Automation Overview
Learn how to automate workflows and eliminate repetitive tasks
Automation: 5 pages
Automations — called flows in Automation Studio — run steps for you when something happens in your workspace: a record changes, a document reaches a new status, an outreach item moves forward, an approval is decided, or someone books a meeting. They can also run on a schedule.
How Flows Work
Every flow has:
- A trigger — the event that starts it. Each flow has exactly one.
- Steps — the actions that run, in order, after the trigger fires.
- Conditions (optional) — field checks that decide whether the flow continues.
Example: Enroll new leads in a sequence
Trigger: Module trigger — Leads, Created
Condition: Source equals "Website"
Action: Enroll in Sequence — "New lead welcome"
Where to Find It
Click Automation in the sidebar to open Automation Studio, which lists your saved flows. Click Create flow to start a new one, or open an existing flow to edit it on the canvas.
Triggers
| Trigger | Starts a flow when… |
|---|---|
| Module trigger | A record in a module is created, updated, or deleted, or its status is updated |
| Document trigger | A Collab document is created, updated, or deleted, or its status changes |
| Outreach trigger | An outreach item is created, updated, or its status changes |
| Approval trigger | An approval is created, approved, rejected, or cancelled |
| Booking | Someone books, cancels, or reschedules a meeting through a scheduling link |
| Schedule | A scheduled time arrives — every N minutes, hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly |
See Triggers for every option.
Actions
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Module action | Creates a record in a module, or updates an existing record |
| Enroll in Sequence | Enrolls the triggering record in an email sequence |
| Document action | Creates a Collab document |
| Outreach action | Creates an outreach item — a blog post, social post, article, or email |
| Request approval | Creates an approval request for a person to review |
| Condition | Checks fields on the triggering record and splits the flow into a Then path and an Otherwise path |
| Delay | Pauses the flow for a length of time, or until a date and time, then continues with the next step |
See Actions for configuration details.
Integration steps
Automation Studio also lists Pieces — connectors for third-party apps and services. Integration steps run on a separate engine from the Coherence triggers and actions above, so a flow uses one or the other: a Coherence trigger with Coherence actions, or an integration trigger with integration actions. See Integration steps.
Building Your First Flow
- Click Automation in the sidebar, then Create flow. The builder opens with the name field ready — type a name for the flow.
- On the trigger step, click Choose trigger and pick a trigger, or choose Browse all triggers… to see every option
- Configure the trigger in the inspector — for a Module trigger, pick the Module and Event
- Click + below a step to add the next one, then configure it in the inspector
- Click Publish automation to switch the flow on
Your edits save automatically as a draft, and you can click the flow's name at any time to rename it. Publishing checks that every step is fully configured — if something is missing, you'll see "This automation needs configuration before it can run." Fix the step and publish again.
Best Practices
Start simple
Begin with one trigger and one action. Add conditions once you've seen the flow run.
Use descriptive names
Name flows so anyone can tell what they do:
- ✅ "Leads: enroll website leads in welcome sequence"
- ✅ "Docs: request approval before publishing"
- ❌ "Automation 1"
Test with real events
A flow that starts with a Module trigger runs only when a real record changes. Create or update a test record to fire it, then check the flow's Runs panel. See Running a flow.
Monitor runs
Review the Runs panel regularly to catch failed steps early.