# Automations > Automations turn subscriber events into a series of automatic responses — a trigger starts the flow and every branch can send emails, update tags, fire webhooks, or enroll in sequences without manual intervention. - Human page: https://mailrith.com/docs/automations - Category: Automation - Reading time: 14 min read ## What this guide covers Build multi-step visual workflows with triggers, waits, condition branches, and action steps that run automatically as subscribers meet defined criteria. ## Sections - How the Canvas Is Structured - Supported Triggers and Actions - Conditions and Branching - Metrics and Operations ## Visual Reference ![Mailrith automation canvas showing a multi-step flow with trigger, wait, condition, and action nodes.](https://mailrith.com/docs/screenshots/automations.png) The visual canvas shows the full automation structure with live subscriber counts on each node. Click any node to configure its settings in the side drawer without losing sight of the overall flow. ## How the Canvas Is Structured Automations let Mailrith respond automatically when something happens to a subscriber. A trigger starts the workflow, and the subscriber then moves through steps such as waits, event waits, conditions, email sends, tag updates, sequence enrollment, notifications, and webhooks. The automation canvas shows the whole workflow visually. Each block on the canvas is a node. Click a node to open its settings without losing sight of the full path. Start with a small goal before building a large workflow. A good automation goal sounds like "When someone joins the webinar list, send reminders and tag them based on clicks" or "When a trial user reaches day 5, notify sales if they opened the onboarding email." If the goal is unclear, the canvas will become hard to review. Build from top to bottom. The trigger defines who enters. The following steps define what happens next. Conditions split subscribers into Yes and No paths. Each path can continue with its own actions and waits. 1. Click **Automations** in the left sidebar to open the Automations page for the current workspace. 2. Click **Create Automation** in the page header. 3. In **Automation Name**, name the automation after the outcome, such as "Webinar Reminder Flow" or "Trial Day 5 Sales Alert". 4. Set **Automation Status** to **Inactive** while you build, or **Paused** if you are editing a workflow that may already have subscribers inside it. 5. Click the trigger node at the top of the canvas to open the trigger drawer. 6. In **Trigger On**, choose **Tag Added**, **Tag Removed**, **Magic Link Clicked**, or **Subscriber Status**. 7. Fill the trigger's required field, such as **Tags**, **Magic Links**, **Operator**, or **Status**, then click **Save**. 8. Click the plus button under the trigger to open **Add Automation Step**. 9. Choose the **Event**, **Action**, or **Condition** tab, then choose the specific step type you want Mailrith to add. 10. Fill the required fields for the step, such as a tag, sequence, custom field, delivery connection, email content, webhook URL, wait delay, or condition rule. 11. Click **Save** when you are adding a new step, or **Save Changes** when you are editing an existing step, then continue until every path has a clear next action or an end point. 12. Click **Save Automation** in the header. Set the automation to **Active** only after every path is reviewed and tested. ## Supported Triggers and Actions A trigger is the event or rule that starts the automation for a subscriber. Mailrith supports these trigger types: - **Tag Added:** starts when a selected tag is applied manually, by import, form, landing page, magic link, API, or another automation. - **Tag Removed:** starts when a selected tag is removed from the subscriber. - **Magic Link Clicked:** starts when the subscriber clicks a selected magic link in an email. - **Subscriber Status:** starts when the subscriber status matches the selected rule, such as Active, Unconfirmed, Unsubscribed, Complained, Bounced, or Blocked. Event wait steps are different from triggers. They pause the subscriber until something else happens later, such as a tag being added or removed, a magic link being clicked, an email being opened, an email link being clicked, or a sequence being completed. Action steps tell Mailrith what to do: - **Send Email:** send a single automation email through a selected delivery connection. - **Add Tag** or **Remove Tag:** update the subscriber's labels. - **Add to Sequence** or **Remove from Sequence:** move the subscriber into or out of a timed email series. - **Change Subscriber Status:** update eligibility states such as Active, Unsubscribed, Bounced, Complained, or Blocked when that is the intended outcome. - **Wait:** pause for a set time, until a chosen date, or until a date stored in a custom field. - **Update Custom Field:** set, clear, increase, decrease, set today's date, add choices, remove choices, or update a checkbox value. - **Send Internal Notification:** notify a team inbox when a subscriber reaches an important point. - **Start Automation** or **Remove from Automation:** move the subscriber into another workflow or remove them from one. - **Send Webhook:** send subscriber