Automations allow you to define when something should happen and what action should follow. This article explains how automations work, how to create them, and how to use draft status to build or pause automations without affecting live workflows.
Automations vs. Series
These two features can be confused. Here is how they differ.
Automations are trigger-based. They run automatically when a specific event occurs, such as:
A contact fills out a form
A contact is added to a list
An opportunity moves to a specific pipeline stage
A date field on a contact record matches today's date
Series are multi-step communication templates. A series must be either triggered by an automation or manually launched by the user.
If you want to manually send a series, you do not need an automation. You can launch a series directly from the contact record, the Series Templates page, or the + button in the upper right of your screen.
The Automations Dashboard
The Automations page includes a dashboard at the top that gives you a quick view of automation activity.
The dashboard includes three summary cards:
Total Active - the number of automations currently set to active
Automations Run This Month - how many times automations have fired in the current month, with a comparison to last year
Drafts - the number of automations currently in draft status, with a link to view them
Below the summary cards, two charts display automation activity for the selected time period:
By Trigger Type - shows how many times each trigger type has fired
By Action Type - shows how many times each action type has run
Use the This Month / Last 30 Days / Last Year toggle to adjust the time range shown in both charts.
Below the dashboard is the full list of automations. You can search by name, filter by status, trigger type, or action type, and sort by update date.
Available Triggers
When creating an automation, you select one of the following trigger types:
Add Contact To List - fires when a contact is added to a specific list
Sign Up Form Completion - fires when a contact submits a specific form
Scheduler Booked - fires when a meeting is booked through a scheduler
Meeting Reminder/Follow-up - fires based on scheduled meeting timing
Monthly Recurring - fires on a specific day each month for a contact list
Daily Recurring - fires when today's date matches a custom date field on a contact record
Dropdown Value Set - fires when a contact or account dropdown field is set to a specific value, such as a stage on a contact board
Opportunity Stage Change - fires when a deal moves into a specific pipeline stage
Text Opt Out - fires when a contact opts out of text messaging
Email Unsubscribe - fires when a contact unsubscribes from email
Contract Signed - fires when a contract is signed
Email Parsed - fires when an inbound email matches a parsing rule
Facebook Lead Ad - fires when a new lead comes in from a connected Facebook Lead Ad
Available Actions
After selecting a trigger, you select one or more actions. Available actions include:
Email and Text
Send Email - sends a specific email template
Cancel Scheduled Email - stops pending scheduled emails for the contact
Send Text - sends a text message (contact must have a mobile number on file)
Cancel Scheduled Text - stops pending scheduled texts for the contact
Series and Lists
Launch Series - launches a multi-step series
Remove From Series - removes the contact from an active series
Add to Contact List - adds the contact to a list
Remove from Contact List - removes the contact from a list
Contact Records, Tasks, and Opportunities
Set Custom Field Value - sets a custom field on the contact to the value you choose
Create Task - creates a task
Create Opportunity - creates an opportunity for the contact
Move to Opportunity Stage - moves the contact's linked opportunity to a specified pipeline stage
Scheduled Move to Opportunity Stage - schedules an opportunity stage move for a future date and time
Vipe AI
Booking Agent - assigns an AI Booking Agent to text the contact and book a meeting
Cancel AI Booking Agent - stops all AI Booking Agent activity for the contact. See How to Stop the AI Booking Agent for a Contact.
AI Brand Matching - runs the Brand Matching Agent to match the contact to brands
AI Contact Research - runs the Contact Research Agent on the contact. See How to Use the AI Contact Research Agent.
Add to Watchlist - adds the contact to your Watch Agent watchlist. See How to Use Vipe AI Watch Agent.
Remove from Watchlist - removes the contact from your Watch Agent watchlist
Integrations
Send to Zapier - sends the contact's full record to a Zap. See How to Connect VipeCloud to Zapier and Create Zapier Automations.
How to Create a New Automation
Click Automations in the left-hand sidebar.
Click + Create.
Select a Trigger from the available options.
Configure any trigger-specific settings (such as which list, form, or pipeline stage).
Select one or more Actions.
Configure timing and delivery options for each action.
Click Save Automation to activate it, or check Save as Draft to save without going live.
