# Automations

> Build flows that run on their own — entries and triggers, the steps you can add, activating safely, and reading how contacts move through.

Source: https://knowledge.estage.com/email/automations/
Part of the ESTAGE knowledge base (https://knowledge.estage.com). Full corpus: https://knowledge.estage.com/llms-full.txt

---
An **automation** is a flow that runs by itself: someone joins a list, waits two days, gets an
email, and if they clicked, gets tagged. You build it on a canvas, activate it, and it works on
every contact who qualifies from then on.

Find them under **Automations** in the sidebar.

## Entries — how contacts get in

Every automation starts with at least one entry card:

**Added to automation** — contacts start here when they're added by hand, by a form, or by
another automation. This card can't be deleted; it's the manual door.

**Trigger** — an event puts them in. Available triggers:

| Trigger | Fires when |
| --- | --- |
| **Contact created** | A new contact appears |
| **List subscribed** | Someone joins a list |
| **Tag added / Tag removed** | A tag changes |
| **Order placed** | They buy |
| **Email opened / Email clicked** | They engage with an email |
| **Community joined** | They join the community |

One trigger card can hold **several triggers at once** — it *matches any of* them, so *tag added*
**or** *list subscribed* both let someone in. The **Conditions** on the same card work the other
way: every one has to be true before anybody enters. The **+** on the side of an entry adds
another parallel entry.

Several triggers, like tag and list ones, take a specific entity — *which* tag, *which* list.

## Steps — what happens next

The **+** under any step opens **What happens next?**:

| Group | Steps |
| --- | --- |
| **Communication** | **Send email** — a saved [message](/email/messages/) |
| **Contact** | Add tag · Remove tag · Add to list · Remove from list · Set field |
| **Automations** | Add to automation · Remove from automation |
| **Flow** | **Delay** · **Condition** · **Goal** |

The three flow steps are what turn a sequence into a real journey:

- **Delay** — wait before the next step. The gap between "welcome" and "here's what to do next".
- **Condition** — split the path. Contacts who match go one way, everyone else the other.
- **Goal** — the outcome you're after. Mark what the flow is trying to achieve.

Pick a step and it's added, connected and selected, with its settings open on the right.

## Working on the canvas

- **Drag** to move steps; the canvas snaps to a grid.
- **Zoom controls, bottom right** — in, out, reset to 100%, fit the whole flow, and
  **auto-arrange**, which lays the graph out cleanly when it's got messy.
- **Deleting a step** that has steps after it asks what you mean: remove just this step and keep
  what follows, or remove everything downstream.
- **Changes save themselves.** The header reads *Saved* or *Unsaved* as you work, and a pending
  save is flushed when you leave the page.

## Activating

**Activate** checks the flow first. If something's incomplete you get a list — *"Finish these
before activating"* — and clicking an item jumps straight to the step that needs attention.
Typical causes are a step with no message chosen, a trigger with no event picked, or a condition
with nothing configured.

| Status | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| **Draft** | Never activated. Nothing runs |
| **Active** | Live. Contacts enter and move through |
| **Paused** | Stopped. No new entries, nothing advances |

**Pause** is always available on an active flow, and it's the right first move if something looks
wrong — you can edit and re-activate afterwards.

:::caution
Activate a flow triggered by **contact created** or **list subscribed** *before* a big
[CSV import](/crm/contacts/#from-a-csv) and it will fire for every imported row. Pause it, import,
then activate.
:::

## Adding contacts yourself

Beyond triggers, you can enrol people directly: on [Contacts](/crm/contacts/), tick the rows and
choose **Actions → Add to automation**. They enter at the manual entry card.

The **Contacts** button in the automation's header lists everyone currently in the flow.

## Reading performance

The list and the **Performance** panel track how contacts move:

- **Enrolled** — total who ever entered.
- **Active** — moving through right now.
- **Waiting** — sitting in a delay.
- **Completed** — reached the end.
- **Exited** — left before the end.
- **Completion** — completed as a share of enrolled.

As with messages and broadcasts, these numbers link into
[Contacts](/crm/contacts/) — click *Waiting* to see exactly who's sitting in a delay right now.

Two patterns worth watching: a large **Waiting** count that never shrinks usually means a delay
longer than you intended, and a high **Exited** count means people are leaving through a
condition branch you didn't expect.

:::tip[A first automation worth building]
The welcome sequence — short, and it earns its keep. **Trigger:** *List subscribed* on your
newsletter list → **Send email:** the welcome message → **Delay:** two days → **Condition:** did
they open it? → **Yes:** *Add tag* `engaged`, **No:** *Send email* with a different subject line.

That gives every new subscriber a warm start and, within a week, a tag that makes your best
[segment](/crm/contacts/#saved-segments) for future campaigns.
:::