data to an outside URL using POST, PUT, or PATCH, with optional bearer authentication, headers, tags, and custom fields. - **Exit this Automation:** intentionally stop the subscriber's path. ## Conditions and Branching A condition asks a question about the subscriber and sends them down a Yes path or a No path. Conditions are how one automation can handle different subscriber situations without creating separate workflows for every case. Conditions can check: - **Tag membership:** whether the subscriber has or does not have a tag. - **Custom field value:** whether a field matches text, number, date, choice, or checkbox rules. - **Sequence membership:** whether the subscriber is in a selected sequence. - **Subscriber status:** whether the subscriber is Active, Unconfirmed, Unsubscribed, Complained, Bounced, or Blocked. - **Email opened:** whether the subscriber opened a relevant email during the configured window. Keep each condition easy to understand. A condition such as "Has customer tag?" is easier to review than a condition that tries to combine customer status, three custom fields, two behavior checks, and a negative rule all at once. Use Yes and No branches deliberately. Treat the No path as part of the workflow, not as an afterthought. It needs to handle the people who do not match the condition. For example, if the Yes path sends a customer offer, the No path might wait, send education, or end the automation. 1. Click a plus button where the workflow needs to make a decision. 2. In **Add Automation Step**, click the **Condition** tab. 3. Choose the condition type, such as **Has Tag**, **Custom Field Match**, **In Sequence**, **Subscriber Status**, or **Email Opened**. 4. Fill the required field for the condition, such as the tag, custom field, sequence, status, operator, value, or lookback window. 5. Click **Save** when you are adding the condition, or **Save Changes** when you are editing a condition that already exists. 6. Add steps under the **Yes** path for subscribers who match the condition. 7. Add steps under the **No** path for subscribers who do not match. 8. Continue each path with the next useful action, wait, condition, or end step. 9. Review both paths from the subscriber's point of view before activating the automation. ## Metrics and Operations Automation metrics help you see how subscribers move through the workflow. Node counts show how many subscribers are waiting at a step and how many have passed through. These counts are useful for finding bottlenecks, dead ends, and unexpectedly popular paths. Automations have three operating states: - **Active:** the automation can accept new subscribers and process existing subscribers. - **Paused:** movement is temporarily stopped while you review, repair, or adjust the workflow. - **Inactive:** the automation is not running and should not process subscribers. Pause before making meaningful changes to an active automation. This prevents subscribers from moving through a workflow while you are changing its steps. Before activating an automation, run a review checklist: trigger is correct, delivery connection works, all tags exist, all custom fields exist, all referenced sequences are ready, magic links are correct, emails have been tested, webhook URLs are correct, and both Yes and No paths end in a sensible place. 1. Open the automation from the **Automations** table and set **Automation Status** to **Paused** or **Inactive** before making meaningful changes. 2. Review the trigger and every path on the canvas. Click each node to check its drawer settings. 3. Send test emails for every send-email step. 4. Confirm tags, [Custom Fields](https://mailrith.com/docs/custom-fields.md), [Sequences](https://mailrith.com/docs/sequences.md), [Magic Links](https://mailrith.com/docs/magic-links.md), delivery connections, and webhook URLs exist and point to the intended resources. 5. Use internal test subscribers to run through the trigger and important branches. 6. Watch activity history and node counts to confirm the path is correct. 7. Set **Automation Status** to **Active** and click **Save Automation** only after the test path behaves as expected. If an automation is not behaving as expected, start with the subscriber activity history and the node counts. Confirm the subscriber met the trigger, reached the expected step, matched or failed the condition you expected, and was not blocked by status, missing data, or a disabled connection. ## Related Guides - [Sequences](https://mailrith.com/docs/sequences.md): Sequences send a series of emails over time as subscribers progress through the steps — ideal for onboarding, nurture campaigns, and educational content that should unfold over days or weeks. - [Magic Links](https://mailrith.com/docs/magic-links.md): Magic links turn a single click in an email into a subscriber action — adding or removing tags, enrolling in sequences, and redirecting or confirming, all without the subscriber filling out a form. - [AI Writing](https://mailrith.com/docs/ai-writing.md): AI writing helps create drafts, not final sends. This guide explains where AI appears, how to brief it, how to preview generated content, when replacement confirmations appear, and how to repair provider failures.