> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.chatros.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Automations

> Automatically trigger actions based on what your customers say — no coding required.

Automations let your AI agent do more than just reply. When a customer starts a conversation, asks about a product, or matches a keyword, ChatRos can automatically add them to a Mailchimp list, send an email, call a webhook, or even reply with a scripted message — all without human intervention.

## How Automations Work

Every automation has two parts: a **trigger** (what starts it) and one or more **actions** (what happens next). You connect them visually in a node-graph editor by drawing lines between nodes.

Automations run at two points in every conversation:

* **Before the AI responds** — If your automation contains a **Reply** action, ChatRos sends that scripted reply and skips the AI entirely. This is useful for greeting messages, lead capture forms, or FAQ shortcuts.
* **After the AI responds** — All other actions (Mailchimp, MailerLite, email, webhook) run automatically after the AI has replied.

## Trigger Types

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Conversation Started" icon="comment-dots">
    Fires once when a customer sends their very first message. Ideal for welcome replies and lead capture.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Product Inquiry" icon="tag">
    Fires when the AI searches for products or the customer's message contains words like "buy", "price", or "item".
  </Card>

  <Card title="Order Inquiry" icon="box">
    Fires when the AI looks up an order or the customer mentions "order", "tracking", or "delivery".
  </Card>

  <Card title="Custom Keyword" icon="keyboard">
    Fires when the customer's message contains keywords you define. Supports **any** (one match) or **all** (every keyword must match) modes.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## What You Can Do with Actions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Send a Reply or Form">
    Send a scripted text message, share a file, or display a dynamic form that collects information like name, email, or order number.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Add to an Email Marketing List">
    Automatically subscribe customers to a Mailchimp audience or MailerLite group — and apply or remove tags — when they engage with your agent.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Send an Email Notification">
    Fire an internal email alert to your team whenever a high-value conversation event occurs.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Call a Webhook">
    Send conversation data to any external system via HTTP GET, POST, PUT, or DELETE. Supports bearer token, API key, and basic auth.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Branch with Conditions">
    Add an **If/Else** node to route the workflow differently depending on customer data — for example, handle first-time vs. returning customers differently.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Run an AI Step">
    Insert a custom AI prompt mid-workflow to generate a summary, classify intent, or produce dynamic content that feeds into later nodes.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Workflow Types

ChatRos supports two workflow modes. All new automations use the **node-graph** editor.

| Mode           | Description                                                                                              |
| -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Node Graph** | Visual canvas with drag-and-drop nodes and edges. Supports conditions, AI steps, and multi-action flows. |
| **Legacy**     | Simple single-trigger → single-action format. Still supported for existing rules.                        |

<Note>
  New automations always use the node-graph editor. Legacy rules created before the editor was introduced continue to work unchanged.
</Note>

***

## What's Next?

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Building Workflows" icon="diagram-project" href="/user-guides/automations/building-workflows">
    Learn how to create a node-graph automation step by step
  </Card>

  <Card title="Template Gallery" icon="rectangle-history" href="/user-guides/automations/templates">
    Start from a ready-made template instead of building from scratch
  </Card>

  <Card title="Mailchimp Integration" icon="envelope" href="/user-guides/integrations/mailchimp">
    Connect your Mailchimp account to use in automations
  </Card>

  <Card title="MailerLite Integration" icon="envelope-open-text" href="/user-guides/integrations/mailerlite">
    Connect your MailerLite account to use in automations
  </Card>
</CardGroup>