processes that take longer than the order of seconds. Most of the interfaces between subgraphs/functions are asynchronous in the software engineering sense but they happen near-instantaneously. 
+
+```mermaid
+flowchart TB
+    classDef human fill:#FFA500
+    classDef mlservice fill:#f9f
+    classDef agentservice fill:#ffbbff
+    classDef dbUpdate fill:#bbffbb
+    A[User interacts with WhatsApp bot]:::human
+    B[WhatsApp fires webhook to our endpoint]
+    subgraph Legend
+      Legend1[Human Interface]:::human
+      Legend2[Calls ML Service]:::mlservice
+      Legend3[Calls Agent Service]:::agentservice
+      Legend4[Updates Database]:::dbUpdate
+    end
+    subgraph webhookHandlers/handler.ts
+        C1[Authenticate/Check if correct WhatsApp]
+        C2[Put into user or checker queue, depending on WABA phone number ID]
+        direction TB
+    end
+    C3{User/Checker Queue?}
+    C4[Deprecated]
+    subgraph eventHandlers/onUserPublish.ts
+        D1{Is it a message <br> to be checked <br> or some other <br> interaction}
+        D2[Handle interaction]
+        D3{Text or Image}
+        subgraph func newTextInstanceHandler
+            D3a1[Autocategorise and check trivial]:::mlservice
+            D3a2[Embed and check similarity against database]
+            D3a3{Matched?}
+            D3a4[Add Message Object]:::dbUpdate
+            D3a5[Add Instance Object to Message]:::dbUpdate
+            D3a1 --> D3a2
+            D3a2 --> D3a3
+            D3a3 --No--> D3a4
+            D3a4 --> D3a5
+            D3a3 --Yes--> D3a5
+
+        end
+        subgraph func eventHandlers/newImageInstanceHandler
+            D3b1[Download Image]
+            D3b2[Check Image Hash against database]
+            D3b3{Matched?}
+            D3b4[Perform OCR to get text and get category]:::mlservice
+            D3b5[Embed text and check similarity against database]
+            D3b6{Matched?}
+            D3b7[Add Message Object]:::dbUpdate
+            D3b8[Add Instance Object To Message]:::dbUpdate
+            D3b1 --> D3b2
+            D3b2 --> D3b3
+            D3b3 --No--> D3b4
+            D3b4 --> D3b5
+            D3b5 --> D3b6
+            D3b6 --No--> D3b7
+            D3b6 --Yes--> D3b8
+            D3b7 --> D3b8
+            D3b3 --Yes--> D3b8
+        end
+        D1 --Other Interaction--> D2
+        D1 --Message to be Checked--> D3
+        D3 --Image--> D3b1
+        D3 --Text-->D3a1
+    end
+    subgraph eventHandlers/onInstanceCreate.ts
+        direction TB
+        E1[Issue reply to user based on current message state - assessed or not]:::human
+        E2{Poll previously <br> started?}
+        E3[Trigger FactChecking Agents by putting into agents queue]
+        E4[Add VoteRequest Object and send Telegram/WhatsApp notification for each active checker]
+        E1 --> E2
+        E2 --No--> E3
+        E3 --> E4
+    end
+    F[Checker votes on Telegram App]:::human
+    F1[Post to api/handlers/patchVoteRequest]
+    G[Agent votes]:::agentservice
+    subgraph eventHandlers/onVoteRequestUpdate.ts
+        direction TB
+        H1[Count votes for every category]
+        H2[Check against thresholds to determine if message has a predominant category]
+        H3[Check against thresholds to determine if a message is considered properly assessed]
+        H4[Update Message Object]:::dbUpdate
+        H1 --> H2
+        H2 --> H3
+        H3 --> H4
+    end
+    subgraph eventHandlers/onMessageUpdate.ts
+        direction TB
+        I1{isAssessed<br>changed?}
+        I2[Trigger GenAI rationalisation of message depending on category]
+        I3[Issue reply to user based on current message state]:::human
+        I1 --Yes--> I2
+        I2 --> I3
+    end
+    A --> B
+    B --> C1
+    C1 --> C2
+    C2 --> C3
+    C3 --user--> eventHandlers/onUserPublish.ts
+    C3 --checker--> C4
+    D3a5 --> eventHandlers/onInstanceCreate.ts
+    D3b8 --> eventHandlers/onInstanceCreate.ts
+    E4 -.-> F
+    E3 --> G
+    F --> F1
+    F1 --> eventHandlers/onVoteRequestUpdate.ts
+    G --> eventHandlers/onVoteRequestUpdate.ts
+    H4 --> I1
+```
+
+## Miscellaneous Flows
+
+Beyond the above main flow, there are many sub flows executing in the application
+
+- Update checker score and leaderboard
+- Reset leaderboard (batch job monthly)
+- Remind checkers who have votes outstanding for more than 72 hrs (batch job daily)
+- Send interim replies to qualifying messages (batch job every 20 mins)
+- Trigger agents
+- Onboard as checkers
+
+We aim to document all these flows eventually, but for now do look at the code to figure these out.
+
+## Local Development & DevOps
+
+We currently have 3 environments, prod, uat, and local. The `/integration-tests` folder contains a 4th mocked environment, SIT, which is run in the CI pipeline. Generally, you'd do most of your feature development on the local dev environment, and in a feature branch. Once the feature branch is ready, make a PR to the `develop` branch. Successful merge into the `develop` branch will trigger a UAT deployment. Successful merge from `develop` into `main` will in turn trigger a prod deployment. All these happen through Github Actions.
+
+### First Time Setup
 
