# Create an automation rule

Source: https://help.meisa.io/articles/create-an-automation-rule

An automation is a rule: when something happens to a contact, Meisa does something, like adding a tag or starting a sequence. Go to **Automations**, click **New automation**, set **When**, **Only if** and **Then**, and click **Turn on**.

## Create the automation

1. In the sidebar, under **Emails**, click **Automations**.
2. Click **New automation**. If you have none yet, you can also start from one of the suggested starters.
3. Give it a name in **Name**, for example "Start onboarding for new signups".

![The automation editor with When, Only if and Then sections](https://cdn.kamaan.io/kamaan/sites/6ae9f671d5ea373710b2366f/images/meisa-automation-editor-1bea31b1.webp)
## Step 1: When (what starts it)

Pick the event that starts the automation:

| Trigger | Fires when | Settings |
|---|---|---|
| **Contact is created** | A new contact is added. | **Which contacts count**: untick sources to leave them out. **Bulk sync** and **First sync** are off by default so a migration or first import doesn't send everyone a welcome. |
| **Field changes** | A custom field or other detail is updated, usually by your app's upsert call. | **Which field**, plus optional **Changed from** and **Changed to**. |
| **Tag is added** / **Tag is removed** | A tag is put on or taken off a contact. | **Tag** (leave empty for any tag). |
| **Your app sends an event** | Your app calls the events API with that event name. | **Event name**: the exact name your app sends, like `trial_started`. |
| **Contact goes quiet** | A contact has had no opens or clicks for a number of days. | **Days with no opens or clicks**. Meisa checks once a day and runs the rule once per contact. |
| **Joins a sequence** | A contact is enrolled in a sequence through the API. | **Which sequence**, or any sequence. |

Note: the picker also lists **Email is sent**, **Email is opened**, **Link is clicked**, **Email bounces** and **Finishes a sequence**. These do not start automations yet. To react to the end of a sequence today, add an **Action** step at the end of the sequence (for example **Add a tag**) and trigger on **Tag is added**.

## Step 2: Only if (optional conditions)

1. Under **Only if**, add one or more conditions on contact fields, for example `plan` **is** `free`.
2. Choose **Match all of these** or **Match any of these**.

Leave it empty to run for every contact that hits the trigger.

## Step 3: Then (what Meisa does)

Add one or more actions. They run in order.

- **Add a tag** / **Remove a tag**: enter the **Tag name**.
- **Set a field**: enter the **Field name** and **New value**.
- **Start a sequence** / **Stop a sequence**: pick the **Sequence**. The sequence must be on to start it.
- **Call a webhook**: enter the **Web address** and **Method** (**POST**, **PUT** or **GET**). Meisa sends the contact's details to your URL.
- **Notify your team**: emails the address in **Send to** with an optional **Message**.

## Step 4: Test and turn on

1. Click **Turn on** to make it live, or **Save as draft** to finish later.
2. On a saved automation, click **Test** to do a dry run against a contact you pick. Nothing is sent and no contact is changed. It shows what the automation would do.
3. Open the **History** tab to see each run, the contact, the result and when it happened (the latest 100 runs).

To stop it, click **Pause**. Use **Duplicate as new** to copy a rule.

## Examples

- **When** Contact is created, **Then** Start a sequence "Trial onboarding".
- **When** Field changes, field `plan`, changed to `pro`, **Then** Remove a tag `free-plan`, Add a tag `paying-customer`, Start a sequence "Welcome to Pro".
- **When** Your app sends an event `hit_usage_limit`, **Then** Start a sequence "Upgrade nudge".
- **When** Contact goes quiet for 30 days, **Then** Start a sequence "Win-back".

Your app only needs to keep Meisa up to date (upsert contacts and send events). The rules live in Meisa. See [Send events and contacts from your app](/articles/send-events-from-your-app).

## Troubleshooting

- **The automation never runs**: check it is on (status **On** in the list), and that the trigger is one of the working ones above.
- **A new contact didn't trigger it**: under **Which contacts count**, check the contact's source is ticked. Imports and first syncs are left out by default.
- **Field changes didn't fire**: the field name must match the `custom_fields` key your app sends, and the value must actually change.
- **Start a sequence did nothing**: the sequence must be on, and the person can't already be in it.

## Related articles

- [Enroll contacts in a sequence](/articles/enroll-contacts-in-a-sequence)
- [Send events and contacts from your app](/articles/send-events-from-your-app)
- [Use custom fields and tags](/articles/custom-fields-and-tags)
- [Create an onboarding email sequence](/articles/create-an-email-sequence)