# How to use triggers, delays, and actions

> Every trigger that starts an automation, every way to wait, and every action an automation can take, including calling another app with a webhook.

Product: Kelune CRM Cloud (hosted by us). Page: https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/marketing-automation/triggers-delays-actions

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](https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/marketing-automation/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](https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/marketing-automation/incoming-webhooks) |
| **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](https://kelunecrm.com/images/docs/cloud/marketing-automation/triggers-delays-actions/trigger.webp)

### 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](https://kelunecrm.com/images/docs/cloud/marketing-automation/triggers-delays-actions/send-email.webp)

### Trigger webhook

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

1. Enter the **Webhook URL**.
2. Choose the **Method**: **POST**, **PUT**, **PATCH**, **DELETE**, or **GET**.
3. Choose the **Format**: **JSON** or **Form**.
4. 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}}`.
5. To add authentication, click **Add header** and enter its name and value, such as an `Authorization` header.
6. Click **Save**.

![The Trigger webhook step with the URL, method, format, body and headers](https://kelunecrm.com/images/docs/cloud/marketing-automation/triggers-delays-actions/webhook.webp)

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 |

> **Tip:**
>
> To send data with **GET** or **DELETE**, choose the **Form** format: the values are sent in the URL. With **JSON**, these methods send no data.

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](https://kelunecrm.com/images/docs/cloud/marketing-automation/triggers-delays-actions/delay.webp)

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](https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/marketing-automation/conditional-automation).

## Where to go next

- [How to build your first automation](https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/marketing-automation/first-automation)
- [How to build a conditional automation](https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/marketing-automation/conditional-automation)
- [How to read automation reports](https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/marketing-automation/automation-reports)