 1. `git clone https://github.com/CheckMateSG/checkMate.git`
 2. `cd checkMate`
 3. `npm install -g firebase-tools`
-4. `npm run postinstall`
-5. run `firebase login --no-localhost` then login with your betterSG email
-6. set up tunnel to localhost. Can contact BW for cloudflare tunnel
+    - you may have to install/upgrade your java 
+5. `npm run postinstall`
+6. run `firebase login --no-localhost` then login with your betterSG email
+7. Contact @sarge1989 to set you up with a cloudflare tunnel, and provide your WhatsApp number so the routing can be done to your setup. _Ngrok will not work for this step_, hence the need for this.
+8. Contact @sarge1989 to obtain .secret.local and .env.local files, which for now will be sent via password-encrypted zip. Place these two files in the `/functions` directory
+9. The phone number to the WhatsApp User bot non-prod number is also in said zip file, in `WhatsApp.txt`. You might want to add it to your contacts for easy access.
+
+### If working on Checkers App
+
+1. Create your own Telegram bot via [botfather](https://t.me/botfather)
+2. Replace `TELEGRAM_CHECKER_BOT_TOKEN` in `.secret.local` with the bot token. Note, it is `TELEGRAM_CHECKER_BOT_TOKEN` and not `TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN` or `TELEGRAM_WEBHOOK_TOKEN`
+3. Go to botfather, navigate to the bot you created, go to "Bot Settings" > "Menu Button". Then add the cloudflare tunnel URL provided by @sarge1989 in step 7 above that routes to your localhost:5000 
+4. In .env.local, replace `CHECKER1_TELEGRAM_ID` and `CHECKER1_PHONE_NUMBER` with your own Telegram ID and WhatsApp Phone number respectively. Note that Whatsapp Phone number should include the country code e.g. 6591111111. Telegram ID can be obtained via this [telegram bot](https://t.me/myidbot)
+
+### First time testing (once all above steps are done)
 
-## Each Time Developing
+1. Execute the steps in the below section "Each time developing"
+2. Go to the chat with the WhatsApp User bot non-prod number and send in /mockup
+2. Ensure that the [Firestore Emulator](http://127.0.0.1:4000/firestore) has been populated with some data
+3. Send "hi" to the WhatsApp User bot non-prod number. This should trigger the first usage onboarding
+4. Send a message such as "Best Fixed Deposit Rates yield 3.75% if you deposit via Syfe (to get institutional fixed deposit rates) (as of June 2024)" into the bot. You'll notice something onUserPublish might take a while, but this should trigger the asynchronous checking flow
+   - You can expect to see this on your console:
+     ````> {"severity":"INFO","message":"Processing 5"}
+     >  {"severity":"INFO","message":"Unable to get Google identity token in lower environments"}
+     >  {"severity":"INFO","message":"Unable to get Google identity token in lower environments"}
+     >  {"severity":"WARNING","message":"Path doesn't exist in database"}
+     i  functions: Beginning execution of "asia-southeast1-onMessageWriteV2"
+     >  {"severity":"INFO","message":"Transaction success for messageId wamid.HBgKNjU5M452y262ya53452U0QjZBQkYyNEM5NwA=!"}```
+     ````
+5. You should see a notification in your Telegram Bot. Go through the voting process.
+6. Once done, you should get a reply on the user whatsapp bot.
+7. With that, you've basically gone through the end-to-end flow for one message (albeit with only 1 voter in the pool)
+   
+### Each Time Developing
 
 1. Open 3 shells from in root directory
 2. [Shell 1] `make firebase`
 3. [Shell 2] `make functions` [hot reload for functions]
 4. [Shell 3] `make checkers-app` [hot reload for webapp]
-5. Can start on development
+5. If your database is empty, start by sending in `/mockdb` to the WhatsApp non-prod number, which will populate some baseline data in the local emulated firestore database.
+6. Firestore Emulator can be visited at http://127.0.0.1:4000/firestore
+7. Can start on development. There should be live refreshing on the changes you make
 
+#### Note:
+- When shutting down the emulator, proceed in this order.
+    - Control-C in Shell 3. Enter "Y" if prompted. Otherwise, pre-existing data may not be saved to local.
+    - Close the windows running the Java applications. Otherwise, the port will be used up. 
 ---
 
 In the event the Makefile doesn't work,
@@ -29,11 +582,11 @@ In the event the Makefile doesn't work,
 6. [Shell 3] `npm run serve`
 7. Can start on development
 
-## Useful Resources and links:
+### Useful Resources and links:
 
