An automation is a rule: when *this* happens, do *these steps*, in order. Add the Automations app from the App Library; owners and admins manage them.

Triggers: what starts a rule

• A project's status changes (you can choose which status)
• An invoice is paid
• An invoice becomes overdue
• A proposal is accepted
• A contract is accepted
• A new client is added

Steps: what a rule does

Building one

1. 1

   Choose New automation

   Name it, for example "Thank clients when a project wraps up".

2. 2

   Pick the trigger

   Choose what starts it, and the project status if relevant.

3. 3

   Add steps in order

   Each step can have a wait in days. No wait means it runs right away; a wait means it runs on its due day.

4. 4

   Save

   The rule is live. Pause it any time, or delete it to remove its history.

In the subject and message of emails and client messages, {{client_name}} and {{project_name}} are filled in automatically.

How delayed steps stay safe

• Steps with a wait are checked once a day.
• Before a delayed step runs, Orbinly checks the trigger still applies. If an invoice was overdue but has since been paid, or a project has moved on to a different status, that step and the rest are skipped, and the run history says why.
• Actions taken by an automation never start another automation, so rules can't loop.

Seeing what happened

Each rule has a run history (the 25 most recent runs) showing every step and whether it ran, was skipped, or failed. A failed step can be retried.