← All documentation · Workflows & Automation

Workflow automation

Automate your business: build workflows visually or describe them to AI, trigger on lead, deal, task, form or WhatsApp events, send messages and call APIs.

9 min read · Last updated 2026-10-21

Workflows react to events — a new lead, an updated deal, a form submission, an incoming WhatsApp message — and run the follow-up for you: send an email or a WhatsApp message, create a task, call an API, wait a day, branch on a condition, or ask AI to analyze the record. Manage them under Workflows → Automation (pipelines have their own page, Workflows → Sales Pipeline); build them in the full-screen visual Builder, or just describe what you want and let the AI assistant draft the whole thing.

Build a workflow

Create it. Click Create Workflow and choose a path: Describe it — we'll draft it (the AI assistant, 5 credits per draft — clarifying questions are free and refunded drafts cost nothing) or Start from scratch (name it and open a blank canvas). Either way the workflow is created paused — nothing runs until you switch it on.
Pick the trigger. Choose what starts it: a Lead, Deal, Task, or Calendar Event being Created, Updated, or Deleted; a Form Submission (optionally only for one form); or WhatsApp — Message Received, Message Status Updated or Conversation Started. Update triggers can watch specific fields (fire only when those change), and triggers support Start only when conditions with AND/OR rules.
Add actions. From the Action Library, chain any steps: create/update/delete a Lead, Deal, Task, or Calendar Event · Send Email · WhatsApp (send a text, template, media, interactive message, location or contact card, react, or mark as read) · HTTP Request · Condition (Yes/No branch) · Delay (minutes, hours, or days — up to 30 days) · AI (analyze data with instructions and reuse the answer downstream). Click any node to configure it in the side panel — each step saves on its own.
Use dynamic data. Fields accept variables: trigger record fields as {{entity_data.field}}, WhatsApp trigger fields such as {{message.body}}, {{contact.phone}} and {{contact.name}}, and earlier step outputs as {{steps.<step>.field}} — or click any upstream node on the canvas to browse its available fields. A step that a later step reads from can't be deleted until you remove that reference.
Activate. Close the builder and flip the row's switch. LogAI validates the whole graph first — a missing trigger, disconnected step, or looping connection blocks activation with a precise message. Once active, it runs automatically on every matching event.

The AI assistant is conversational: Describe the automation in plain words — “When a new lead is created, wait a day, then send a follow-up email” — review the proposed plan, reply with changes, and click Build this workflow. Drafts arrive as paused workflows with every step pre-configured for your review. Inside the builder, Edit with AI drafts changes the same way.

What each action can do

Action	Details
Record actions	Create, update, or delete a Lead, Deal, Task, or Calendar Event. Update/delete first find their target with filter conditions — applied to the latest match or all matches.
Send Email	To (required), CC, Subject (max 255), rich-text body — sent through your organization's SMTP settings, with the platform mailer as fallback.
WhatsApp	Send a text, template, image, video, audio, document, sticker, interactive message, location or contact card from a connected number, add a reaction, or mark a message as read. Pick the WhatsApp Account and To number (for example `{{contact.phone}}`). Free-form sends can set a 24-hour Window Fallback template to use when the customer hasn't written in the last 24 hours.
HTTP Request	GET/POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETE to any public https endpoint with custom headers and a JSON body — connect LogAI to external tools.
Condition	Branches the flow: the Yes path continues below, the No path exits right.
Delay	Wait minutes, hours, or days (max 30 days). The run shows as `Delayed` and resumes automatically.
AI	Send context (up to 10,000 chars, variables allowed) plus instructions (up to 2,000 chars); its output feeds later steps — e.g. summarize a lead and draft the follow-up.

WhatsApp triggers

With WhatsApp Business connected, a workflow can start from WhatsApp itself:

Trigger	Fires when
Message Received	A customer sends a message to your number.
Message Status Updated	A message you sent changes delivery status. A workflow is never re-triggered by status updates on messages it sent itself.
Conversation Started	A customer writes after a quiet spell — set the Inactivity Gap (hours), default 24.

Add Start only when conditions to react only to certain messages — for example Message Text contains “price”. You can test Message Text, Media Caption, Interactive Reply (the tapped button or list item), Quick Reply Button Text, Message Type, Contact Phone, Contact Name, Lead Status and Lead Source with contains, does not contain, equals, not equals, starts with, ends with, is empty and is not empty. Text matching ignores case, so “Price”, “PRICE” and “price” all match.