-- Firebase Console - https://console.firebase.google.com/, login with your bettersg email. Go here to manage the product resources and to change the production DB (later on, for a start we can just use the emulator)
+- Firebase Console - https://console.firebase.google.com/, login with your bettersg email. Go here to manage the product resources
 - Adding subcollections - https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47514419/how-to-add-subcollection-to-a-document-in-firebase-cloud-firestore
-- Getting started with firestore and firebase (basically I've adapted that for this repo) https://firebase.google.com/docs/functions/get-started
+- Getting started with firestore and firebasehttps://firebase.google.com/docs/functions/get-started
 - WhatsApp send message API documentation - https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/cloud-api/guides/send-messages
 - WhatsApp webhook object documentation - https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/cloud-api/webhooks/components
 - Telegram Bot API documentation - https://core.telegram.org/bots/api
diff --git a/documentation/businessFlow.md b/documentation/businessFlow.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 3353d714..00000000
--- a/documentation/businessFlow.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
-```mermaid
-sequenceDiagram
-    autonumber
-    participant Outside Chat
-    actor Citizen
-    participant User Bot
-    participant System
-    participant Checker Bot
-    actor Checkers
-    Outside Chat->>Citizen: Dubious message
-    Citizen->>User Bot: Forward
-    User Bot->>System: Trigger
-    System->>System: Check if message exists in database
-    alt message exists and has been assessed
-        rect rgb(191, 223, 255)
-        note over User Bot: Happy Flow
-        System->> User Bot: Trigger reply with corresponding response
-        User Bot->> Citizen: "The message has been assessed to be..."
-        end
-    else message does not exist and/or has not been assessed
-        rect rgb(200, 150, 255)
-        note over User Bot,System: Alternate flow if not yet assessed
-        System->> User Bot: Send in holding response
-        par reply to citizen
-            User Bot->> Citizen: "We are still checking"
-        and send out poll
-            opt if poll not yet sent
-                System->> Checker Bot: Trigger poll
-                Checker Bot-)+Checkers: Sends poll
-            end
-        end
-        Checkers->> -Checker Bot: Respond to poll
-        Checker Bot->> System: Update System
-        System->> User Bot: Trigger reply with corresponding response
-        User Bot->> Citizen: "The message has been assessed to be..."
-        end
-    end
-```
diff --git a/documentation/checkersAppDevOnboarding.md b/documentation/checkersAppDevOnboarding.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 4d727784..00000000
--- a/documentation/checkersAppDevOnboarding.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,43 +0,0 @@
-Telegram web app is for assessing
-
-# Developer onboarding for checkers-app
-- Create a telegram bot via Botfather
-- Configure the bot's setting
-  - Bot settings
-  - Menu Button
-  - Menu Button url - Point to <Cloudflare URL>
-  - Menu button title - "Open checkmate"
-- Set up Cloudflare tunnel - Consult BingWen
-  - TODO: Detail steps here
-- Get `.secrets.local`, `.env`, `.env.local`, `.env.prod`, `.env.uat` from team, place in `checkMate` repo
- - Modifiy `.secrets.local` - `TELEGRAM_CHECKER_BOT_TOKEN` and `TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN` to token id received from botfather
-- Set up telegram webhook
- - Unset any existing webhooks https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/setWebhook?url=
- - Send a POST request to set up with secret_token 
-  - Body - form-data
-    - URL: <Cloudflare URL>
-    - secret_token: <TELEGRAM_WEBHOOK_URL>
-
-- Ensure on `feature/checkers-app` branch
-- Start 3 separate services in checkMate repo
-  - functions
-    - `cd functions && npm i && npm run build:watch`
-  - checkers-app
-    - `cd checkers-app && npm i && npm run build:watch`
-  - firebase emulators
-    - `npm i && npm run serve`
-- Set up mock data in firebase emulator
-  - Send message `/mockdb` to CheckMate Users Testing By Better.sg bot - +65 8617 7848
-  - Check that firebase store has been populated with mock data
-
-# Sanity check
-- Development flow sanity check (ensure above onboarding flows have been done)
-- From WhatsApp, send the following command
- - `Check/Report
-Send in messages, images, or screenshots for checking!`
- - Click the menu button > Check / Report
- - Send a dubious test messages to CheckMate Users Testing By Better.sg bot - +65 8617 7848
- - Check that telegram bot received a pending message to be checked
-  - Open web app via telegram bot's menu button
-  - Perform assessment
-- On WA bot, receive the evaluated message
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/documentation/conversationFlow.md b/documentation/conversationFlow.md
deleted file mode 100644
index ae5c0bcf..00000000
--- a/documentation/conversationFlow.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,49 +0,0 @@
-```mermaid
-sequenceDiagram
-
-actor citizen
-participant user bot
-participant checker bot
-actor checker
-
-citizen ->> user bot: {fake news}
-alt there is a match
-    alt vote not completed
-        user bot ->> citizen: Hello! 👋 Thank you for sending this in! Our *CheckMates🕵🏻 will be reviewing this message* and *providing you with the results soon*.
-    else is a scam
-        user bot ->> citizen: ⛔⛔ Thank you for waiting! Our CheckMates have reviewed the message and think this is likely to be a *scam*!🚫\n\nWe recommend you do not engage further⛔️\n\nThank you for keeping Singapore safe!
-    else is suspicious
-		user bot ->> citizen: ⛔⛔ Thank you for waiting! Our CheckMates have reviewed the message and think this *looks suspicious*!🚨\n\nWe recommend you do not engage further⛔️\n\nThank you for keeping Singapore safe!
-	else truth score 0-1.5
-        user bot ->> citizen: ⛔⛔ Thank you for waiting! Our CheckMates have reviewed the message and think it's *likely to be untrue*.❌\n\nPlease do not spread it further⛔️\n\nThank you for keeping Singapore informed!
-    else truth score 1.5-3.5
-        user bot ->> citizen: 🚧🚧 Thank you for waiting! Our CheckMates have reviewed the message and think that *while some elements within could be true, it's presented in a misleading way*.⚠️\n\nPlease take it with a pinch of salt and think twice before spreading it further🚧.\n\nThank you for keeping Singapore informed!
-    else truth score 3.5-5
-        user bot ->> citizen: ✅✅ Thank you for waiting! Our CheckMates have reviewed the message and think that it's *accurate*.✅\n\nThank you for keeping Singapore informed!
-    else irrelevant
-        user bot ->> citizen: Thank you for waiting! Our CheckMates have reviewed the message and think it's *harmless*.👌
-    end
-else no match
-    user bot ->> citizen: Hello! 👋 Thank you for sending this in! Our CheckMates🕵🏻 will be reviewing this message and providing you with the results soon.
-    checker bot ->> checker: Hi {name}, CheckMate has received a new message. Would you like to help to assess it? <Yes><No>
-    alt yes
-        checker ->> checker bot: yes
