Platform Automations: overview and how to create one
Create automations that react to platform events. Single-action automations change groups or careers; multi-step automations run a pipeline of delays, emails, and push notifications. You can follow every run in Executions.
What are Automations?
Automations run actions automatically when a specific event happens for a user. There are two kinds:
Single-action automations react to a user event and perform one built-in action: adding a new user or a new team manager to groups, removing a demoted team manager from groups, assigning a career when a user joins a group, or adding a user to groups when they join a team.
Multi-step automations react to an event and run a sequence of steps you build: Delay, Send Email, and Push Notification. They are marked Multi-step in the trigger picker.
The trigger you choose decides which kind of automation it is.
How do I find an automation?
In the Platform Automations list, use the search box to match by automation name. Open the filters button to filter by Trigger type (grouped by category; you can pick several) and to choose Sort by: Recently updated (the default), Newest first, Oldest first, Name (A-Z), Name (Z-A) or Enabled first. The search, filters, sort and page are kept in the page address, so you can bookmark or share a filtered list.
How do I create a new automation?
Go to Automations and select Add Automation.
Enter a clear Automation Name that describes its purpose.
Select Click to select a trigger type and choose the event that starts the automation, from one of the categories, such as User Management or Mandatory Training. Triggers marked Multi-step run a pipeline of steps.
Complete the fields for that trigger:
New User and User promoted Team Manager: Add to Groups.
User demoted Team Manager: Groups to Remove.
User assigned to Group: When assigned to any of the Group(s), then Assign to Career and Career Category.
User assigned to Team: Assigned to Team(s), then Assign to Group(s).
Multi-step triggers: add the steps in Pipeline Steps with Add Step (see below).
Check the Enabled toggle. When it is off, the form shows This Automation is disabled.
Select Create.
What trigger types are available?
Trigger types are grouped into categories in the Select Trigger Type picker. What you see depends on the modules enabled for your organization. The main categories are:
User Management: New User, User promoted Team Manager, User demoted Team Manager, User assigned to Group, User assigned to Team, and user onboarding (from the hire date).
Mandatory Training: Enrolled in Mandatory Training, Mandatory Training Not Started, Mandatory Training Deadline Approaching, Mandatory Training Overdue, Team Members with Pending Training, and Mandatory Training Completed.
The trigger type cannot be changed after the automation is created. If you need a different trigger, create a new automation. See Automation trigger types and categories.
What can a pipeline do?
Multi-step automations run these step types, in the order you arrange them:
Delay: wait a set duration before the next step. The wait can be absolute or relative to a reference offered by the trigger, such as the hire date.
Send Email: send an email to the chosen recipient, with a subject and body per language.
Push Notification: send a push notification, optionally shown in the in-app notifications center and linked to an article, community, or form.
Each trigger decides which of these steps it allows.
How do I add pipeline steps?
When you pick a multi-step trigger, the Pipeline Steps section appears in the form.
Select Add Step.
Choose a Step Type: Delay, Send Email, or Push Notification. Only the steps allowed by the selected trigger are shown.
Fill in the step. For example, Delay needs a Duration and Unit, and Send Email needs a Recipient, subject, and body.
Select Create to add the step to the list.
Add more steps as needed, and drag a step by its handle to change the order.
Select Create (or Update when editing) at the bottom of the automation form to save the automation and its steps.
Can I write emails and notifications in several languages?
Yes. Email and push steps have a language tab for each of your organization's languages; only the default language is required. You can insert template variables from Allowed variables, such as first name, last name, or trigger-specific values, and a live Preview shows how the message will read. Many triggers also offer a ready-made template to start from. See Writing multi-language emails and notifications with template variables.
How do I edit, enable, or disable an automation?
Open the automation from the list to see Automation Details: the trigger type, its groups, teams, or career, the pipeline, and the status. Select Edit to change the name, settings, or steps, and use the Enabled toggle to turn it on or off. A disabled automation is never triggered. The trigger type is read-only after creation.
How do I review activity?
The Automations page shows Total Trigger Executions over time and the most executed automations at the top. Open an automation to see its Executions, with the date, the user, and the status of each run. For multi-step runs, select View Details to review each step and what was sent.
Examples
Onboarding groups: with New User, add every new user to an onboarding group.
Onboarding messages: with the user onboarding trigger, wait a few days after the hire date, then send a welcome email and a push notification linked to an onboarding form.
Mandatory training: with Mandatory Training Deadline Approaching, email the user a reminder with a direct link to the training. Create a separate automation with Team Members with Pending Training to keep managers informed.
Role changes: with User promoted Team Manager, add new team managers to the manager groups.