Automations: Basics & your first rule

Automations take repetitive busywork off your plate: as soon as something happens in your workspace, Univents reacts automatically and runs the steps you set up once. This article walks you through how a rule is built and how to create your first one.

What an automation rule is

A rule is an instruction that follows the pattern "When something happens, then do something." It always consists of three building blocks: a Trigger, optional Conditions, and one or more Actions. You manage your rules on the Automations page. It isn't linked in the sidebar yet — Univents is rolling it out gradually. While you're logged into your workspace, you can still open it directly: append automations to the end of your address in your browser's address bar — .../home/your-workspace/events becomes, for example, .../home/your-workspace/automations. A short description at the top of the page explains what it's about: define rules that automatically react to events in your workspace.

Every rule has a name and a status. Active rules carry the Active badge, paused ones the Inactive badge. Using the switch on the right side of the row, you can turn a rule on or off at any time without deleting it. Some rules are predefined by the system and marked as Locked. You can neither change nor delete these; they run quietly in the background.

Triggers, conditions, and actions

The three building blocks build on one another. Here's how they work together:

1. Trigger: the event that starts the rule, for example a newly received inquiry. For each rule you pick exactly one trigger from the list.
2. Conditions: optional filters that determine in which cases the rule actually applies. A condition consists of a Field, an Operator (such as equals, greater than, or contains), and a Value. You can combine several conditions.
3. Actions: what Univents runs when the trigger fires and all conditions are met. At least one action is required; multiple are possible and are processed in the order you set.

Without conditions, the action runs on every trigger. With conditions, you narrow it down to exactly the cases you care about.

Which actions are available

When you add an action, you first choose its type. These are the options:

• Send email: sends an email based on a template. You provide a Template ID and a Subject.
• Notify user: sends a notification to specific people.
• Set field: changes a field to a new value, such as a priority.
• Assign staff member: assigns a responsible person.
• Create task: creates a new task with a Title and Task type.

You can combine up to three actions per rule. Using the Move up and Move down arrows on each action, you set the order in which they run.

Creating your first rule

Here's how to create a rule from scratch:

1. Open the Automations page and click New rule.
2. Under Rule name, enter a descriptive name, for example "Confirm inquiry".
3. Under Trigger, choose the event the rule should react to.
4. If needed, add filters via Add condition and fill in Field, Operator, and Value. You can skip this step if the rule should always apply.
5. Under Actions, choose at least one action type and fill in its fields. Use Add action to add more steps.
6. Click Save. The new rule appears in the list right away and is active.

As long as required fields are missing, the form points this out before saving.

Viewing and editing a rule in the canvas

Alongside the form dialog, every rule also has a second, visual view: the canvas. It shows the trigger, filter, and actions as connected boxes stacked vertically — handy for seeing at a glance how a rule with several actions is put together.

• Create a new rule in the canvas: On the Automations page, click Create in canvas at the top (instead of New Rule).
• Open an existing rule in the canvas: In the rule's row, click the icon on the far right with the tooltip Open in canvas. This works for every rule, including locked or system-managed ones — there, the canvas opens read-only for viewing, not editing.

In the canvas, your rule's building blocks appear as a fixed chain from top to bottom: first the Trigger node, then — if present — a Filter node showing your number of conditions, then one node per action. The order is fixed; you can't freely rearrange the nodes on the canvas.

1. Click a node to select it. A configuration panel opens on the right with the same fields as the form dialog.
2. Fill in the fields, for example the trigger, a condition, or an action's details.
3. Use Add action and Add delay in the toolbar at the top to add more nodes — with the same limits as the dialog (at most three regular actions, seven action rows in total).
4. Click Save to apply your changes, or Discard to drop them.

The dialog and the canvas save the same rule with the same data. You can create a rule in the dialog and keep editing it in the canvas later, or the other way around.

History and management

Every run of a rule is logged. In a rule's row, click Show history to expand the Run history. There you'll see the status of each run, such as Completed, Skipped, Failed, or Review required, along with the timestamp and, where applicable, an error message. Use Hide history to collapse the list again.

To pause a rule, flip the switch in its row to Inactive. If you no longer need a rule, remove it via the delete icon; you'll have to confirm the deletion. Locked system rules have neither a switch nor a delete icon, because they're managed centrally.

Tips

• Start with a simple rule without conditions and watch the Run history to see whether it applies as expected. Only then refine it with conditions.
• Give rules meaningful names. In the list you only see the name, the trigger, and the number of actions, so "Confirm inquiry" helps more than "Rule 1".
• Keep rules small. Instead of one rule with three very different actions, several clearly named rules are usually easier to follow.
• A rule you're currently testing can be set to Inactive via the switch at any time without losing it.