-        checker bot ->> checker: {actual message or image received}
-        checker bot ->> checker: Is this message a scam, i.e. an attempt to trick someone into giving away their money or personal information, or is it something else? <It's a scam> <It's something else>
-        alt scam
-            checker ->> checker bot: It's a scam
-            checker bot ->> checker: Got it! Your response has been recorded. Thank you for playing your part in the fight against scams and misinformation, one message at a time! 💪
-        else not scam
-            checker ->> checker bot: It's something else
-            checker bot ->> checker: Got it👍! Please hold for another poll to vote on how true the message is.
-            checker bot ->> checker: Please vote on the new message above. If there is no claim in the message, select 'No Claim Made'. Otherwise, assess the veracity of the claim(s) on a scale from 0 to 5, where 0 means the claims(s) are entirely false, and 5 means the claims(s) are entirely true.
-            checker ->> checker bot: {selected option from list message}
-            checker bot ->> checker: Got it! Your response has been recorded. Thank you for playing your part in the fight against scams and misinformation, one message at a time! 💪
-        end
-    else no
-        checker ->> checker bot: no
-        checker bot ->> checker: No problem! If you wish to come back and assess the message, you may do so by clicking the "yes" button. See you soon!😊
-    end
-
-end
-```
diff --git a/documentation/dataSchema.md b/documentation/dataSchema.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 08c40853..00000000
--- a/documentation/dataSchema.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,161 +0,0 @@
-```mermaid
-erDiagram
-
-    message {
-        string id PK "Assigned by Firestore"
-        string machineCategory
-        boolean isMachineCategorised
-        string originalText "text as sent by user"
-        string text "pii-stripped text. For text, shows the latest iteration"
-        string caption "Latest caption for image, if applicable"
-        timestamp firstTimestamp "Timestamp of first instance"
-        timestamp lastTimestamp "Timestamp of latest instance"
-        timestamp lastRefreshedTimestamp "Timestamp where details were last updated"
-        boolean isPollStarted
-        boolean isAssessed "Should message be considered assessed and ready for reply"
-    		timestamp assessedTimestamp
-        timestamp assessmentExpiry "When assessment should expire, if any"
-        boolean assessmentExpired
-        boolean isScam
-        boolean isIllicit
-        boolean isSpam
-        boolean isLegitimate
-        boolean isUnsure
-        boolean isInfo
-        boolean isSatire
-        boolean isIrrelevant "Should message be considered assessed and ready for reply"
-        number truthScore
-        string primaryCategory "either scam, illicit, irrelevant, spam, legitimate, misleading, untrue, accurate, unsure, or error"
-        map customReply
-        number instanceCount
-        collection instances
-        collection voteRequests
-        string imageUrl "url of where the image is stored"
-    }
-
-    customReply {
-      string type: "text or image"
-      string text
-      string caption
-      reference lastUpdatedBy
-      timestamp lastUpdatedTimestamp
-    }
-
-    instance {
-        string id PK "Assigned by Firestore"
-        string source "whatsapp/telegram"
-        string id "whatsapp message id (needed to reply)"
-        timestamp timestamp
-        string type "text/image"
-        string text "text (if text message) or ocr-extracted text (if image message)"
-        string textHash "md5 hash of text or ocr-extracted text"
-        string caption "caption of image, if applicable"
-        string captionHash "md5 hash of caption"
-        string sender "sender name or number, extracted by OCR, if applicable"
-        string imageType "either convo, email, letter, others"
-        string ocrVersion "1 (paddleOCR) or 2 (genAI-vertex)"
-        string from "Sender ID or phone number"
-        string subject "letter or email subject"
-        string hash "Image hash, for image only"
-        string mediaId "Media ID from whatsApp, for image only"
-        string mimeType "For image only"
-        string storageUrl "Cloud storage URL of image, if applicable"
-        boolean isForwarded "Not used for now"
-        boolean isFrequentlyForwarded "Not used for now"
-        boolean isReplied "System has replied to the citizen with a final assessment"
-        boolean isInterimPromptSent "Have we sent an interim prompt"
-        boolean isInterimUseful "Whether the interim message is useful"
-        boolean isInterimReplySent "Have we sent an interim reply"
-        boolean isRationalisationSent "Has the rationalisation been sent"
-        boolean isRationalisationUseful "Is the rationalisation feature useful"
-        boolean isReplyForced "track if final reply is forced"
-        boolean isMatched "track if message was matched"
-        boolean isReplyImmediate "track if final reply is immediate"
-        boolean isMeaningfulInterimReplySent "track is a non-unsure meaningful interim reply was sent"
-        string replyCategory "scam, illicit, untrue, misleading, accurate, spam, legitimate, irrelevant, irrelevant_auto, unsure"
-    		timestamp replyTimestamp
-        string matchType "either exact, stripped, similarity or none"
-        map closestMatch "contains fields algorithm, instanceRef, parentRef, score, text"
-        array embedding
-        string strippedText
-        boolean scamShieldConsent
-        boolean isSatisfactionSurveySent
-        number satisfactionScore
-    }
-
-    voteRequest {
-        string id PK "Assigned by Firestore"
-        reference factCheckerDocRef FK "link to factChecker"
-        string platformId "whatsapp number or telegram Id"
-        string platform "whatsapp/telegram/agent"
-        boolean hasAgreed "whether person has agreed to vote"
-        boolean triggerL2Vote "whether or not a vote should be triggered"
-        boolean triggerL2Others "whether or not L2 scam message should be triggered"
-        string sentMessageId "message id of the forwarded dubious message to checkers"
-        number truthScore "number between 1 and 5. Legacy implementations before release 2.10.0 have the field vote instead (on a 0-5 scale), which truthScore replaces"
-        string category "scam, illicit, info, satire, legitimate, spam, irrelevant, unsure, pass"
-        timestamp createdTimestamp "time when vote request is sent to user"
-        timestamp acceptedTimestamp "time when user first viewed the message"
-        timestamp votedTimestamp "time when user has voted"
-        timestamp checkTimestamp "time when user checked voted category with crowd vote category"
-        boolean isView "true if user has voted/viewed vote result"
-    }
-
-    checker {
-        string id PK "unique ID, assigned by firestore"
-        string type "human or ai"
-        string name
-        boolean isActive
-        boolean isOnboardingComplete
-        boolean isAdmin
-        string singpassOpenId "Singpass Open ID"
-        string telegramId "telegram ID"
-        string whatsappId "whatsapp phone number"
