# Enroll contacts in a sequence

Source: https://help.meisa.io/articles/enroll-contacts-in-a-sequence

People join a sequence in three ways: an automation adds them when something happens, you add contacts or a whole segment by hand, or your app adds them through the API. The sequence must be on first.

Each sequence shows its join rules in the **People join when** card at the top of the builder.

## Option 1: Let an automation add people (recommended)

Most teams never enroll by hand. They let an automation do it, for example "when a contact is created, start Trial onboarding".

1. Open the sequence and, in the **People join when** card, click **Create an automation that adds people**.
2. Pick what starts it under **When** (for example **Contact is created** or **Tag is added**).
3. The **Then** action is already set to **Start a sequence** with this sequence.
4. Click **Turn on**.

See [Create an automation rule](/articles/create-an-automation-rule) for all the options.

## Option 2: Add contacts by hand

1. Go to **Contacts**.
2. To add one person, open the row's menu and click **Add to sequence**. To add several, tick them and choose **Add to sequence** from the bulk actions.
3. Under **Sequence**, choose the sequence.
4. Click **Add to sequence**.

People already in the sequence are skipped.

## Option 3: Add a whole segment

1. Go to **Sequences**.
2. Open the menu for the sequence and click **Add a segment**. If it says **Add a segment (turn it on first)**, click **Turn on** first.
3. Under **Segment**, pick the segment.
4. Click **Add** (the button shows how many people will be added).

People already in this sequence are skipped. Everyone else starts at step 1 now. Meisa tells you how many were added and how many were skipped.

![The sequences list with the actions menu](https://cdn.kamaan.io/kamaan/sites/6ae9f671d5ea373710b2366f/images/meisa-sequences-list-2d738e9b.webp)
## Option 4: Enroll from your app (API)

Use an API key with the **Add people to sequences** permission (`sequences:enroll`). See [Create and manage API keys](/articles/create-an-api-key).

1. Find the sequence slug. Slugs are not the same as the name (Meisa adds a short random ending), so list them:

```bash
curl "https://api.meisa.io/api/v1/sequences/api/list/" \
  -H "X-API-Key: meisa_live_your_key"
```

2. Enroll one contact. The contact is created if it doesn't exist:

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.meisa.io/api/v1/sequences/enroll/" \
  -H "X-API-Key: meisa_live_your_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "email": "user@example.com",
    "sequence_slug": "onboarding-a1b2c",
    "metadata": { "signup_source": "website" }
  }'
```

Optional fields: `trigger_source` (a label, defaults to `api`) and `override_unsubscribe` (enroll even if the person is normally suppressed; use with care).

3. To enroll up to 500 addresses at once, send `sequence_slug` and an `emails` array to `POST /sequences/api/bulk-enroll/`.

Listing sequences needs the **List sequences** permission (`sequences:read`).

## What happens when someone joins

- If the first step is an email, it goes out right away. If it is a wait, the clock starts.
- A person who is already active or paused in the sequence is not added twice.
- Unsubscribed, bounced and complained addresses are skipped unless you override it through the API.

## Remove someone from a sequence

Open the contact's profile to see their sequences. To remove a person, add a **Remove from another sequence** action in a sequence, use the **Stop a sequence** action in an automation, or ask Claude through the [Claude connector](/articles/connect-meisa-to-claude), for example "remove maya@yourcompany.com from the Trial onboarding sequence".

## Troubleshooting

- **The API returns an error for the sequence**: the sequence must be on, and you must use its slug from the list endpoint, not its name.
- **Some people were skipped**: they were already in the sequence, or they are unsubscribed or suppressed.
- **Nobody got the first email**: check the sequence has a sender and is on. See [Why was my email not sent?](/articles/why-was-my-email-not-sent)

## Related articles

- [Create an onboarding email sequence](/articles/create-an-email-sequence)
- [Create an automation rule](/articles/create-an-automation-rule)
- [Create a segment to target the right people](/articles/create-a-segment)
- [API quickstart: your first API call](/articles/api-quickstart)