The editor is where you build what an automation does. You place a trigger on a canvas, add the steps that follow, connect them with lines and fill in each step. This article walks through the editor from the first trigger to a published version.
Opening the editor
In the automation list, click an automation or choose Edit in its menu. To start from scratch, create a new automation and choose Blank canvas.
A new automation starts with one placeholder node called Pick a trigger and the name Untitled automation. Click the name at the top to change it. You need a name before you can save.
The editor has four areas:
- The bar at the top with the name, the Active switch, the tools, Save and a menu with more actions.
- The library on the left with everything you can add.
- The canvas in the middle with your flow.
- The inspector on the right, which opens when you select a node.
Click Automations at the top left to go back to the list. With unsaved changes, you are asked whether you want to leave anyway.
The library
The library has two tabs: Triggers and Actions.
- Triggers lists what can start an automation, for example a new member, a paid order or a completed lesson.
- Actions lists what the automation does. The section Control comes first: these are the building blocks that shape the flow, such as conditions, delays, branches and loops. After it come the actions themselves.
Both tabs are grouped by source. The first source holds the built-in blocks of your platform, and integrations follow in alphabetical order. The number next to a source counts its blocks. Click a source to open it; larger sources are split into categories such as Members, Payments or Courses. The arrow at the top takes you back.
The section Recently used shows the last four blocks you placed from the open tab, so the ones you need most are always at hand.
To find a block quickly, type into the search field above the tabs. It searches names and descriptions across all sources of the open tab.
The arrow next to the library title collapses the library into a narrow strip to give the canvas more room. Click the icon in the strip to open it again. On a phone the library starts collapsed.
Adding and connecting nodes
There are two ways to add a block:
- Drag it from the library onto the canvas and drop it where you want it.
- Click or tap it. The editor places it to the right of your flow.
The first trigger you add replaces the Pick a trigger placeholder and takes its place. You can also select the placeholder and choose the event under Trigger type in the inspector. An automation can have more than one trigger; each one starts the nodes connected to it.
Each node has a dot on its left for the incoming line and one or more dots on its right for the outgoing lines. To connect two nodes, drag from a dot on the right of the first node to the dot on the left of the next one. A few rules apply:
- A trigger has no incoming line, and nothing can follow an End node.
- A node cannot connect to itself.
- A line cannot lead back to a node that comes earlier in the flow. The editor does not let you draw it. To repeat steps, use Loop.
- An input takes one line. If you draw a second line into the same input, it replaces the first one. Only triggers can share an input.
To move a line, drag one of its ends onto another dot. The same rules apply, and if you let go anywhere else, the line stays where it was.
To remove a line or a node, click it and press the Backspace key. Ctrl+Z undoes your last change, and Ctrl+Shift+Z brings it back. On a Mac, use Cmd instead of Ctrl.
Conditions, branches and delays
Tidying up and moving around
Auto layout in the top bar arranges all nodes from left to right along their connections and fits the flow into view. It is the quickest way to tidy a flow after you added several steps.
The question mark next to it opens Help, a short guide to moving around the canvas, with one tab for a mouse and one for a trackpad:
- Pan: drag the canvas with the left mouse button or one finger.
- Zoom: scroll the mouse wheel or pinch on the trackpad.
- Select several nodes: hold Ctrl (Cmd on a Mac) and click them.
On a smaller screen, Auto layout and the other tools move into the menu next to Save.
Integrations that are not connected yet
Blocks from an integration you have not connected yet appear faded in the library with the chip Connect. You cannot drag them. Click one, and the dialog for connecting that service opens. Once the connection works, the block is added to the canvas right away.
Add Integration at the bottom of the library opens the same dialog without a block, for example to connect a service before you start building.
If a node on the canvas belongs to an integration that is not connected, its inspector shows Not connected with a Connect link, and the node counts as an issue (see below). For actions that need an account, pick it under Integration in the inspector. If there is none yet, the button Add integration connects one.
Setting up a node in the inspector
Click a node to open the inspector on the right. Its header shows the kind of node, for example Trigger or Action, and its name. Below it you fill in the settings of that node. Required fields are marked with an asterisk. Nodes without settings, such as End, show "This node has no settings."
At the bottom of the inspector:
- Delete removes the node and its lines.
- The copy icon (Duplicate) places a copy of the node with the same settings slightly offset on the canvas.
- Save saves the whole automation.
Press Esc or the cross in the header to close the inspector. On a phone, the inspector ends above the navigation bar, so these buttons stay within reach.
