# Automations > Automations turn subscriber events into automatic responses. A trigger starts the flow, and each branch can send emails, update tags, fire webhooks, or enroll subscribers in sequences without manual work. - Human page: https://mailrith.com/docs/automations - Markdown page: https://mailrith.com/docs/automations.md - Category: Automation - Reading time: 14 min read - Last updated: 2026-07-13 - Related keywords: Automations, Automations documentation, Automation, Automation documentation, Mailrith documentation, Mailrith help, How the Canvas Is Structured, Supported Triggers and Actions, Conditions and Branching, Metrics and Operations, Sequences, Magic Links, AI Writing ## AI Agent Notes - Use this article as step-by-step Mailrith product guidance, not as legal, financial, or deliverability advice unless the article says so. - Preserve exact Mailrith UI labels from the steps when explaining a workflow. - Prefer Mailrith's product term Subscribers when referring to people on an email list. ## What this guide covers Build visual automations with triggers, waits, conditions, and actions that run when Subscribers match your rules. ## 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 react automatically when a subscriber does something or matches a rule. A trigger starts the workflow. After the trigger, the subscriber moves through steps such as waits, event waits, conditions, email sends, tag updates, sequence enrollment, notifications, and webhooks. The automation canvas shows the full workflow in one view. Each block on the canvas is a node. Click a node to open its settings and edit that step while the full path stays visible. Choose a small goal before you build a large workflow. A clear 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 does not clearly name who enters and what should happen next, the canvas will be hard to review. Build the workflow from top to bottom. The trigger defines which subscribers enter. The steps below the trigger 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 choose **Paused** before you edit a workflow that may already contain subscribers. 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 step type that Mailrith should 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 add a new step, or click **Save Changes** when you edit an existing step. Continue adding steps 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 you review and test every path. ## 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 or 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 not triggers. They pause the Subscriber until a later event happens, such as a tag being added or removed, a magic link being clicked, or a sequence being completed. If that event happens while the Subscriber is earlier in the same automation, Mailrith moves the Subscriber forward to that event step and continues from there. Mailrith does not move the Subscriber backward to an event step they already passed. If an event step is ahead under a condition branch, a matching event can pull the Subscriber to that event before the condition step runs. If the condition should decide the path first, add a wait or another step on each branch before the event step. Each Subscriber can be in the same automation only once at a time. If another trigger for that automation fires while the Subscriber is already moving through it, Mailrith keeps the Subscriber's current place instead of starting a second copy. After the Subscriber exits the automation, a later trigger can add them again. Email Opened conditions only match when Mailrith can use open tracking for that Subscriber and source email. If open tracking is unavailable, keep a tag, status, or magic-link path available instead. Action steps tell Mailrith what to do next: - **Send Email:** send one automation email through the selected delivery connection. New Send Email steps start with the workspace tracking default from **Workspaces** > **Edit Workspace** > **Privacy & Consent**, while existing steps keep their saved tracking choices. - **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 status change is the goal. - **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. Required fields only show actions that keep a value. For example, a required checkbox can be checked but cannot be unchecked or toggled. - **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 active or paused workflow, or remove them from another workflow. If that other workflow is already doing a step, Mailrith stops it before its next step. Use **Exit this Automation** when the Subscriber should leave the current workflow. Mailrith does not let a workflow start itself or create a loop between workflows. - **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 the subscriber down a Yes path or a No path. Conditions let one automation handle different subscriber situations without creating a separate workflow for each 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, when open tracking is turned on and allowed for that Subscriber. Keep each condition easy to understand. A condition such as "Has customer tag?" is easier to review than one condition that combines customer status, three custom fields, two behavior checks, and a negative rule. Email Opened conditions do not match when Mailrith cannot use open tracking for that Subscriber or source email. Review the No path so those Subscribers still receive a clear next step. Use Yes and No branches deliberately. Treat the No path as part of the workflow, not as an afterthought. The No path needs steps for subscribers 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 add the condition, or click **Save Changes** when you edit 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 you activate the automation. ## Metrics and Operations Automation metrics show how subscribers move through the workflow. Node counts show how many subscribers are waiting at a step and how many have passed through that step. Use these counts to find bottlenecks, dead ends, and paths that more subscribers enter than expected. 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 an active automation before you make changes that affect who enters, where subscribers go, or what Mailrith sends or updates. Pausing prevents subscribers from moving through the workflow while you change its steps. Before you activate an automation, complete a review checklist. Check that the trigger is correct, the delivery connection works, all tags exist, all custom fields exist, all referenced sequences are ready, magic links point to the intended destinations, emails have been tested, webhook URLs are correct, and both Yes and No paths end in a sensible place. Mailrith checks required choices before an automation can be saved as **Active** or **Paused**. If a tag, sequence, magic link, custom field, email, webhook URL, or automation target is missing, keep the automation **Inactive** while you finish setup. 1. Open the automation from the **Automations** table and set **Automation Status** to **Paused** or **Inactive** before making changes that affect subscribers. 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 each test subscriber follows the expected path. 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 that the subscriber met the trigger rule, reached the expected step, matched or failed the condition you expected, and was not stopped by subscriber 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 move through the steps. Use sequences for onboarding, nurture campaigns, and educational content that should be sent over days or weeks. - [Magic Links](https://mailrith.com/docs/magic-links.md): Magic links turn one email click into a subscriber action. A click can add or remove tags, enroll the subscriber in sequences, and redirect or confirm the subscriber without requiring a form submission. - [AI Writing](https://mailrith.com/docs/ai-writing.md): AI writing creates drafts, not final sends. This guide explains where AI appears, how to write a clear brief, how to preview generated content, when replacement confirmations appear, and how to repair provider failures.