Build an email automation

1. Check what already exists

list_automations first. Two automations on the same trigger will both fire, and the contact receives duplicate mail — a failure users usually discover from a complaint rather than from the dashboard.

2. Design before building

Choose a trigger: contact_created, tag_added, campaign_opened, link_clicked, or date_based. Then lay out the steps with explicit delays and explain each choice to the user.

Practical guidance worth stating:

• First email within an hour of the trigger; the rest spaced 2–4 days.
• Keep a welcome series to 3–5 emails. Longer sequences bleed unsubscribes.
• Include an exit condition (a tag applied on conversion) so a converted contact stops receiving the sequence.

3. Build it inactive

create_automation with active: false. Show the result via get_automation and let the user read the steps back before anything can fire.

Only call toggle_automation with active: true after explicit confirmation. Activating starts enrolling live contacts immediately.

Templates

list_templates and create_template — use {{variable}} placeholders and preview substitution with render_template before wiring a template into a step. An automation that ships Hi {{first_name}} to contacts with no first name is a visible, embarrassing failure.