A trigger has its own fields in the inspector. Some narrow it to one item, for example Course or Days inactive. They sit right below Trigger type, before Conditions.
Text fields of many actions, for example the subject and body of an email,
accept placeholders such as or [|First Name|]. When the
automation runs, they are replaced with the member's data. Control nodes work
with values from the trigger, written as {{key}}. Which fields each trigger
and action has, and the full list of placeholders, is in the article on
triggers and actions.
The Run tab
When you open a run from Run history, the canvas switches into a read-only replay of that run. The inspector then has two tabs: Settings shows the node's settings as they were, and Run shows its status, its times and the data that went in and came out.
Fixing issues
The editor checks your flow while you work. A node with a problem gets a warning sign, and a yellow triangle with the number of issues appears in the top bar. Hover over the triangle to see the list; click it to jump to the first node with an issue. The inspector of that node lists its issues at the top.
Typical issues are:
- "Trigger has no event type selected."
- "Days inactive must be 1 or more."
- "Action has no type selected."
- "Required integration is not connected."
- "Delay has no duration."
- "Run workflow has no workflow selected."
- "No incoming edge. This node is unreachable."
The full list with what to do is in Testing and run history.
Saving still works with open issues, so you can stop halfway and come back later. The automation may not run as intended until they are fixed, though. If the flow has a structural error, for example when you deleted every trigger, saving stops with "The flow has a structural error and could not be saved."
Saving and switching on
Click Save, or press Ctrl+S (⌘S on a Mac). The tooltip of the button and the onboarding tour name the shortcut for your device. The button shows Saved for a moment. While you have unsaved changes, the button is highlighted, and your browser asks before you close the tab.
The Active switch in the top bar decides whether the automation runs. A new automation starts switched off. The switch takes effect when you save.
When you switch it on while issues are open, you are asked to confirm and see the list of issues. Activate switches it on anyway. Saving with the switch on stops with a message if a node needs an integration that is not connected, or if the automation is archived.
Versions, publishing and rolling back
Every save creates a new version. Only one version is live at a time: the published one. This lets you work on a flow without changing what happens for your members until you are ready.
- The first save of an automation is published right away.
- Every later save is a draft. A note at the top of the canvas says "Saved as a draft. These changes are not live yet." Click Publish in that note to make the draft live. The note appears after saving, after a rollback and whenever you open an automation whose latest version is not published.
- In the automation list, a yellow pencil icon marks an automation with Unpublished changes.
A test run always uses your latest saved version, so you can try a draft before you publish it.
The Versions panel
Versions in the top bar lists up to the last 100 versions, newest first, with the time and the team member who saved it. Labels show which version is which:
- Editing: the version you see in the editor.
- Published: the version that runs.
- Draft: a version that was never published.
Select a version to compare it with what is on the canvas now. The comparison lists what rolling back to that version would change, sorted into Add node, Remove node, Change node type, Reconfigure node, Add edge and Remove edge. If nothing differs, you see "This version is structurally identical to the current canvas."
Two buttons sit below the comparison:
- Publish makes the selected version live. It is missing when the version is already the published one. Publishing stops with a message if the version uses an integration that is not connected.
- Roll back to this version copies the selected version into a new version and loads it into the editor. For the version you are editing, the button reads Already current and cannot be clicked.
A rollback replaces the canvas. If you have unsaved changes, you are asked first: "You have unsaved changes. Rolling back replaces them with this version. Roll back anyway?" The new version is a draft and does not go live by itself. Click Publish in the note at the top of the canvas, or open Versions again, select the version marked Editing and click Publish.
Duplicating and deleting
The menu next to Save has two more actions:
- Duplicate creates a copy of the automation from its last saved version and opens it in the editor. The copy gets "(Copy)" after its name, starts switched off and has that version already published. Unsaved changes are not copied, so save first.
- Delete asks "Delete this automation? It moves to the trash. You can restore it under Settings, Trash." After you confirm, it takes you back to the list. You can restore the automation under Settings > Trash.
Both are available once the automation has been saved.
The onboarding tour
The first time you open the editor, a small card at the bottom of the canvas called Build your first automation walks you through four steps: drag a trigger, drag an action, connect them and save. The card moves on by itself as you complete each step and closes shortly after the last one. Skip tour hides it right away. Either way it stays hidden in that browser from then on.
On a phone, the card sits to the right of the library strip and above the navigation bar, so every step stays readable.