Automations

What this does

An automation is a workflow: a Trigger Event, an Action, an optional Message Template, and an optional Delay (minutes). When the event happens in the shop, the action runs after the delay. Every run is logged; the page shows the last twenty with success or failure.

Before you start

automations.manage: Owner, General Manager, Service Manager. Templates must exist first for the send actions.

Steps

1. Open Automations and create a workflow: Workflow Name, Description.
2. Trigger Event — the events that fire today are Invoice Paid and Work Order Completed (a job reaching Ready for Pickup). The list also offers New Customer Created, Appointment Created, Appointment No-Show, Estimate Declined, Service Reminder Due, and Mileage Threshold Reached; those are reserved and don't fire yet, so a workflow on them does nothing. Pick one of the first two.
3. Action — Send SMS or Send Email with a Message Template; Request Google Review (sends the review-request template using the shop's review link); Create Follow-Up Task or Create Service Reminder (an in-app notification to everyone with messaging permission, not a customer message). Update Status is listed but has no behaviour yet.
4. Delay — minutes to wait. A review request twenty-four hours after payment is 1440.
5. Save. Toggle it on. Toggle off to pause without deleting.

What the customer gets

Send actions obey consent exactly as the inbox does: no SMS consent, no text, and the run logs as failed with the reason. Templates render with the customer and job variables described in Message templates.

Common problems

The run log shows "failed". Open it; the reason is usually consent, a missing phone or email, or a template with no body.

It fired twice. Two workflows share the trigger. Pause one.

It never fired. The trigger is one of the reserved ones, or the workflow is toggled off, or the event didn't actually happen (Work Order Completed means Ready for Pickup, not Delivered).