Chatbots come first: While a WhatsApp chatbot is talking to a customer (or has handed the chat to your team), Message Received workflows don't fire for that customer's messages, so they never get two automations at once.

Monitor every run

Each row shows a live rail of its last 10 runs with a success rate. Click Runs to open the execution history: every run records the triggering record, duration, and a per-step timeline — select any step to see its Input Data, Output Data, and Error Trace (the failed step is auto-selected). Failed runs retry with one click as a fresh run; pending or waiting runs can be stopped.

Run status	Meaning
Success	All steps completed.
Failed	A step errored — open the run to read its Error Trace, then Retry.
Delayed	Paused at a Delay step; resumes automatically at the scheduled time.
Running	Currently executing (the view live-refreshes every few seconds).
Stopped	A user clicked Stop Execution.

Rules of the engine

Workflows chain — an action that creates or updates a record can trigger other active workflows, up to 3 hops deep; a workflow never re-triggers itself in the same chain, so no infinite loops.
Versioned — the version tag (v1, v2…) in the list increments on workflow-level updates such as renames and pause/activate flips.
Plan entitlements — Pro includes up to 10 workflows; Pro Plus is unlimited.
Testing — there's no simulate button: activate, trigger a real event (e.g. create a test lead), and inspect the run's step-by-step data under Runs.
Permissions — viewing needs the Workflow permission (View); creating, editing and toggling need Create or Update; deleting needs Delete.

Pipeline-stage automations live with pipelines: Workflows that fire when a deal enters or leaves a pipeline stage are attached in the pipeline's stage editor — see Sales pipelines & deals.

Conversations on WhatsApp? Use a chatbot: For back-and-forth with customers — tap-to-reply buttons, FAQs, order status, booking a slot, handing off to your team — build a WhatsApp chatbot under Workflows → Chatbots instead of chaining WhatsApp triggers. Chatbots are built in the same visual builder and can use workflow actions such as creating a lead or task mid-conversation.

Frequently asked questions

What events can start a LogAI workflow?

Lead, Deal, Task, and Calendar Event triggers (each on Created, Updated, or Deleted, with optional watch-fields and Start-only-when conditions), Form Submission, and WhatsApp triggers: Message Received, Message Status Updated and Conversation Started. Pipeline-stage workflows additionally fire when a deal enters or exits a stage.

What actions can a workflow perform?

Create/update/delete Leads, Deals, Tasks, or Calendar Events; send emails; send WhatsApp texts, templates, media and interactive messages from a connected number; make HTTP requests to external APIs; branch with conditions; wait with delays up to 30 days; and run an AI step whose output later steps can use.

Can a workflow reply when a WhatsApp message contains a keyword?

Yes. Use the WhatsApp trigger with Message Received, add a Start only when condition such as Message Text contains your keyword (matching ignores case), then add a WhatsApp action to send a text or template. For multi-step conversations, a WhatsApp chatbot is usually the better fit.

Does the AI workflow assistant cost credits?

5 AI credits per drafted plan (for both new workflows and AI edits). Clarifying questions are free — credits are refunded whenever no plan is produced — and building the drafted plan costs nothing.

How do I test a workflow before going live?

Workflows are created paused. Review each step, activate, then trigger a real event — like creating a test lead — and open Runs to inspect every step's input, output, and errors. Failed runs retry in one click.

Why won't my workflow activate?

Activation validates the whole graph and lists what's wrong: no trigger, no actions, a step not connected to the trigger, a looping connection, a condition without rules, or a delay without a duration. Fix each listed item and toggle again.

Can one workflow trigger another?

Yes — record-changing actions fire real events that can start other active workflows, up to a chain depth of 3 to prevent runaway cascades. A workflow can never re-trigger itself within a chain.

How do I use trigger data inside a step?

Insert variables: {{entity_data.field}} for the triggering record's fields, {{message.body}} or {{contact.phone}} for WhatsApp triggers, and {{steps.<step>.field}} for earlier step outputs (like the AI step's answer) — or use the canvas picker to click an upstream node and browse its fields.

Why is my run showing “Delayed”?

It reached a Delay step and is waiting; the run resumes automatically at the scheduled time (a single delay can wait up to 30 days). You can stop a waiting run with Stop Execution.

What address do workflow emails come from?

Your organization's configured SMTP account (mail settings); if none is set up, LogAI's platform mailer is used as fallback.

How many workflows can I create?

The Pro plan includes up to 10 workflows and Pro Plus includes unlimited workflows as plan entitlements.

Open the LogAI app — start free, no credit card required.