> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.dingtalk.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Send DingTalk messages as different identities

> When sending messages via automation, you can pick different sender identities — your user account or a doc automation assistant — and target individuals or group chats.

## 1 Overview

When sending messages via automation, you can pick different sender identities — your **user account** or a **doc automation assistant** — and target individuals or group chats.

### **Sender identity**

Beyond the default "Automation assistant", you can also send as the workflow author's user account or as a group bot — adapting to different scenarios.

For example, a manager can send notifications or task instructions as themselves; sending as the "Automation assistant" makes the source obvious to recipients and ties messages to the AI Table they came from — useful for avoiding confusion when many notifications fire.

### **Recipient**

Pick individuals or group chats as recipients.

⚠️ Note: when sending as the **Automation assistant**, **users or groups outside your organization** are not yet supported as recipients.

## 2 Identity-specific limits

| Sender                                 | Send to external members or groups                                                   | Send to individuals and groups at the same time                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| -------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| ### User account (the workflow author) | Supported (must be the author's external contact or a group they belong to).         | Supported (when sending to a group, make sure the workflow author has speaking permission in the group).                                                                                                                                                      |
| ### Doc automation assistant           | Send to external members via variables; sending to external groups is not supported. | Supported. When the automation runs, "Doc automation assistant" is auto-added to the group — you must have admin permission on the group, or the workflow will fail. Once added, the workflow continues to work even if the workflow author leaves the group. |
| ### AI Table per-table assistant       | Send to external members via variables; sending to external groups is not supported. | Supported. When the automation runs, "AI Table table-named assistant" is auto-added to the group — you must have admin permission, or the workflow will fail. Once added, messages keep going through even if the author leaves the group.                    |

## 3 FAQ

* **Q: How many groups can a single node (step) target in one automation?**

  A: Up to 5.
* **Q: How many groups can a whole automation target?**

  A: Up to 10.
* **Q: When "Notify members individually" is checked, how many members can I send to?**

  A: Only groups under 200 members are supported — sending fails for larger groups. The feature DMs each member, so the platform caps it.
* **Q: If the automation author isn't in the target group, how do I send a message there?**

  A: You can't. Sending as "AI Table per-table assistant" requires admin permission in the group; sending as a personal account requires speaking permission.

External members supported.

External groups not supported.