Public Automation Studio guide

Build workflows that run the business safely.

Learn how to design triggers, conditions, branching, actions, approvals, testing, monitoring, and AI-assisted workflow templates.

Start step by step API and webhook docs

Chapters

Core workflow stages

Included

Safe launch checklist

Workflow canvas

Closed-won handoff

Dry-run on

Trigger

Start from a real event like deal.closed_won.

step 1

Condition

Filter by field, operator, and value.

step 2

Action

Create records, send email, notify teams, or call connectors.

step 3

Review

Preview, sandbox, approve, and monitor.

step 4

Preview result

Branch: Yes pathActions: 4 readyWrites: guarded

Example playbooks

Copy these workflows into your first automation plan.

These examples show the trigger, conditions, actions, safety controls, and the exact way to test before going live.

Example workflow

Closed-won deal handoff

deal.closed_won

Sales marks a HubSpot or CRM deal as Closed Won and operations needs the work package ready within minutes.

Conditions

Deal amount is greater than 5000
Customer email exists
Deal owner exists

Actions

Create project from deal name
Create kickoff task list
Create draft invoice
Send welcome email after approval
Notify Slack sales-ops channel

Safety checks

Invoice creation requires approval
Email preview is reviewed before launch
Slack failure goes to retry path

Try it: Use Event Explorer to pick a real closed-won deal, run Sandbox, then confirm it would create one project, tasks, invoice, and notification.

Example workflow

Payment failed recovery

invoice.payment_failed

Stripe reports a failed subscription payment and the tenant needs a polite retry sequence before suspension.

Conditions

Invoice status equals unpaid
Customer email exists
Subscription plan is not free

Actions

Notify billing admin
Email customer with payment link
Wait 3 days
Check invoice status again
Create follow-up task if still unpaid

Safety checks

Tenant suspension is behind a human approval node
Max one reminder email per day
Dead letter if Stripe token refresh fails

Try it: Paste a sample payment_failed payload and verify the no-email branch catches missing customer email.

Example workflow

Ticket SLA breach escalation

ticket.sla_breached

A high-priority support ticket is close to breaching SLA and managers need visibility before the customer gets frustrated.

Conditions

Priority is high or urgent
Assigned agent exists
Ticket status is not resolved

Actions

Notify support manager
Create escalation task
Send customer update from macro
Ask AI to summarize ticket history

Safety checks

Customer email uses approved support template
AI summary is read-only
Escalation task is assigned to support manager group

Try it: Run Step Test on the customer email action with mocked delivery to confirm the rendered macro is correct.

Example workflow

New employee onboarding

employee.joined

HR approves a new hire and the company wants consistent access, tasks, calendar invites, and manager notifications.

Conditions

Employee email exists
Department equals Engineering
Start date is within 14 days

Actions

Create user invitation
Assign position-based role
Create onboarding tasks
Send calendar invite
Notify hiring manager

Safety checks

Role assignment requires approval
Invitation email is rate limited
Tasks are created from a template

Try it: Ask AI Copilot for "engineering hire onboarding" and compare its draft against this example before enabling.

Example workflow

Project risk review

project.progress_updated

A project reaches 80 percent completion and leadership wants a risk summary plus a customer review meeting.

Conditions

Progress is greater than or equal to 80
Project status equals active
Client contact exists

Actions

Ask AI to summarize risks
Email project manager
Create client review meeting
Post update to project group

Safety checks

AI output is reviewed before client email
Meeting invite includes only project participants
No budget details are sent to members without permission

Try it: Preview with a project that has missing client contact and confirm it routes to the no path.

Learning path

Automation Studio from first draft to production.

Each chapter is written for real operators: what to click, what to check, and what to avoid before turning on live writes.

Foundation

1. Plan your first automation

8 min

Understand the parts of Automation Studio before creating live workflows.

Admins, managers, operations leadsOpen

Event bus

2. Choose triggers and inspect events

10 min

Use platform events as the reliable starting point for every workflow.

Admins, integration ownersOpen

Decision logic

3. Add conditions and branching

12 min

Control exactly when workflows run and which path they follow.

Workflow buildersOpen

Work execution

4. Configure actions and connectors

14 min

Add approved backend actions that create records, send messages, notify teams, and call external systems.

Admins, process ownersOpen

Safe activation

5. Preview, sandbox, and launch

15 min

Test every path before a workflow performs real writes.

Admins, reviewersOpen

Operations

6. Monitor runs and fix failures

11 min

Use health scores, run history, dead letters, and AI debugging to keep automations reliable.

Admins, support leadsOpen

Acceleration

7. Use templates and AI Copilot

10 min

Generate workflow drafts from natural language and convert proven processes into reusable templates.

Admins, process designersOpen

Go live

8. Production readiness checklist

9 min

Use this checklist before running high-impact workflows in production.

Admins, founders, implementation teamsOpen

Practice safely

Use Preview, Sandbox, and Step Test before disabling dry-run mode.

Keep guardrails on

Require review for invoices, role changes, bulk emails, tenant suspension, and webhooks.

Use AI as a drafter

AI can propose workflows, debug failures, and generate templates, but admins approve impact.