-        string tier "tier of checker, either beginner, intermediate, or expert"
-        number level "Not used for now"
-        number experience "Not used for now"
-        number numVoted
-        number numCorrectVotes "Not used for now"
-        number numVerifiedLinks "Not used for now"
-        number voteWeight "Not used for now"
-        string preferredPlatform "whatsapp/telegram, only whatsapp used for now"
-    		string getNameMessageId "ID of the message sent to prompt factChecker for their name. Used to track reply."
-        timestamp lastVotedTimestamp
-    }
-
-    	user {
-    		string id PK "using their sender ID or phone number"
-    		number instanceCount
-    		timestamp lastSent
-    		timestamp firstMessageReceiptTime
-        string firstMessageType "either prepopulated, normal, or irrelevant"
-        timestamp satisfactionSurveyLastSent
-        map initialJourney "map mapping out the journey in the first 24 hrs of usage, where key is the timestamp of the step taken"
-        string referralId "referral code"
-        number referralCount
-        map utm "map containing utm parameters, source, medium, content, campaign, term"
-        string language "en or cn, users preferred language"
-        boolean isSubscribedUpdates "whether to blast msgs to this user"
-    	}
-
-      blasts {
-        string type "image or text"
-        string text "text or caption (if image)"
-        string storageUrl "image storage url if applicable"
-        boolean isActive "the one that should be sent"
-        timestamp createdDate "is active"
-        timestamp blastDate ""
-        collection recipients
-      }
-
-      recipients {
-        string id PK "phone number"
-        string feebackCategory "positive, negative or neutral"
-        timestamp sentTimestamp "when blast was sent to user"
-      }
-
-    message ||--|{ instance: has
-    user ||--|{ instance: sends
-    message ||--o{ voteRequest: triggers
-    factChecker ||--o{ voteRequest: responds_to
-```
diff --git a/documentation/detailedFlow.md b/documentation/detailedFlow.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 7704b6e7..00000000
--- a/documentation/detailedFlow.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,84 +0,0 @@
-```mermaid
-sequenceDiagram
-    actor Citizen
-    participant User Bot
-    participant webhookHandler
-    participant Firestore
-    participant Cloud Storage
-    participant onInstanceCreate
-    participant onVoteRequestUpdate
-    participant onMessageUpdate
-    participant Checker Bot
-    actor Checker
-    Citizen->>User Bot: Sends in text or image message
-    User Bot->>webhookHandler: Triggers webhook with message data
-    alt is image
-        webhookHandler->>webhookHandler: Hash image
-        webhookHandler->>Firestore: Query by hash
-        Firestore->>webhookHandler: Return matched message
-        opt no matched message
-            webhookHandler->> Cloud Storage: Store Image
-            webhookHandler->> Firestore: Create new message
-        end
-        webhookHandler->> Firestore: Add new instance
-    else is text
-        webhookHandler->>Firestore: Query by text
-        Firestore->>webhookHandler: Return matched message
-        opt no matched message
-            webhookHandler->> Firestore: Create new message
-        end
-        webhookHandler->> Firestore: Add new instance
-    end
-    Firestore->> onInstanceCreate: Trigger
-    onInstanceCreate->>Firestore: Get parent message details
-    alt parent message is assessed
-        onInstanceCreate->>User Bot: call API with response
-        User Bot->>Citizen: "This message has been assessed to be..."
-    else parent message not assessed
-        onInstanceCreate->>User Bot: call API with response
-        User Bot->>Citizen: "We will let you know once message has been assessed..."
-        opt if poll not started and num instances > threshold
-            loop for every fact checker
-                onInstanceCreate->>Checker Bot: call API with message template
-                Checker Bot->>+Checker: "Would you like to assess...?"
-                onInstanceCreate->>Firestore: create voteRequest
-                alt yes
-                    Checker->>Checker Bot: "yes!"
-                    Checker Bot->>webhookHandler: Trigger
-                    webhookHandler->>Firestore: get message details
-                    webhookHandler->>Checker Bot: call API with message text/image+caption
-                    Checker Bot->>Checker:"<message to check>"
-                    webhookHandler->>Checker Bot: call API with interactive button message
-                    Checker Bot->>Checker:"Is this a scam?"
-                    alt scam
-                        Checker->>Checker Bot: "Yes"
-                        Checker Bot->>webhookHandler: Trigger
-                        webhookHandler->>Firestore: Update vote request
-                    else not scam
-                        Checker->>Checker Bot: "No"
-                        Checker Bot->>webhookHandler: Trigger
-                        webhookHandler->>Firestore: Update vote request
-                        Firestore->> onVoteRequestUpdate: Trigger
-                        onVoteRequestUpdate->> Checker Bot: call API with interactive poll
-                        Checker Bot->>Checker: "On a scale of 0-5, how true...?"
-                        Checker->>Checker Bot: "<Vote>"
-                        Checker Bot->>webhookHandler: Trigger
-                        webhookHandler->>Firestore: Update vote request
-                    end
-                    Firestore->> onVoteRequestUpdate: Trigger
-                    onVoteRequestUpdate->>onVoteRequestUpdate: Determine isScam, isIrrelevant, isAssessed
-                    onVoteRequestUpdate->>Firestore: Update parent message
-                    Firestore->> onMessageUpdate: Trigger
-                    opt is assessed now and was not before
-                        loop for every unreplied message
-                            onMessageUpdate->>User Bot: call API with response
-                            User Bot->>Citizen: "This message has been assessed to be..."
-                        end
-                    end
-                else no
-                    Checker->>Checker Bot: "no!"
-                end
-            end
-        end
-    end
-```
diff --git a/functions/src/definitions/common/calculateSimilarity.ts b/functions/src/definitions/common/calculateSimilarity.ts
index 921d88b7..c6198692 100644
--- a/functions/src/definitions/common/calculateSimilarity.ts
+++ b/functions/src/definitions/common/calculateSimilarity.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ async function calculateSimilarity(
   //embed message to compare
   let similarity: {
     ref?: admin.firestore.DocumentReference<admin.firestore.DocumentData>
-    message?: WhatsappMessageObject
+    message?: string
     captionHash?: string | null
     score?: number
     parent?: admin.firestore.DocumentReference<admin.firestore.DocumentData> | null
diff --git a/functions/src/definitions/common/genAI.ts b/functions/src/definitions/common/genAI.ts
index 55a9b038..aa93da2d 100644
--- a/functions/src/definitions/common/genAI.ts
+++ b/functions/src/definitions/common/genAI.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ type redaction = {
 
