> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.instantcampaign.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Automations
> Build journeys that email contacts when they join a list, submit a form, fire an event or reach a date, then activate, version and measure them.
An automation (also called a journey) is a flow that runs continuously. A **trigger** decides who enters and when. The **steps** after it send email, wait, branch or update the contact. For a one-time send such as a newsletter, use a [campaign](/guides/audience-and-campaigns/create-campaign) instead.
Open **Automations** from the sidebar. The page has two tabs:
* **My Journeys** lists your automations. You can search them, filter by **All**, **Draft**, **Active** or **Paused**, and sort them by name or date. Each card has actions to clone or delete the journey (see [Delete](#run-pause-and-stop) below for when a journey can be deleted).
* **Template Gallery** holds ready-made flows. Built-in templates carry a **Built-in** badge. Examples include Welcome Series, Onboarding Drip, Re-engagement, Win-Back Campaign, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Post-Purchase Thank You, Order Confirmation, NPS Survey, Birthday / Anniversary and Event Reminder Series.
## Create an automation
You can start in three ways:
Click **Create Journey**. An empty journey opens in the editor.
On **Template Gallery**, click **Use Template** on a card. You get a draft copy to change as you need.
Click **Describe with AI**, say what should happen and to whom, then click **Create draft**.
**Describe with AI** always creates a **Draft**. Nothing runs until you check the steps and activate the journey. Example brief: *"When someone joins the Newsletter list, send a welcome email, wait 2 days, then send our best tips. If they don't open, wait a week and try once more."*
When you approve an AI campaign plan that has follow-up emails, the [AI Strategist](/guides/audience-and-campaigns/strategist) sends emails 2 and later through an automation it creates for you. That automation appears in **My Journeys** like any other.
## Build the flow
Drag a trigger from the **Step palette** onto the canvas. A journey has exactly one trigger. See [Automation triggers](/guides/audience-and-campaigns/automation-triggers).
Drag actions, conditions and **Join / Merge** nodes onto the canvas. Connect each one to the step before it. You can also hover over a connection and use **Insert step here**. Every path ends at the **Exit** node, which is always on the canvas and can't be removed. See [Automation steps](/guides/audience-and-campaigns/automation-steps).
Click a node to open its settings. Nodes that are missing required settings show **Needs configuration**.
Click **Settings** to choose the **Enrollment frequency**, **Exit criteria** and **Conversion goal** (see below).
Click **Save**, then **Validate**. Click an issue in the list to jump to the node it's about.
Click **Activate**. A journey that still has errors won't activate. You'll see "Cannot activate: N validation errors found".
The canvas toolbar has **Undo** (Ctrl+Z), **Redo** (Ctrl+Shift+Z), **Search nodes** (Ctrl+F), **Auto layout**, **Fit view**, zoom controls, and **Lock canvas**.
### What validation checks
Validation blocks activation when the journey:
* has no trigger, or has more than one
* has no action step
* has a node that nothing leads to
* contains a loop
* has an If/Else with no branch connected, or a step with more than one incoming connection that doesn't go through a Join
* has a step that isn't set up, for example a **Send Email** step without a template or a subject line
* has two **Wait** steps in a row, or a **Wait** at the end of a path
Validation also gives warnings that don't block activation: two **Send Email** steps back to back with no wait between them, and an If/Else branch with no action steps.
## Journey settings
| Setting | Options |
| ------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Enrollment frequency** | **Once**: a contact enters this journey only one time, ever. This is the default. **Multiple times**: a contact can enter again after completing or failing, but not while still in the journey. **Every time**: a contact enters every time the trigger fires. For list, segment and engagement triggers, not while they are still in the journey. |
| **Exit criteria** | Add conditions such as **Contact status changes to** (for example Unsubscribed) or **Contact fires custom event**. The conditions are checked each time a contact moves on to their next step, and the contact leaves when any condition is met. A contact in a **Wait** leaves when the wait ends. |
| **Conversion goal** | Choose **Email Open Rate**, **Email Click Rate** or **Custom Event Conversion**. For a custom event, enter the event name you track with the events API. Analytics reports this goal. |
While a journey is active, its settings are locked. To change them, pause the journey or create a new version.
## Run, pause and stop
* **Pause** freezes the journey. No new contacts enter, and contacts already inside stay where they are until you click **Activate** again. You can edit a paused journey.
* **Stop** is permanent. A stopped journey can't be reactivated; to relaunch, create a new version. When you stop, choose what happens to contacts still in the journey:
* **Let contacts finish (recommended)**: they complete it, and then the journey archives itself.
* **Remove contacts now**: they leave immediately without completing the remaining steps.
* **Delete** is available for draft journeys, and for paused journeys that no contact has entered yet. It removes all steps, settings and history, and needs the **Settings: write** permission (Owners and Administrators). To retire a journey that has run, **Stop** it instead. A stopped journey keeps its analytics.
## Versions
A live version can't be edited. To make changes:
1. Click **New version**. This creates a draft copy, for example v2. If a draft already exists, the editor opens that draft instead.
2. Edit and validate the draft.
3. Click **Activate this version**. In **Replace the live version?**, choose **Let contacts finish (recommended)** or **Remove contacts now** for contacts still in the old version.
After the switch, new contacts enter the new version only. With **Let contacts finish**, the old version shows as *Finishing* until its last contact leaves, and then it archives. An API-event journey keeps the same trigger key across versions, so your integration doesn't need to change.
Your plan limits how many automations can be active at once. All versions of one journey count as a single automation.
## Test and measure
* **Simulate** runs a dry run for a sample contact. Enter an **Email \*** and optionally a first and last name, then click **Run Simulation**. The result shows the path the contact would take and which branch each condition picks. **Path analytics** lists every possible path and the most likely one. No real emails are sent.
* **Analytics** shows per-step counts (entered, completed, failed) and **Email analytics** for each send step: sent, delivered, unique opens and clicks, failures, and sends over the last 30 days. If you set a conversion goal, analytics also shows how many enrolled contacts converted.
* **Logs** (**Activity log**) lists each contact's run with its status (active, completed or failed), the step they are at now, and the error if a step failed.
## Troubleshooting
Check that the journey is **Active** and that the trigger is set up (see [triggers](/guides/audience-and-campaigns/automation-triggers)). Every trigger enters only active contacts, and a double opt-in signup enters when they confirm. **Contact Added to List** fires immediately. Segment, schedule and engagement triggers are checked every few minutes. With **Once**, a contact who has already been through the journey won't enter again.
The contact was suppressed (for example unsubscribed), or your sending domain failed the deliverability check. The log entry gives the reason.
If your workspace has used its monthly email allowance, automation emails wait instead of being dropped. They resume when the allowance resets or your plan is upgraded.