Automations
Actions and connectors
What an automation can do — send messages, create tasks and events, move CRM records, call webhooks, ask Donna — and the connector steps flows use.
On this page
Actions are what an automation does. Rules use internal actions; flows can also use connectors — steps that route, wait, reshape data or ask a person — and external tools. Every action listed here runs today.
Insert data from the trigger#
Any text field in an action can include values from the event. Pick them from the token panels:
- Trigger payload — fields the trigger carries, such as the message text or the task name.
- Runtime variables — shared values such as the current date, time and time zone.
- Flow step outputs — results from earlier steps in a flow, such as Donna’s summary.
Internal actions#
| Area | Actions |
|---|---|
| Chat | Send message to a group or direct message · Forward message |
| Send email from a connected mailbox or the workspace sender · Add Gmail label to the thread | |
| Notifications | Send notification to one or more members · Notify team about a website event · Notify owner · Notify project team · Notify follow-up owner after a call · Notify workspace about a portal event · Notify brand reviewers |
| Calendar | Create event in the Unobits calendar or a connected Google Calendar |
| Tasks and projects | Create task · Create project — when the trigger is a CRM record, such as a won opportunity, the project is linked back to it · Create restock task · Create CRM follow-up · Create follow-up task from a form |
| CRM | Move contact lifecycle stage to one of the stages in CRM settings |
| Files and notes | Save attachment to Files (or a connected Google Drive) · Create note |
| Your status | Set active status · Set theme mode |
| Other flows | Handoff to flow starts another saved flow with data you choose |
Donna steps#
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ask Donna (generate) | Writes text from your instruction, using the event as context |
| Summarize with Donna | Condenses long text into a short summary |
| Classify with Donna | Sorts the input into one of your categories. In a flow, each category becomes a branch |
| Extract data with Donna | Pulls structured fields out of free text |
| Draft a reply with Donna | Writes a ready-to-send reply to the triggering message or email |
Connectors#
Connectors run inside your workspace and are only available in flows.
| Connector | What it does |
|---|---|
| Router · Branch selector | Send the event down one named path |
| Filter gate | Continue only when a condition matches |
| Guard | Stop the flow when a required value is missing or wrong |
| Approval gate | Pause until a person approves or rejects. Approve continues the flow; reject stops it. Requests expire after a set number of hours (one week by default, at most 30 days) |
| Delay | Wait a fixed time, then continue |
| Timer | Wait until a computed time, then continue |
| Template formatter | Build a formatted piece of text to reuse |
| Mapper · Variable store · Merge objects · Aggregator | Build and keep values for later steps |
| JSON parser · Splitter | Turn text into data or a list |
External tools#
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| Call webhook | Sends a request to any web address — the general way to reach another system’s API |
| Append to Google Sheets | Adds a row to a connected Google Sheet |
| Send to outgoing webhook | Forwards the event to the workspace’s outgoing webhooks |
The palette lists many more providers — Slack, GitHub, HubSpot, Stripe, Shopify and others. Those marked Discovery only or Later advanced family do not run yet; reach them today with Call webhook. See Webhooks in and out.