Automations

Automations let your agent react to events on its own. When something happens, like a new conversation starting or a visitor leaving their contact details, an automation can run follow-up actions for you: notify your team in the dashboard, or send the event to one of your webhook endpoints.

Automations only run while the integration is turned on. While it is off, nothing runs and nothing is queued for later.

What an automation can do

• React to events. Automations can start when a new conversation begins, when a lead is captured, or when a visitor asks to talk to a human. A new conversation event carries the messages that started it, both the visitor's first message and your agent's first reply, so your conditions and messages can use them.
• Check conditions first. An automation can look at the event before acting, for example only continue when the lead includes an email address.
• Wait before continuing. A Wait step pauses the automation for a number of minutes, hours, or days (up to 7 days) before running the next step, for example to send a follow-up email an hour after a handoff request.
• Run actions. Notify your team in the dashboard notification center (optionally also by email or WhatsApp), send an email or a WhatsApp message to any address or number you choose, post a message to your connected Slack workspace, or deliver the event to an active webhook endpoint you configured under Integrations → Webhooks.

Personalize messages with fields

Every text field in a notification or send step can include placeholders like {{email}} or {{name}}. When the automation runs, each placeholder is replaced with the matching value from the event that triggered it, so a captured lead's email can become the recipient of a follow-up email, and a handoff request's message can appear inside a Slack alert. The step settings show the fields the chosen trigger provides right under the message box; click one to copy it, then paste it where you want it to appear. A placeholder whose field is missing from the event is replaced with nothing.

For a Notify the team step you can also leave the message empty: the notification then includes a summary of the event on its own, for example the visitor's first message and your agent's first reply for a new conversation, or the contact details for a captured lead.

Send steps

Three actions send messages outside the dashboard:

• Send an email delivers to any address you enter, including a placeholder like {{email}} to email the visitor from the event.
• Send a WhatsApp message delivers to a phone number you enter (including the country code), sent from the WhatsApp number connected to this agent. A plain message is only sent while the person's 24-hour reply window is open, meaning they messaged your connected WhatsApp number in the last 24 hours; otherwise the step is not sent and the Runs page asks you to choose a template. To reach people at any time, select Choose template and pick an approved template from your WhatsApp templates. Templates the step cannot send are greyed out with the reason, and Create template writes a new one without leaving the automation; you can choose it once WhatsApp approves it. With a template selected, the message box is not needed, and one field appears for each value in the template, whether it is named like {{first_name}} or numbered like {{1}}. Fill each with fixed text or an event field such as {{email}}. Every template value must have something to fill it for the event; if one is empty, the step is not sent. Customers who replied STOP or opted out of your WhatsApp Campaigns are never messaged by this step either.
• Send a Slack message posts to your connected Slack workspace, either to a channel you name in the step or to the default channel from your Slack integration settings.

Because these steps message real people, a send that fails is normally not retried automatically; the run's Runs page shows the failure so you can fix the step and rely on the next event. The one exception is a WhatsApp message that WhatsApp turned away because it was busy (for example, too many messages at once): WhatsApp confirmed it did not take the message, so the automation tries again a little later.

Notification channels

A Notify the team step always posts to the dashboard notification center. In the step settings you can additionally send the same notification by:

• Email, delivered to the email address of the account that owns the agent.
• WhatsApp, delivered to a phone number you enter (including the country code), sent from the WhatsApp number connected to this agent under Integrations → WhatsApp.

You can pick either channel or both. The WhatsApp option needs two things to deliver: the agent must have a connected WhatsApp integration, and WhatsApp only accepts plain messages to a number that messaged your connected WhatsApp number within the last 24 hours. Send any message from the receiving phone to your connected number to open that window.

Each event runs an automation at most once, and each email or WhatsApp message in a run is sent at most once. If Fetchply cannot confirm whether a message went out (for example, the connection dropped while sending), it is not sent again, and the Runs page marks the step as not confirmed so you can check the conversation yourself. If a non-message action fails temporarily, for example the receiving service is briefly down, the automation retries on its own for a while before giving up.

Turn Automations on

Build an automation

Each agent can have up to 20 automations, and each automation can hold up to 25 steps.

Keyboard shortcuts

The builder supports the shortcuts you would expect from a visual editor:

• Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac) undoes your last change, and Ctrl+Shift+Z or Ctrl+Y redoes it.
• Ctrl+S (or Cmd+S) saves the automation.
• Delete or Backspace removes the selected step or connection.
• Escape clears the current selection.

If you try to close the page with unsaved changes, the builder asks for confirmation first, so an accidental tab close never loses your work.

See what ran

Every automation has a Runs page showing its most recent runs: when each run happened, whether it completed, and what each step did. Failed runs show the reason, and runs that are still retrying or paused at a Wait step show as waiting. Run history is kept for 30 days.

A run always finishes with the version of the automation it started with. If you edit an automation while a run is paused at a Wait step, that run continues with the old steps; runs that start after you save use the new ones.

If WhatsApp accepts a message but later reports that it could not deliver it, the step is shown as failed on the Runs page with WhatsApp's reason, even though the rest of the run completed.

Troubleshooting

An automation did not run

Check that the Enable Automations toggle is on for the right agent. The event must happen while the toggle is on; events from before you enabled it are not processed retroactively. Also confirm the automation itself is turned on: a draft automation never runs. The automation's Runs page shows whether it fired at all.

I cannot save or turn on my automation

The builder lists everything that needs fixing in the issues panel above the canvas, for example a step that is not connected to the rest of the automation, a condition without a value, or a webhook action without a chosen webhook. Steps with a problem are also marked directly on the canvas. Click an issue in the list to jump to the affected step, fix it, and the Save and Turn on buttons become available again.

