Create your first automation rule

What is an automation rule?

stipt is software for customer contact and work management: email and WhatsApp in a shared inbox, a file per customer or project, tasks and quotes. An automation rule is a simple way to automate recurring work inside it. The pattern is always the same: when X happens, do Y. No code involved.

Every rule has four parts. The scope decides what the rule works on: an inbox conversation, a task or a CRM page (the file of a customer or project). The trigger is the event that starts the rule. Filters are optional conditions that decide whether the rule actually fires. Actions are what stipt then does, such as sending an email or creating a task. You find rules in Studio, the building area of stipt, under Rules.

How does the rule wizard work?

In Studio, go to Rules and click New rule. You go through four steps.

First pick the scope: inbox conversation, task or CRM page. The scope decides which triggers, filters and actions you can choose next. Then pick the trigger under When, for example Status changed, Quote accepted or Appointment no-show. After that, add filters under Only if when you want the rule to fire only under certain conditions. Without filters it fires on every matching event. Finally, add one or more actions under Do this: send email, send notification, change status, update field, add note or create task. Multiple actions run one after another, in the order they appear in the rule.

Give the rule a name and save it. Also set the limit: how often the rule may fire on the same record, for example once per day or only once ever.

How do I set up an automatic quote reminder?

A good first rule: an automatic reminder to the customer when a quote sits unanswered. Pick the CRM page scope and the time trigger Days after quote status. Configure it as a number of days after the quote reached a chosen status, for example three business days after Quote sent, at a fixed time. There is also a trigger Days before quote expires, useful when your quotes have an expiry date.

As the action, pick Send email and select an email template, so every reminder has the same content and tone. Prefer to follow up internally? Pick Create task instead, so a colleague calls rather than an email going out.

Good to know: reminders you set directly on a quote template are managed for you by stipt. They do not appear in the Rules list.

How do I follow up a no-show automatically?

When a customer does not show up for an appointment, you mark the appointment in stipt as a no-show. That marking is itself a trigger for a rule.

Create a rule with the CRM page scope and the Appointment no-show trigger. Add the actions that fit your process: an email to the customer asking them to pick a new time, a task for a colleague to call them back, and optionally Change status so the file stays visible in your work queue. The actions run right after the marking, in the order they appear in the rule.

Good to know: on appointment triggers the limit counts per appointment instead of per file. If the same file has several appointments, each missed one gets its own follow-up. That way a missed appointment never drops out of sight.

How do I send new customers a welcome email automatically?

Pick the CRM page scope and the New CRM record trigger. It fires as soon as a new file is created, for example when a request comes in or a colleague adds a customer.

As the action, pick Send email with a welcome template. Use it to tell the customer what to expect: who their contact person is, what the next step is and how to reach you. Want the team to know too? Add a second action, such as Send notification or Create task for an introduction call.

Set the limit to once ever. That guarantees the same file never produces two welcome emails. Filters let you refine the rule further if needed.

How do time triggers work with business days?

Some rules fire not on an event but on time: before or after an appointment, a number of days after a quote status, or when a status stays unchanged for too long. On such a time trigger you set three things: the number of days, the time of day the rule fires, and the day counting.

For day counting there are two options. Absolute days counts regular calendar days. Business-hours days counts only the days your company is open, according to the office hours you set in Settings under Office hours. You can also skip weekends, so a reminder never goes out on a Saturday or Sunday.

An example: a reminder three business days after sending a quote. Send the quote on Thursday and the reminder lands on Tuesday instead of Sunday.

What does the rule log show?

In Studio, under Logs, you find Rule runs: every time a rule was evaluated, with the outcome. So you never have to guess why something did or did not happen.

The main outcomes: Executed means the rule fired and its actions ran. No match means the trigger went off, but the filters did not match at that moment. Rate limited means the rule already fired on the same record within the configured limit. Failed means an action hit an error. Loop halted means stipt stepped in because rules kept triggering each other.

If a rule does not fire as expected, look here first. Often a filter turns out to be set slightly differently than intended, or the limit blocked a second run.

Can I build rules by simply asking dot?

Yes. dot is the built-in AI assistant in stipt. In the chat you describe what you want in plain language, for example: send customers a reminder when their quote is still open after three business days.

dot first fetches the building blocks of your workspace: page types, statuses, email templates and team members. If information is missing, dot asks one question at a time, with clickable options. It then places the proposal as a card in the chat, containing the full rule: scope, trigger, filters and actions.

dot never creates anything on its own. You review the card and choose Create (off) or Create and enable. Only after that click does the rule exist. You stay in control and see exactly how the rule is put together.

Frequently asked questions