> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.lekalao.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Automations

> Journeys of e-mails that run on their own.

An automation brings subscribers into a **journey**: a series of **actions** (wait, send an e-mail, add a tag, take a branch…) that each of them follows at their own pace. A welcome series, a basket reminder, a birthday message, winning back the inactive: anything that starts without someone clicking "Send".

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart TD
  T([Someone subscribes]) --> A[Send: Welcome]
  A --> W[Wait 2 days]
  W --> E{Wait for something to happen<br/>opened "Welcome", 3 days}
  E -- They did --> B[Send: Our best sellers]
  E -- They did not --> C[Add the tag: to-remind]
```

## Create an automation

<Steps>
  <Step title="The creation panel">
    **Automations → New automation**: a **name** ("Welcome series"), a
    **list**, and **what starts it**. See
    [Triggers](/automations/triggers).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Write the e-mails">
    The e-mails of a journey are **automation e-mails**, written once and
    reusable. The **Automation e-mails** button at the top of the page. See
    [Automation e-mails](/automations/emails).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Build the actions">
    The **Actions** tab: **Add an action**, then **Add below** on each
    action. See [Actions](/automations/actions).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the goal and the ways out">
    The **Settings** tab, optional: see below.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start it">
    **Start** at the top right. It needs at least one action.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## The states

| State      | Behaviour                                                                           |
| ---------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Draft**  | Nobody comes in, nothing moves. You are building.                                   |
| **Active** | The trigger brings subscribers in, and the journeys move on every minute.           |
| **Paused** | Nobody comes in, and those already inside **stay where they are** until it resumes. |

**Pause** and **Start** switch between active and paused.

<Note>
  Starting an automation does not bring in the subscribers **already** on the
  list: only the events that happen afterwards set it off. To bring existing
  people in, add them from the **Subscribers** tab.
</Note>

## The settings

The **Settings** tab, saved with **Save the settings**.

### Automation

**Name**, **List** and **Who may enter**: the whole list, or a [segment](/contacts/segments). A subscriber outside the segment when the trigger fires does not come in.

### What starts it

The trigger and its settings. See [Triggers](/automations/triggers).

### What it is for: the goal

Whoever does what the automation is pushing them towards **leaves it**, instead of being reminded again. It is checked at every step:

| Goal                              | Reached when                                                               |
| --------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **No goal: it runs to its end**   | The journey goes all the way.                                              |
| **The subscriber gets a tag**     | They carry the tag you chose.                                              |
| **The subscriber buys something** | A [sale is reported](/developers/conversions) for them since they came in. |
| **The subscriber clicks a link**  | They clicked a link whose address holds the text you gave.                 |

### Leaving early

* **Someone who unsubscribes leaves** (on by default).
* **A tag that lets someone out**: a tag that ends the journey, `customer` in a prospect reminder, say.

## The journeys: the Subscribers tab

Each person who came in has a **journey**:

| Status           | Means                                                  |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| **In progress**  | They are moving on, or waiting for the next step.      |
| **Completed**    | They reached the end.                                  |
| **Stopped**      | A **Stop the automation** action stopped them.         |
| **Goal reached** | They did what the automation was after.                |
| **Left early**   | They unsubscribed, or picked up the tag that lets out. |

The table shows the **current action**, the **next step** (with its time) and the date they came in; filter by status.

**Add subscribers** brings in up to 100 addresses at once; they have to be on the automation's list already.

<Info>
  A person never travels through the same automation **twice at once**. Once
  their journey is over they may come back, if the trigger happens again (a
  tag removed then added, a birthday the following year).
</Info>

## In the action editor

Each action shows **N waiting here** and **N went through**: the best way to see where subscribers stop.