Automations

An automation is a job that runs on its own: every Monday morning, when a post goes live, when a DM arrives. You describe it to the Superagent once, in your own words, and it writes a plan with you. After that, each run works through the plan step by step and leaves you drafts to check. Open it from Automations in the sidebar (or press A). Every automation belongs to the brand you have selected at the top of the sidebar.

The new automation screen

Automations opens on a screen that asks What should run on its own? It is a Superagent chat with its own start screen, so you plan an automation the same way you talk to the Superagent.

1. New automation brings you back to this screen from anywhere in Automations.
2. Your automations lists every automation of the brand. Use All campaigns above it to see only one campaign's automations. A row's … menu has Pause (or Resume), Run now, Change it in the chat, End now and Delete.
3. The message box. It has the same Attach, model, thinking level, tools and campaign controls as the Superagent. Describe what to make, when, and when to stop.
4. Options lets you pick the settings by hand instead of typing them. See the next section.
5. Ready-made ideas: LinkedIn posts from industry news, Weekly competitor roundup, Captions for new uploads, Next week's posts, every Friday and Monthly brand checkup. Click one to fill the message box, change the words, then send.

You can also ask for an automation in a normal Superagent chat. Both roads make the same automation.

What the Superagent asks you

The Superagent's first reply shows the whole plan: a name, numbered steps in plain words and what a good result looks like. A few things it will not guess. If you have not said them, it asks:

• When a step fails — Skip the run and say why, or Retry that step once.
• The credit limit — the most credits one run may spend.
• When it stops — at a date, after a number of runs, when something you describe is true, or never.

When the plan looks right, the plan panel slides in beside the chat. From there, press Test run to try it once in the background, and Save and switch on to start it for real. Once it is on, the panel says It's on. It's listed in the sidebar with your other automations.

Pick the options by hand

Click Options under the message box to set things yourself before you send. Each section has a switch. Off, it says The chat asks, and the Superagent asks you about it. On, it says Picked, and what you picked wins.

• Runs — how often: Once, Every few minutes, Every few hours, Every day or few days, Every weekday or On chosen days. Set the time (use Add a time for more than one) and Starting from, which can be When it's switched on.
• Starts when — start on something that happens instead of a clock. See the next section.
• Credit limit — credits a run, at most.
• Step limit — the most steps the plan may have. If you leave it off, it is 10 steps at most. You can set it from 1 to 50. Each step is a paid turn.
• Stops — At a time, After a number of runs, When something is true, in your words, or Never — it runs until it's switched off. If you pick several, it stops at whichever comes first.
• If a step fails — skip the run, or retry that step once.

What can start an automation

An automation either runs on a schedule or starts when something happens. In Options, switch on Starts when and choose in What happens.

1. What happens offers three groups. Posts: A post is published from Bupple and A post is published outside Bupple. Inbox: A new DM arrives and Someone comments on a post. Analytics: A post takes off, Engagement drops, A campaign reaches its goal, Followers pass a milestone and A post passes a number.
2. Narrow it, for example to one network or one account. The line under it says the trigger in words.
3. The switch. An automation starts on a schedule or on a moment, not both. If Runs is also on, Options says A schedule or a moment starts it — not both. Switch one off.

You can ask the Superagent for a few more starts in the chat: A file is ready in the library, A file's transcript is ready, A file has been studied, A file lands in a folder, A tag is added to a file, A comment is left on a file, or when another automation finishes. One event starts one run, so the same post or file does not start it twice.

An automation's page

Click an automation in the sidebar to open its page. The top shows its name, whether it is On, Paused or Ended, and who created it.

1. The campaign the automation belongs to. Pick one, or leave it on No campaign.
2. Pause stops it from running until you press Resume.
3. Run now starts one run straight away. It counts toward a stop after a number of runs.
4. Change it in the chat opens the chat the plan was made in, with the plan beside it. Ask for the change in words.
5. End now asks first: It will never run again, and its schedule is removed. Its runs and drafts stay here.
6. Delete also asks first. The automation, its runs and their drafts are deleted. The conversations its runs had stay in your chats.

An ended automation keeps only Delete, and says why it ended.

1. Test run tries the plan once in the background. Its drafts appear in the panel.
2. Open its page goes back to the automation's page.

The plan

The plan shows the version number, the goal, the numbered steps, A good result, Starts, Next runs, Stops (with how many runs so far), When a step fails, Credit limit and Step limit.

Press Edit the plan to change it right on the page: the name, what it is for, the steps (Add a step, or remove one), the good result, when a step fails, Most credits one run may spend and the step limit. You can also change When it runs, Starts when something happens and When it stops here. Starts on a file, a folder or another automation are changed in the chat.

Press Save as a new version. The next run uses the new version, and older ones are kept under Earlier versions of the plan.

Suggestions from its runs

After three finished runs of a plan, the automation looks at how they went and may suggest a change, for example to raise the credit limit or to let a step that keeps failing carry on.

Use this change saves it as a new version of the plan. Dismiss hides it.

Comments

The bottom of the page has Comments. Discuss the automation with your team there. You can @ a teammate, a file or a post, and a teammate you mention is told in Updates.

Runs

Every run is listed under Runs, newest first. A row says how it started (Scheduled run, Run started by hand, Run after another automation, or just Run for an event), the credits it spent against the limit, how many drafts it made and the plan version.

A run is Done, Failed, Skipped, Stopped at the credit limit, Needs you or Waiting for its file (an event run waits until the file has been studied).

One run, step by step

Click a run to open it.

• The top shows the status, the credits used of the limit, what started it and Open its conversation, the chat the run happened in.
• Steps lists every step. Click one to read its log: the tools it used, the links it found and what it made.
• After the last step, the run checks its drafts against the good result. Each draft says Passed its check, Redone once, then passed or Not checked.
• Result and Drafts hold what the run made, written out in full. Files it makes are saved in your Media Library, in the Apps › Workflows folder.

If a run gets stuck on a question, it stops as Needs you. Press Answer in its conversation. Your answer is kept, and the run picks up where it stopped.

Being told

You get a notice in Updates and on your phone when a run finishes, needs you, does not finish, or when the automation ends. A plan step can also say "notify me" (for example, notify me that the run finished, with a one-line summary). The run then sends you, the automation's owner, a notification in the app and on your phone.

The credit limit, in practice

A run only starts a step if the credits left under the limit cover what that step usually costs. If it reaches the limit, it stops as Stopped at the credit limit, and what it made so far stays. Credits come from your workspace, like every other paid step.

What to read next

• Superagent — the chat where you plan and change automations.
• Posts — where you check, schedule and publish the drafts an automation makes.