 const env = process.env.ENVIRONMENT
 
-async function anonymiseMessage(message: string, isComplex: boolean = true) {
+async function anonymiseMessage(
+  message: string,
+  isComplex: boolean = true
+): Promise<string> {
   if (env === "SIT") {
     return message
   }
@@ -59,6 +62,9 @@ async function anonymiseMessage(message: string, isComplex: boolean = true) {
             )
             return message
           }
+        } else {
+          functions.logger.error("No response returned from openAI api")
+          return message
         }
       } else {
         functions.logger.error(
@@ -66,6 +72,8 @@ async function anonymiseMessage(message: string, isComplex: boolean = true) {
         )
         return message
       }
+    } else {
+      return message
     }
   } catch (e) {
     functions.logger.error("Anonymisation failed: " + e)
diff --git a/functions/src/definitions/common/mediaUtils.ts b/functions/src/definitions/common/mediaUtils.ts
index 7d7ad501..a4ee891c 100644
--- a/functions/src/definitions/common/mediaUtils.ts
+++ b/functions/src/definitions/common/mediaUtils.ts
@@ -53,14 +53,14 @@ async function downloadWhatsappMedia(mediaId: string) {
   return Buffer.from(responseBuffer.data)
 }
 
-async function getHash(buffer: Buffer) {
-  const result = await imageHashSync(
+async function getHash(buffer: Buffer): Promise<string> {
+  const result = (await imageHashSync(
     {
       data: buffer,
     },
     8,
     true
-  )
+  )) as string
   return result
 }
 
diff --git a/functions/src/definitions/common/parameters/thresholds.json b/functions/src/definitions/common/parameters/thresholds.json
index 459f7063..567f2d59 100644
--- a/functions/src/definitions/common/parameters/thresholds.json
+++ b/functions/src/definitions/common/parameters/thresholds.json
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
   "endVote": 0.5,
   "endVoteSus": 0.2,
   "endVoteUnsure": 0.8,
+  "endVoteAbsolute": 10,
+  "endVoteSusAbsolute": 4,
+  "endVoteUnsureAbsolute": 16,
   "startVote": 1,
   "isSpam": 0.5,
   "isLegitimate": 0.5,
diff --git a/functions/src/definitions/common/responseUtils.ts b/functions/src/definitions/common/responseUtils.ts
index 8e65dae8..3a11f431 100644
--- a/functions/src/definitions/common/responseUtils.ts
+++ b/functions/src/definitions/common/responseUtils.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import { getThresholds, sleep } from "./utils"
 import { getSignedUrl } from "./mediaUtils"
 import { sendTextMessage } from "./sendMessage"
 import { getVoteCounts } from "./counters"
-import { CustomReply } from "../../types"
+import { CustomReply, UserBlast } from "../../types"
 import { incrementCheckerCounts } from "./counters"
 
 const db = admin.firestore()
@@ -931,16 +931,14 @@ async function sendBlast(user: string) {
       },
     },
   ]
+  const blastStatistics: UserBlast = {
+    feedbackCategory: null,
+    sentTimestamp: Timestamp.fromDate(new Date()),
+  }
   await blastSnap.ref
     .collection("recipients")
     .doc(user)
-    .set(
-      {
-        feedbackCategory: null,
-        sentTimestamp: Timestamp.fromDate(new Date()),
-      },
-      { merge: true }
-    )
+    .set(blastStatistics, { merge: true })
   await sendWhatsappButtonMessage(
     "user",
     user,
diff --git a/functions/src/definitions/eventHandlers/onVoteRequestUpdate.ts b/functions/src/definitions/eventHandlers/onVoteRequestUpdate.ts
index 6ef3b246..ea22886e 100644
--- a/functions/src/definitions/eventHandlers/onVoteRequestUpdate.ts
+++ b/functions/src/definitions/eventHandlers/onVoteRequestUpdate.ts
@@ -109,11 +109,23 @@ const onVoteRequestUpdateV2 = onDocumentUpdated(
         unsureCount > thresholds.isUnsure * validResponsesCount
       const isAssessed =
         (isUnsure &&
-          validResponsesCount > thresholds.endVoteUnsure * factCheckerCount) ||
+          validResponsesCount >
+            Math.min(
+              thresholds.endVoteUnsure * factCheckerCount,
+              thresholds.endVoteSusAbsolute //16
+            )) ||
         (!isUnsure &&
-          validResponsesCount > thresholds.endVote * factCheckerCount) ||
+          validResponsesCount >
+            Math.min(
+              thresholds.endVote * factCheckerCount,
+              thresholds.endVoteAbsolute //10
+            )) ||
         (isSus &&
-          validResponsesCount > thresholds.endVoteSus * factCheckerCount)
+          validResponsesCount >
+            Math.min(
+              thresholds.endVoteSus * factCheckerCount,
+              thresholds.endVoteSusAbsolute //4
+            ))
 
