What starts an automation?

A trigger, which is a custom event your app tracks (for example user.signed_up). Track it with the SDK or API and every active automation that uses it starts for that contact. You can also enroll one contact directly.

Can a contact go through the same automation twice?

Only if you turn on re-entry for that automation. By default a contact goes through each automation once; tracking the event again does nothing and enrolling them directly returns 409. With re-entry on, every new event starts it again. You choose whether a run still in progress is cancelled (restart) or keeps going alongside the new one (parallel).

What happens to contacts in progress when I pause an automation?

Pausing stops new enrollments, and contacts already in it are cancelled when their next step comes due. Activating again does not resume them.

Do my edits apply to an active automation right away?

No. Saving steps on an active automation keeps them as a draft. Activate it again (Publish changes in the dashboard) to publish them. Contacts already enrolled finish on the version they started with.

Is a custom event the same as a webhook event?

No. Custom events only start automations. Tracking one does not send webhooks, and webhook events do not start automations.

Workflows | Reloop Docs

An automation sends emails for you when something happens in your app. You track a trigger (a custom event like user.signed_up) for a contact, and Reloop runs the automation's steps for them: send an email, wait, check a condition, and branch.

Create a trigger

Go to Automation → Triggers
Click Create Trigger
Name it (for example User signed up) and add the properties your app will send, such as plan
Save, then copy its key from the row menu (Copy key)

Build an automation

Go to Automation
Click Create Automation
Pick the trigger that starts it
Add steps after it: Send email, Delay and Condition. A condition has a Yes and a No path
Click Publish to start it

After you edit an active automation, click Publish changes so new contacts get the new steps.

Start it from your app

The trigger's code drawer shows a ready-to-paste snippet with its key. You can also use the Code tab on this page.

Pause an automation

Open the automation and click Pause automation. It stops starting for new events, and contacts in progress are cancelled at their next step.

Steps

Type	Config	What it does
`trigger`	`{ eventName }`	Starts the automation. Every automation has exactly one.
`send_email`	`{ template: { id }, from?, subject? }`	Sends a template to the contact. Its From and subject come from the template; `from` and `subject` are used only when the template has none.
`delay`	`{ amount, unit }`	Waits before the next step. `unit` is `minutes`, `hours` or `days`.
`condition`	a rule or a group	Checks the contact or the event and takes the Yes or No path.

Connections link steps by key: { from, to, type }. type is default between steps. A condition has one condition_met (Yes) and one condition_not_met (No) connection.

Conditions

A rule checks one field:

{ "type": "rule", "field": "trigger.plan", "operator": "eq", "value": "pro" }

A group combines rules. With and every rule must match, and with or any rule can:

{
  "type": "and",
  "rules": [
    { "type": "rule", "field": "trigger.plan", "operator": "eq", "value": "pro" },
    { "type": "rule", "field": "contact.company", "operator": "exists" }
  ]
}

Field	Reads
`trigger.<name>`	A property sent with the event, e.g. `trigger.plan`
`contact.email`, `contact.firstName`, `contact.lastName`, `contact.status`	The contact
`contact.<name>`	A contact property, e.g. `contact.company`

Operator	Matches when the field
`eq` / `neq`	equals / does not equal `value`
`contains`, `starts_with`, `ends_with`	contains, starts with, or ends with `value`
`gt`, `gte`, `lt`, `lte`	is a number greater than, at least, less than, or at most `value`
`exists` / `not_exists`	is set / is not set
`is_empty`	is not set or is blank (no `value` needed)

Text comparisons ignore case. To compare against another field instead of a fixed value, pass { "var": "trigger.expected_plan" } as value.

How a contact moves through it

Once per automation, unless re-entry is on. By default a contact goes through each automation once, and tracking the event again does nothing. For flows that can happen more than once, turn on Allow re-entry when you create the automation or from the … menu in the editor. Each new event then starts it again. Cancel the run in progress decides what happens if the contact is still in an earlier run: on, that run is cancelled and the fresh one takes over (good for an abandoned checkout that should start over); off, both runs keep going (good for one sequence per order). In the API this is reentry: "once" (default), "restart" or "parallel". Changes apply right away, without publishing.
Only subscribed contacts. If the contact unsubscribes or is blocked, they leave the automation at their next step.
Pinned to a version. Each enrollment finishes on the steps that were published when it started, even if you publish changes later.
Enrollment status. active while it runs, then completed, cancelled (paused, deleted, unsubscribed, or replaced by a newer run; replacedByEnrollmentId points to it) or failed.

Workflows