I cannot draw a connection between two steps

The builder only allows connections that can actually run: a step cannot connect to itself, nothing can connect back into the trigger, and a connection that would send the automation around in a circle is rejected while you drag. Connect steps so they flow from the trigger down to your actions.

I deleted a step or connection by accident

Press Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac) to undo. The builder keeps a history of your recent changes while the editor is open, so you can undo and redo freely before saving.

The Automations page is missing from the sidebar

The sidebar entry only appears while the Automations integration is turned on under Integrations → Automations. Turn the toggle on and the page appears.

A webhook action stopped delivering

Webhook actions only deliver to endpoints that are still active under Integrations → Webhooks. If the endpoint was paused or deleted, the action stops permanently for new events until you re-activate the endpoint or point the automation at another one.

A team notification never showed up

Notifications respect your notification preferences. If you muted the Automations category in your notification settings, the action still counts as completed but you will not see the message. Unmute the category to see future notifications.

The email copy of a notification did not arrive

Email delivery goes to the email address of the account that owns the agent. Check your spam folder first, and confirm the address on your account is correct under your account settings. The dashboard notification is still delivered even when the email cannot be sent.

The WhatsApp copy of a notification did not arrive

Three things need to be true for WhatsApp delivery: the agent has a connected WhatsApp integration under Integrations → WhatsApp, the number in the step settings includes the country code, and the receiving phone messaged your connected WhatsApp number within the last 24 hours. WhatsApp rejects plain messages outside that 24-hour window, so send any message from the receiving phone to your connected number and the next notification will come through. The dashboard notification is still delivered even when the WhatsApp message cannot be sent.

A send email or send WhatsApp step failed and did not retry

Steps that message people directly are never retried automatically, so a temporary hiccup cannot accidentally message someone twice. The Runs page shows why the send failed: a recipient placeholder that was empty for this event, an address that is not a valid email, a phone number that could not be read as a real number, a customer who opted out of your WhatsApp messages, an empty template value, or a WhatsApp message outside the 24-hour reply window. Fix the step and the next event will send normally. For WhatsApp messages that must deliver outside the 24-hour window, choose an approved template in the step settings.

A WhatsApp step says the 24-hour window is closed

WhatsApp only allows plain messages to someone who messaged your connected WhatsApp number in the last 24 hours. People who just filled in a lead form usually have not, so the step was not sent. Select Choose template in the step settings and pick an approved template; template messages can be sent at any time.

The step says its template is not on my WhatsApp account

The template the step uses was deleted or renamed in WhatsApp Manager, so the step cannot send it. Select Change template and choose an approved one. WhatsApp → Templates also lists every feature that points at a missing template.

The step says it does not match how the template names its values

The step has not recorded the names of the template's values, for example because it was set up before Fetchply sent values by name, so WhatsApp would refuse its messages. Select Update step, then save the automation. The values you filled in stay as they are.

A template I want is greyed out in the step

Automations fill values in the message only. A template with a picture, video, or document header, a value in its headline, a button that needs a value, or a layout such as a carousel cannot be sent by this step. A template still in review can be chosen once WhatsApp approves it. The reason appears under each greyed-out template.

A step is marked not confirmed

Fetchply started sending the message but could not confirm whether it went out, for example because the connection to WhatsApp or the email service dropped at that moment. To avoid messaging the person twice, it was not sent again. Check the conversation in your inbox, or with the person, and follow up yourself if needed. The next event sends normally.

A WhatsApp step shows as done but the message never arrived

WhatsApp sometimes accepts a message and reports a problem a little later, for example when the number cannot receive WhatsApp messages. Open the run on the Runs page again: the step then shows as failed with WhatsApp's reason.

A WhatsApp step says the phone number is invalid

Numbers that start with + and the country code always work. A number typed without the country code is read using the visitor's country when it is known; otherwise it is only used if it is already a complete international number. Anything that could belong to a different country is not sent, so that a message never reaches the wrong person. Ask for the number with its country code, for example +44 7911 123456.

A WhatsApp step says the recipient opted out

The customer asked you to stop messaging them on WhatsApp, for example by replying STOP, tapping the opt-out button on one of your templates, or turning off your marketing messages in WhatsApp. The same opt-out list is used by Campaigns, Automations, and cart recovery, and the step will not message that customer.

A Slack message was not posted

The Send a Slack message step needs a connected Slack workspace under Integrations → Slack. If the step names a channel, your Slack app must be invited to that channel; if it does not, the message goes to the default channel from your Slack integration settings, so make sure one is chosen there. If Slack was disconnected or the authorization expired, reconnect it and the next event will post normally.

A run has been waiting for a long time

A run paused at a Wait step shows as waiting until the wait is over, which can be up to 7 days. If the automation is turned off, archived, or moved back to draft while a run is waiting, the run stops instead of resuming, and the Runs page shows why.

The same event seemed to happen twice

Automations deduplicate per event: one new conversation, one handoff request, or one captured lead runs each automation at most once, even if the page was refreshed. If the same person submits your lead form again with the same email address or phone number within 10 minutes, the new lead is still saved under Leads, but it does not start the lead automations again. After 10 minutes, a new submission counts as a new lead.

My WhatsApp step on a handoff request has no phone number

For conversations that happen on WhatsApp, a handoff request includes the customer's WhatsApp number as {{phone}}. Conversations on your website do not have one unless the visitor typed it, and a few WhatsApp customers who use a WhatsApp username do not share their number with businesses.