       //set primaryCategory
       let primaryCategory
diff --git a/functions/src/definitions/eventHandlers/userHandlers.ts b/functions/src/definitions/eventHandlers/userHandlers.ts
index 99011a6c..ab5fb9c0 100644
--- a/functions/src/definitions/eventHandlers/userHandlers.ts
+++ b/functions/src/definitions/eventHandlers/userHandlers.ts
@@ -41,7 +41,12 @@ import { defineString } from "firebase-functions/params"
 import { classifyText } from "../common/classifier"
 import { FieldValue } from "@google-cloud/firestore"
 import Hashids from "hashids"
-import { WhatsappMessageObject } from "../../types"
+import {
+  WhatsappMessageObject,
+  MessageData,
+  InstanceData,
+  UserData,
+} from "../../types"
 import { AppEnv } from "../../appEnv"
 
 const runtimeEnvironment = defineString(AppEnv.ENVIRONMENT)
@@ -214,7 +219,7 @@ async function newTextInstanceHandler({
 }) {
   let hasMatch = false
   let messageRef: FirebaseFirestore.DocumentReference | null = null
-  let messageUpdateObj: Object | null = null
+  let messageUpdateObj: MessageData | null = null
   const machineCategory = (await classifyText(text)) ?? "error"
   if (from && isFirstTimeUser && machineCategory.includes("irrelevant")) {
     await db.collection("users").doc(from).update({
@@ -401,7 +406,7 @@ async function newImageInstanceHandler({
 }) {
   let filename
   let messageRef: FirebaseFirestore.DocumentReference | null = null
-  let messageUpdateObj: Object | null = null
+  let messageUpdateObj: MessageData | null = null
   let hasMatch = false
   let matchType = "none" // will be set to either "similarity" or "image" or "none"
   let matchedInstanceSnap
@@ -481,7 +486,7 @@ async function newImageInstanceHandler({
   }
 
   let similarity
-  let embedding
+  let embedding: number[] | null = null
   let bestMatchingDocumentRef
   let bestMatchingText
   let similarityScore = 0
@@ -544,7 +549,7 @@ async function newImageInstanceHandler({
     }
     messageRef = db.collection("messages").doc()
     messageUpdateObj = {
-      machineCategory: machineCategory, //Can be "fake news" or "scam"
+      machineCategory: machineCategory,
       isMachineCategorised: isMachineAssessed,
       originalText: extractedMessage ?? null,
       text: strippedMessage ?? null, //text
@@ -595,7 +600,7 @@ async function newImageInstanceHandler({
     return
   }
   const instanceRef = messageRef.collection("instances").doc()
-  const instanceUpdateObj = {
+  const instanceUpdateObj: InstanceData = {
     source: "whatsapp",
     id: id || null, //taken from webhook object, needed to reply
     timestamp: timestamp, //timestamp, taken from webhook object (firestore timestamp data type)
@@ -934,7 +939,7 @@ async function createNewUser(
 ) {
   const id = userRef.id
   const referralId = hashids.encode(id)
-  await userRef.set({
+  const newUserObject: UserData = {
     instanceCount: 0,
     firstMessageReceiptTime: messageTimestamp,
     firstMessageType: "normal",
@@ -942,10 +947,18 @@ async function createNewUser(
     satisfactionSurveyLastSent: null,
     initialJourney: {},
     referralId: referralId,
+    utm: {
+      source: "none",
+      medium: "none",
+      content: "none",
+      campaign: "none",
+      term: "none",
+    },
     referralCount: 0,
     language: "en",
     isSubscribedUpdates: true,
-  })
+  }
+  await userRef.set(newUserObject)
 }
 
 const onUserPublish = onMessagePublished(
diff --git a/functions/src/definitions/webhookHandlers/specialCommands.ts b/functions/src/definitions/webhookHandlers/specialCommands.ts
index ba707d41..fadded7f 100644
--- a/functions/src/definitions/webhookHandlers/specialCommands.ts
+++ b/functions/src/definitions/webhookHandlers/specialCommands.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import * as functions from "firebase-functions"
 import * as admin from "firebase-admin"
 import { defineString } from "firebase-functions/params"
-import { WhatsappMessage, CheckerData } from "../../types"
+import { WhatsappMessage, CheckerData, BlastData } from "../../types"
 import { sendWhatsappTextMessage } from "../common/sendWhatsappMessage"
 import USER_BOT_RESPONSES from "../common/parameters/userResponses.json"
 import CHECKER_BOT_RESPONSES from "../common/parameters/checkerResponses.json"
@@ -136,22 +136,15 @@ const mockDb = async function () {
   } else {
     await querySnap.docs[0].ref.set(checkerObj, { merge: true })
   }
-  {
-    await db
-      .collection("blasts")
-      .doc()
-      .set(
-        {
-          type: "text",
-          text: "This is a test blast",
-          storageUrl: null,
-          isActive: true,
-          createdDate: Timestamp.fromDate(new Date()),
-          blastDate: Timestamp.fromDate(new Date()),
-        },
-        { merge: true }
-      )
+  const blastObject: BlastData = {
+    type: "text",
+    text: "This is a test blast",
+    storageUrl: null,
+    isActive: true,
+    createdDate: Timestamp.fromDate(new Date()),
+    blastDate: Timestamp.fromDate(new Date()),
   }
+  await db.collection("blasts").doc().set(blastObject, { merge: true })
   functions.logger.log("mocked")
 }
 