Create your content (email templates, series, etc.) before building the automation. The automation will reference existing content - it does not create it.
Draft Automations
Draft status allows you to work on an automation without it going live, or to pause an existing active automation without deleting it.
There are two ways to use draft status:
Saving a new automation as a draft:
Click + Create and build the automation as usual.
Before saving, check the Save as Draft checkbox.
Click Save Automation.
The automation will appear in your list with a Draft badge and will not fire until activated.
Moving an existing automation to draft (to pause it):
Click Automations in the left-hand sidebar.
Find the automation you want to pause.
Click Edit.
Check the Save as Draft checkbox.
Click Save Automation.
The automation will move to draft status and stop firing until you reactivate it.
Draft automations are visible in your automations list with a Draft badge. You can filter to view only drafts using the status filter. The Drafts summary card on the dashboard also shows a count and links directly to your drafts.
Automation Run Order
When multiple automations share the same trigger, you can set a run order that controls which one fires first. Most users won't need to use this.
This field lives in the automation editor, in the Choose Action step, below the action grid.
Run Order - controls firing order when automations share a trigger. Defaults to 0.
Lower numbers fire first.
Ties (same trigger, same run order) fire in the order the automations were created, oldest first.
Before this existed, automations sharing a trigger fired in an implicit, unordered way with no control over sequence. Run order gives you an explicit way to sequence them.
Example: two automations both trigger on Opportunity Stage Change into "Closed Won." One moves the contact to a post-sale onboarding stage. The other sends a welcome email referencing that onboarding stage. If the email automation fires first, it could reference the wrong stage. Setting the stage-move automation to a lower run order (0) and the email automation to a higher one (1) guarantees the stage change completes before the email goes out.
Trigger-Specific Notes
Monthly Recurring
Sends to a contact list on a specific day each month. You can configure it to delay delivery to the following Monday if the send date falls on a weekend.
Daily Recurring
Triggers when today's date matches a custom date field on a contact record. Commonly used for birthdays, anniversaries, and renewal reminders. The custom date field must exist on the contact record before the automation will fire.
Opportunity Stage Change
Triggers when a deal moves into a specific stage in your pipeline. Common actions include launching an onboarding series, sending a notification email, or canceling existing series for the primary contact. You can require a confirmation before this automation runs. See How to Ask Before an Automation Runs.
Dropdown Value Set
Triggers when a dropdown field on a contact or account is set to a specific value. On a contact board, this means a contact moving into a specific stage. Common actions include sending an email, launching a series, or updating another field. See How to Run Automations When a Contact Moves to a Board Stage.
Sign Up Form Completion
Triggers when a contact submits a specific form. Commonly used for welcome messages and onboarding sequences. For SMS actions, the contact must have a phone number in the mobile field.
Text Opt Out
Fires when a contact opts out of text messaging, whether they replied with a stop keyword or were manually opted out by an admin. Use this trigger to update the contact's status in your pipeline, remove them from active lists, or cancel any scheduled texts.
Email Unsubscribe
Fires when a contact unsubscribes from email, whether through an unsubscribe link or a manual unsubscribe done by an admin. Use this trigger to update the contact record, move them to a different pipeline stage, or remove them from active series.
Viewing Automation Logs
Logs let you verify that automations are firing correctly and confirm what actions ran for each contact.
Click Automations in the left-hand sidebar.
Click Automation Logs at the top of the page.
Review the log entries to see which automations fired, when, and for which contacts.
Click on the Contact Record link in the left column to view the Contact Record
Key Notes
Always create your content (email templates, series, etc.) before building the automation that references it.
An automation can have multiple actions - for example, adding a contact to a list and sending a welcome email can be combined into a single automation.
Draft automations do not fire. They must be set back to active before they will run.
Deleting an automation is permanent. Use draft status instead if you want to pause without losing the configuration.
SMS actions require the contact to have a phone number in the mobile field.
The Vipe AI actions require a Vipe AI plan.
Automations won't fire retroactively. For instance, a "New Contact Added To List" automation won't trigger for Contacts who already are on that Contact List. It will only fire for Contacts who are added after the Automation is created and set live.