How to use triggers, delays, and actions

Kelune CRM Cloud

An automation is built from three kinds of steps: a trigger that starts it, actions that do something, and delays that wait. This page lists each one and its settings. For conditions and branches, see How to build a conditional automation.

Triggers

Click the Trigger step on the canvas to choose the Trigger type.

Trigger	A contact enters when	Settings
Contact created	They are added to the workspace	None
Contact updated	Their details are updated	None
Tag added, Tag removed	One of the chosen tags is added or removed	Tags, and Match: Any of them or All of them
Added to list, Removed from list	They join or leave one of the chosen lists	Lists, and Match
Manual enrollment	A member adds them by hand	None
Email opened, Email clicked	They open, or click a link in, any of your emails for the first time. Opens by software do not count	None
Smart link clicked	They click a smart link	Smart link, or Any smart link
Webhook received	An incoming webhook sends them	Webhook, or Any webhook. See How to start automations from an incoming webhook
Status changed	Their status changes, for example from Active to Unsubscribed	From status and To status, or Any status
Date anniversary	A date in a date custom field comes around each year, such as a birthday	Date field, Days before, and Time of day
Sequence completed	They get the last email of a sequence	Sequences, or Any sequence

The Trigger drawer with the trigger type and its settings, re-entry and entry rules

Re-entry and entry rules

Under Enrollment, Allow re-entry decides whether a contact can go through the automation more than once:

No - run once per contact: each contact enters once.
Yes - allow multiple entries: set Wait between entries, counted from when their previous run ended.

A contact who is still in the automation never enters it twice at the same time.

Under Entry rules, turn on Only contacts who match rules to let in only contacts who match conditions, such as a country or a tag. Contacts you add by hand skip these rules.

Actions

Click a + button, open the Action tab, and choose the action.

Action	What it does
Send email	Sends an email you write in the step, with its own subject, sender, and content
Add to lists, Remove from lists	Adds the contact to lists or takes them off
Add tags, Remove tags	Adds or removes tags
Update field	Sets a contact field or custom field. Number custom fields can also add or subtract
Assign to member	Makes a member responsible for the contact, or unassigns them
Change status	Sets the contact’s status. An automation cannot subscribe again a contact who unsubscribed
Add note	Writes a note on the contact. Merge tags fill in their details
Notify members	Emails workspace members about the contact, with your subject and message
Trigger webhook	Sends the contact’s data to another app’s URL. See below
Add to sequence, Remove from sequence	Starts the contact on an email sequence, or takes them out
Cancel automations	Ends the contact’s runs in other automations
End automation	Stops the automation for the contact here

Send email goes only to contacts whose status is Active; for others the step is skipped and the automation carries on. Adding a tag or a list can start other automations that use that trigger.

The Edit step drawer for a send email step with the subject, preview text, sender and content

Trigger webhook

Trigger webhook calls another app, such as your shop or an integration service, when a contact reaches the step.

Enter the Webhook URL.
Choose the Method: POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, or GET.
Choose the Format: JSON or Form.
Choose the Body: All contact data, or Custom fields to send only the fields you list under Body fields. Values can use merge tags, such as {{email}}.
To add authentication, click Add header and enter its name and value, such as an Authorization header.
Click Save.

The Trigger webhook step with the URL, method, format, body and headers

With All contact data, the request carries the contact’s fields and custom fields, what started the automation, and a timestamp in UTC.

Behavior	Detail
Success	Any 2xx response. The contact moves on to the next step
Failure	Any other response, no answer within 15 seconds, or a network error. The step is not retried, and the contact’s run ends as failed
Headers	Stored encrypted and never shown again
Addresses	Only public `http` and `https` addresses. Redirects are not followed

Check each call on the automation’s Log tab: a success shows the URL and the status code; a failure shows the reason.

Delays

Click a + button, open the Delay tab, and choose how to Wait.

Wait	The contact moves on
For a time	After the Delay duration, in minutes, hours, days, or weeks
Until a date	At the date and time you pick. A date in the past moves them on at once
Until a day of the week	On the next of the chosen Days, at the Time of day in the contact’s time zone
Until a date field	On the date in a date custom field, or with Every year, its next anniversary

The Edit step drawer for a delay with the wait type and duration

The contact’s own time zone is used where it is known; otherwise the workspace’s.

To wait for something the contact does, such as opening an email, with a time limit, use the Wait until (goal) condition. See How to build a conditional automation.