diff --git a/functions/src/types.ts b/functions/src/types.ts
index ffdb2884..7d15dc7c 100644
--- a/functions/src/types.ts
+++ b/functions/src/types.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,101 @@ export type WhatsappMessageObject = {
   image?: { caption: string; id: string; mime_type: string }
 }
 
+export type MessageData = {
+  machineCategory: string
+  isMachineCategorised: boolean
+  originalText: string | null
+  text: string | null
+  caption: string | null
+  latestInstance: DocumentReference | null
+  firstTimestamp: Timestamp
+  lastTimestamp: Timestamp
+  lastRefreshedTimestamp: Timestamp
+  isPollStarted: boolean
+  isAssessed: boolean
+  assessedTimestamp: Timestamp | null
+  assessmentExpiry: Timestamp | null
+  assessmentExpired: boolean
+  truthScore: number | null
+  isIrrelevant: boolean | null
+  isScam: boolean | null
+  isIllicit: boolean | null
+  isSpam: boolean | null
+  isLegitimate: boolean | null
+  isUnsure: boolean | null
+  isInfo: boolean | null
+  isSatire: boolean | null
+  primaryCategory: string | null
+  customReply: string | null
+  instanceCount: number
+  rationalisation: string | null // Assuming 'rationalisation' is a string; adjust as necessary if it's a different type.
+}
+
+export type InstanceData = {
+  source: string
+  id: string | null
+  timestamp: Timestamp
+  type: "text" | "image"
+  text: string | null
+  textHash: string | null
+  caption: string | null
+  captionHash: string | null
+  sender: string | null
+  imageType: "convo" | "email" | "letter" | "others"
+  ocrVersion: string
+  from: string | null
+  subject: string | null
+  hash: string | null
+  mediaId: string
+  mimeType: string
+  storageUrl: string
+  isForwarded: boolean | null
+  isFrequentlyForwarded: boolean | null
+  isReplied: boolean
+  isInterimPromptSent: boolean | null
+  isInterimReplySent: boolean | null
+  isMeaningfulInterimReplySent: boolean | null
+  isRationalisationSent: boolean | null
+  isRationalisationUseful: boolean | null
+  isReplyForced: boolean | null
+  isMatched: boolean
+  isReplyImmediate: boolean | null
+  replyCategory: string | null
+  replyTimestamp: Timestamp | null
+  matchType: string
+  scamShieldConsent: boolean | null
+  embedding: number[] | null // Specify more precisely based on the actual type used
+  closestMatch: {
+    instanceRef: DocumentReference | null
+    text: string | null
+    score: number | null
+    parentRef: DocumentReference | null
+    algorithm: string
+  }
+  isSatisfactionSurveySent: boolean | null
+  satisfactionScore: number | null
+}
+
+export type UserData = {
+  instanceCount: number
+  firstMessageReceiptTime: Timestamp
+  firstMessageType: "normal" | "irrelevant" | "prepopulated" // Assuming "normal" is one of the possible types
+  lastSent: Timestamp | null
+  satisfactionSurveyLastSent: Timestamp | null //when satisfaction survey was last sent, used to implement cooldown for sending the survey
+  initialJourney: Record<string, string> // Assuming initialJourney is an object with unknown properties
+  referralId: string // Assuming referralId is a string
+  utm: {
+    source: string
+    medium: string
+    content: string
+    campaign: string
+    term: string
+  }
+  referralCount: number
+  language: "en" | "cn"
+  isSubscribedUpdates: boolean
+}
+
 export type CheckerData = {
   name: string
   type: "human" | "ai"
@@ -50,12 +145,12 @@ export type CheckerData = {
   level: number
   experience: number
   tier: "beginner" | "intermediate" | "expert"
-  numVoted: number
-  numReferred: number
-  numReported: number
+  numVoted: number //"Number of messages voted on"
+  numReferred: number //"Number of new users referred"
+  numReported: number //"Number of non-trivial instances sent in sent in"
   voteWeight: number
-  numCorrectVotes: number
-  numNonUnsureVotes: number
+  numCorrectVotes: number //
+  numNonUnsureVotes: number //"Number of votes on messages that didn't end as unsure, for computing accuracy"
   numVerifiedLinks: number
   preferredPlatform: string | null
   lastVotedTimestamp: Timestamp | null
@@ -138,6 +233,20 @@ export type CustomReply = {
   lastUpdatedTimestamp: Timestamp
 }
 
+export type BlastData = {
+  type: "text" | "image"
+  text: string | null //blast text, or caption if type is image
+  storageUrl: string | null //image storage URL
+  isActive: boolean //whether or not blast
+  createdDate: Timestamp
+  blastDate: Timestamp
+}
+
+export type UserBlast = {
+  feedbackCategory: "positive" | "negative" | "neutral" | null
+  sentTimestamp: Timestamp
+}
+
 export type TeleMessage = {
   id: string
   caption: string | null