Build and test an automation, and read its runs

Overview#

An automation is a plain-language rule: When something happens, If it matches your conditions, Then do one or more actions. Automations can text or email the customer, create an office task, add a tag, plan a follow-up, notify someone, or send the event to a webhook. Every run is recorded step by step, so you can always see what happened and why.

Before you start#

• Who can build, edit and switch automations: owners and admins.

• Who can read automations and run history: every office role. Viewers see no controls.

• Texts need your texting number set up. Emails need outbound email configured on the server.

• Open Marketing › Automated Campaigns, then click New automation. Most people start from the catalog instead (see "Start from the automation catalog").

Steps#

Build an automation#

1. On Automated Campaigns, click New automation.

2. Fill in Name and Description (optional).

3. When: pick a Trigger. Triggers are grouped (Jobs, Sales, Money, Customers, Memberships):

   • Events: Appointment completed, Appointment canceled, Job booked, Job canceled, Estimate presented, Estimate sold, Invoice sent, Payment received, Lead received, Voicemail left, Review received, New customer, Membership sold, Membership expired.

   • Checked daily: Estimate still open, Invoice overdue, Membership ending soon, Customer not seen in a while. For these, set the number of days, Check on (Every day or one weekday) and From (the hour, in your company's time zone).

4. If (all of these): click Condition to add one. Pick a Field (Business unit, Job type, Job priority, Customer type, Customer tag, Job tag, Amount, Review rating, Lead source, or Customer has an active membership), a Comparison and a value. All conditions must be met. With none, it runs every time.

5. Then: choose from + Add an action… (up to 6):

   • Text the customer: write the Text message. STOP opt-outs and quiet hours are respected.

   • Email the customer: Subject and Message. Opted-out addresses are skipped.

   • Create an office task: Task title, Assign to (a team or a person), Priority, Task type, Due in (hours).

   • Add a tag: Tag the customer or job, and the Tag.

   • Plan a follow-up: Follow-up type (Call, Text, Visit), In (days) and a Note.

   • Notify someone: who, and the Message. It appears under Notifications on Automated Campaigns.

   • Send to a webhook: an https Webhook URL. It sends a signed event with ids and amounts, never contact details.

6. Use placeholders in messages: {{first_name}}, {{company}}, {{job_number}}, {{invoice_number}}, {{amount}}, {{link}}, {{days}}. Missing values are left out, never made up.

7. Choose How it runs:

   • Ask first (runs wait in Approvals): each run waits in Approvals with exactly what it will do.

   • Run automatically (trusted): runs without approval. A warning appears if it reaches customers.

8. Set Most runs per day (default 50, up to 500). Runs over the limit are skipped, not saved for later.

9. Click Save (switched off).

Test it and turn it on#

1. Open the automation. Click Test. It runs on the most recent matching event without sending or changing anything. Open the test run to see "What it would do".

2. Click Turn on. It now runs on new events, with the permissions of the person who turned it on.

3. In the Trust panel, click Run automatically when you're ready, or Ask first again to go back. After 10 approved runs with none rejected, the panel says you can let it run automatically.

Read run history#

1. Open Run history (the tab), or the Run history card on one automation.

2. Each row shows When, Automation, Event, Result and Why. Results: Succeeded, Partly done, Failed, Skipped, Waiting for approval, Rejected, Test run.

3. Skipped runs (conditions not met, daily limit) are hidden. Click Show skipped to see them.

4. Click a time to open the run. You see each condition (Met or Not met) and each step (Done, Failed, Not sent, Skipped, Planned) with details or the error, plus links to the job, customer, lead or approval.

Edit or delete#

On the automation, click Edit, change it, and click Save changes. Delete automation removes it and its history; runs still waiting in Approvals are withdrawn.

Settings that change this#

• Settings › AI › AI Assistants & Data Preferences: the Automations mode. Off pauses "Ask first" runs.

• Settings › Phones › Escalations & Tasks: task types.

• The Automated email opt-outs list on the Agents tab.

Tips#

• Use Run now on Automated Campaigns to check for new events immediately instead of waiting a few minutes.

• Keep one purpose per automation. It makes run history easy to read.

• Each customer gets at most one text per automation per day, whatever triggers it.

Troubleshooting#

• Run says "The person who turned this on can no longer run automations." Cause: their role changed or they left. Fix: someone who can manage automations clicks Turn off, then Turn on.

• Run is "Partly done" or "Skipped" with "not sent". Cause: missing phone or email, opt-out, email not configured, or the one-text-a-day limit. Fix: read the step's reason.

• "Daily limit … reached, so this one was skipped." Fix: raise Most runs per day, or tighten the conditions.

• Webhook step failed. Cause: the URL didn't answer within 10 seconds or couldn't be reached. Fix: check the URL. Use the Webhook signing secret on the automation page to verify requests.

• Runs keep waiting. Cause: "Ask first" mode. Fix: approve them in Approvals, or switch to Run automatically.

FAQ#

Does it act on things that happened before I turned it on? No. Daily checks look back at most 3 days.

Can one automation trigger another? No. Changes made by automations never trigger automations.

Can I see who approved a run? Yes, in Approvals under Recent decisions.

Coming from ServiceTitan#

ServiceTitan's Automated Campaigns focus on customer messaging. TradesWork automations cover messaging and office work (tasks, tags, follow-ups, notifications, webhooks) with the same When / If / Then editor. Every run has a step-by-step history, and "Ask first" lets you approve runs before trusting them.