Build your first automation
Build the simplest possible automation, a schedule that fires an in-app notification, to learn the builder's mechanics before tackling something more involved. Both the trigger and the action used here run for real, no external accounts or AI key required.
Before you start
You need to be signed in with a workspace open. Automations run in the background once activated, you do not need to keep a tab open for a scheduled one to fire.
Step 1: Open the automation studio
Open Automations from the sidebar. Create a new automation to enter the full-screen builder, a node canvas on the right, a palette or inspector on the left, and a toolbar across the top. See Automations overview.
Step 2: Add the trigger
Open the palette's Triggers tab and drag Scheduled onto the canvas. It is the first node, and has no input connector, exactly one trigger starts a graph. Click it to open its settings in the left panel and set:
| Field | Options |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Interval, Daily, or Weekly |
| Every (minutes) | Used only in Interval mode |
Pick whatever cadence fits what you are testing, an interval of a few minutes is the fastest way to see it fire while you are still setting things up. See Triggers for how each trigger type actually starts a run.
Step 3: Add the action
Switch the palette to its Actions tab, open the Notify group, and drag In-app notification onto the canvas below the trigger.
Step 4: Connect the nodes
Drag from the trigger node's bottom connector to the top of the action node to link them. The graph now reads: on the schedule, send a notification.
Step 5: Configure the action
Click the action node to open its settings and fill in the Message field, the text that will show up as your notification. Keep it short, it is meant to be a glanceable confirmation that the automation ran.
Step 6: Validate and test
Click Validate in the toolbar. It checks the graph for common mistakes, an empty graph, more than one trigger, a required field left blank, a dangling connection, before you try to go live. Once it passes, click Test to save the current draft and run the graph once immediately, regardless of the schedule you set, so you can confirm the notification arrives without waiting for the real cadence.
Step 7: Activate it
Click Activate in the toolbar. The status pill flips from Draft to Active, and the automation starts listening on its schedule in the background. Click Pause any time to stop it from running without losing the draft, or open it again later and Activate to resume.
Step 8: Check that it ran
Open the Activity view from the icon rail on the far left of the builder to see run history: each run, its recent step logs, and per-node stats. Use this to confirm the schedule is actually firing, and to debug a run that did not behave the way you expected. See Running and monitoring.
The builder at a glance
| Region | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Icon rail (far left) | Three views: Flow (the canvas), Settings (per-automation options), Activity (run history) |
| Left panel | The node palette when nothing is selected, or the selected node's settings when one is |
| Canvas | The graph itself, with pan, zoom, and a minimap |
| Toolbar | Exit, name and autosave status, undo/redo, Validate, a status pill, and Test / Activate / Pause |
Where to go next
This automation only used one trigger and one action, the catalog has more of both once you are ready to go further:
| Idea | Nodes to combine |
|---|---|
| Notify yourself when a design is finished | Design created trigger, then In-app notification |
| Move approved work automatically | Part tagged trigger, a Condition checking the tag, then Set status / folder |
| Post to a team channel | Any trigger, then Slack / Discord with a webhook URL |
| React to your own systems | Incoming webhook trigger, giving the automation its own callable URL |
See Nodes for the full catalog, including which action nodes run for real today and which are still being wired up.
Tips
Validate before you activate
Validation catches an empty graph, more than one trigger, a required field left blank, or a dangling connection before you try to go live, cheaper to fix at that point than after it is running.
Test skips the wait
You do not need to wait for a real schedule to confirm a graph works. Test saves the draft and runs it once immediately, on demand.
Changes save on their own
Edits to the graph autosave a moment after you stop typing or moving something, the toolbar's status text confirms it, there is no separate save button to remember.