# Automations
**Where to find it:** Settings → Automations | **Who can access it:** Admins only
## Automations
Automations let you define rules that run actions automatically when something happens in Startdeliver. You set a trigger, add optional conditions to narrow when it fires, and choose one or more actions to run. This removes repetitive manual work from your team's day — things like updating customer status, launching a project, sending an email, or notifying a CSM.
### Key concepts
* **Trigger** — the event that starts the automation. Either a save event (something is updated), a time-based schedule, or a manual run from the customer list.
* **Criteria** — optional filters that must all be true for the automation to fire. Without criteria, the automation runs for every record that matches the trigger.
* **Action** — what happens when the automation fires. You can chain multiple actions in sequence.
* **Item type** — the entity the automation runs against: Customer, User, Project, Task, or Interaction.
* **Test mode** — a safe state where the automation evaluates who it would affect but makes no real changes. Use this before going live.
### The automations list
Go to **Settings → Automations** to see all automations in your account. They are grouped into three sections:
* **Active** — automations that are live and running
* **Running in Test Mode** — automations evaluating against real data but making no changes
* **Drafts** — automations that have been saved but not yet activated
*
```
```
Each row shows the automation name, a short description, the trigger type (**Save** or **Time**), the number of customers or users in scope, the action types configured, and run counts for today and this week. The avatars in the **Latest** column show which records were processed most recently.
Use the search bar at the top to find automations by name, description, or status.
### Creating an automation
Click **Create new automation** in the top-right corner. This opens the automation editor with three sections: **WHEN**, **IF**, and **THEN**.
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
**Set up the trigger (WHEN)**
The trigger defines what starts the automation. Click the **Trigger** card to choose one:
* **When a \[item type] is updated (Save)** — fires every time a record of that type is saved. This is the most common trigger.
* **Time-based** — fires on a schedule, for example daily, to evaluate records that match a condition at a set time.
* **Shortcut (Manual)** — the automation does not run automatically. You trigger it manually from the customer list using **More Actions**.
The item type (Customer, User, Project, Task, Interaction) is set when you choose your trigger. It determines which fields are available in the criteria and actions sections.
Click **Advanced Options** on the trigger card to control whether the automation can run multiple times for the same record, and to set a minimum delay between runs.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
**Add criteria (IF)**
Criteria narrow down when the automation actually fires. Without any criteria, the automation runs for every record matching the trigger.
Click **+ Add Criteria** to add a condition. Common condition types include:
* **Value was changed** — fires only when a specific field changes, optionally from a particular value to another. Useful for status transitions.
* **Matches a filter** — uses standard Startdeliver filter logic to check the current state of a field.
You can add multiple criteria. All criteria must be true for the automation to proceed.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
**Add actions (THEN)**
Actions are what the automation does when the trigger fires and all criteria pass. Click **+ Add Action** to add one or more actions. Actions run in the order shown — drag and drop to reorder them.
**Actions available for Customers:**
* Update customer (any field, including status, custom fields, and confidence)
* Add comment
* Create task
* Create project
* Delete customer
* Run automation shortcut
**Actions available for Users:**
* Send email — sends an email to the user. Supports TO, CC, and BCC recipients, dynamic sender selection, and cross-customer sends.
* Update user
* Delete user
**General actions (available for all item types):**
* Send notification (to a team member or yourself)
* Send webhook (to an external system)
* Wait (pause for a set number of days before the next action runs)
When an automation runs on a Customer item type, you can also add **actions on related items** — for example, update or send an email to a related user, or trigger an action on a related task.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
**Configure permissions**
At the bottom of the Setup page you will find **Permission Settings**. This controls whose permission level the automation runs under — either the automation creator's or the user who triggered the update. This matters when field visibility or write access differs by role.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
### Running an automation manually
Manual automations (Shortcut trigger) must be run from the customer list:
1. Go to **Customers** in the left navigation.
2. Select one or more customers using the checkboxes.
3. Click **More Actions** in the toolbar.
4. Select the automation you want to run.
This method gives you full control over which records the automation applies to.
### Test mode
Before going live, run an automation in test mode to verify it targets the right records without making any real changes.
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
**Open the automation and go to Setup**
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
**Save the automation in test mode rather than activating it**
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
**Let it evaluate**
The **Processed Customers** tab shows who would have been processed and what the result would be.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
**When you are satisfied, return to Setup and activate the automation**
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
Automations in test mode appear under **Running in Test Mode** in the main list so you can track them separately from live automations.
### Monitoring and history
Open any automation and click the **Overview** tab to see what item type and trigger it uses, who last modified it and when, and a summary of recent activity with links to processed records.
Click **Processed Customers** (or Processed Users, depending on item type) to see the full run log. You can filter by **In Progress**, **Completed**, and **Failed**. Click any individual record to see its detailed execution log.
### Pausing and archiving
At the bottom of the **Setup** tab you will find two options:
* **Pause Automation** — temporarily stops the automation from running. You can resume it at any time.
* **Archive Automation** — permanently removes the automation from the active list. Archived automations do not run for new records. You can view archived automations via the link at the bottom of the main Automations list.
### Send email
**Sender** — Choose Customer's team member to send the email from the team member assigned to the customer. Set a fallback address for cases where no team member is assigned.
**Send as one email** — For multi-action automations, consolidate emails to recipients across different customers into a single send. A warning appears when recipients span multiple customers, both in the editor and at the confirmation step.
→ See [Email](/managing-customers/sending-emails.md) for sender options, recipients, attachments, and templates.
### Common scenarios
**Automatically launch an onboarding project when a customer enters Onboarding status**
Trigger: **When a Customer is updated.** Criteria: Status value was changed from Any to Onboarding. Action: Create project (using your onboarding project template). This runs for every customer whose status moves to Onboarding, removing the need for a CSM to manually kick off the project.
**Alert the CSM when a stakeholder goes inactive**
Trigger: **Time-based** (runs daily). Criteria: User last login date is more than 30 days ago. Action: Send notification to the customer's assigned CSM. Optionally add a second action to send an email directly to the stakeholder. This keeps the team aware of disengaged contacts without anyone needing to check manually.
**Update customer status when ARR drops to zero**
Trigger: **When a Customer is updated.** Criteria: ARR value was changed to 0. Action: Update customer — set Status to Churned. This ensures the customer record reflects reality the moment data is synced from your billing system, with no manual intervention required.
---
# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.
Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:
```
GET https://docs.startdeliver.io/managing-customers/automations.md?ask=
```
The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.
Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.