How automations work: one trigger, one action
Every Ikigai automation is a single rule: a trigger fires, an optional condition filters, and exactly one action runs. Here is the full list of triggers and actions.
An automation in Ikigai is deliberately simple: one trigger → an optional condition → one action. There are no multi-step flow builders and no branching diagrams. Each automation is a single rule you can read at a glance on the automation board, and complex behavior emerges from combining many small rules across pipeline stages.
The three parts of an automation
| Part | Required? | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | Yes | The event that starts the automation — "Fires when". |
| Condition | No | A filter checked after the trigger. Without one, the rule "fires on every event". |
| Action | Yes | Exactly one thing the automation does, immediately after the condition passes. |
Available triggers
When you create an automation, the editor asks "How does this automation start?" Triggers include:
- Stage & lifecycle — "Deal enters this stage", "Deal is created in this stage", "Deal owner changes", "Any field changes", "A field changes" (to a target value).
- Lead capture — "New lead from a form" (optionally limited to one public form).
- Messaging — "Customer sends a message", limited to a channel (Telegram, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, TikTok, SMS, live chat, email) or any channel.
- Timing — "Time spent on this stage" (for example 1 hour, 3 days, 14 days) and "On a schedule" (cron in the workspace timezone).
- Fields & tags — "Tag added", "Tag removed".
- Email events — "Customer opens an email", "Customer clicks an email link", "An email bounces".
- Tasks — "A task is created / completed / cancelled / becomes overdue".
- Documents — "Document signed", "Document expired".
- Integrations & manual — "Incoming webhook" and a manual fire from the board.
The optional condition
Click "Add condition" to filter when the rule applies. Conditions compare fields of the deal, contact, company, tags, custom fields, or the event itself — for example Deal source equals Facebook or Tag "hot" is set. Rows combine with AND / OR ("all conditions" / "any condition"), and operators include "equals", "contains", "starts with", "is empty", "is set", "Only" / "Except" lists, and more. No condition means the automation runs every time the trigger fires.
Exactly one action
Each automation performs one action, chosen from a single picker: "Send email" (a template), "Send channel message", "Move to stage", "Create task", "Add note", "Reassign owner", "Apply tag" / "Remove tag", "Update field", "Notify user" / "Notify team", "Create meeting", "Create deal", "Complete tasks", "Set expected close date", "Add collaborator" / "Remove collaborator", "Call webhook", "Run agent", and assistant-powered text generation, classification, and research. Text fields support variables like {{contact.firstName}}. An action can optionally wait before running ("Wait before action") — and the run is cancelled if the deal leaves the stage first (on by default — this guard can be turned off).
Why there are no multi-step chains
This is a product decision, not a missing feature. Long invisible flows are hard to debug and easy to break. Instead:
- Sequences are your pipeline. Put one rule per stage; when an action moves the deal ("Move to stage"), the next stage's automations pick it up. The chain of events is visible on the board, stage by stage.
- Every rule stays inspectable. One trigger and one action fit on a chip; the runs log shows exactly what happened.
- Loops cannot run away. The engine caps how deep automation-caused events can re-trigger other automations, so an accidental "A moves to B, B moves back to A" loop self-terminates.
Next: place your rules on the pipeline with the automation board.
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