CoPortalDocs

Workspace

Automations

Automations run small workflow steps for you when something important happens in CoPortal, like a quote being accepted, an invoice going overdue, a project changing status, a task being completed, or a new lead arriving.

What automations are for

Use automations for the repeatable follow-ups that should not depend on someone remembering to do them manually:

  • Send a welcome email when a quote is accepted
  • Create an internal task when a project moves to review
  • Post a project message when a task is completed
  • Send a webhook to another system when a lead is created

Triggers

An automation starts from one trigger. Available triggers include:

  • Quote accepted - runs when a client accepts a quote
  • Invoice overdue - runs on the configured overdue day
  • Project status changed - runs when a project moves into the selected status
  • Task completed - runs when a task first transitions into complete
  • New lead - runs when a lead is created

Actions

Each step in an automation performs one action:

  • Send email - send a templated email to the client, project client, workspace owner, or a custom email address
  • Create task - add a task to the relevant project with a title, description, and status
  • Post project message - add a visible project message for the client or team
  • Notify team - push an in-app notification to workspace members
  • Update project status - move the related project to a new status
  • Webhook - send event data to an external URL

Multi-step sequences (Studio+)

An automation can be more than one step. Add waits between steps and gate any step on a condition so it only runs when the data still matches.

  • Waits - pause the chain in minutes, hours, or days. The remaining steps resume automatically when the wait elapses.
  • Conditions - attach an “only if” rule to any step. Compare any of the trigger’s tokens with equals / contains / greater than / less than / is set / is empty.
  • Live re-check - when a delayed step runs, CoPortal refreshes the underlying invoice / project / quote first, so conditions like “invoice still unpaid” reflect current state, not the snapshot at trigger time.
  • Templates - start from one of the prebuilt sequences (overdue follow-up, post-accept onboarding, win-back nudge) and customise from there.
Note: The first step of a chain runs immediately when the trigger fires. Each step writes its own line into the run history so you can see exactly what ran and what was skipped.

Plan limits

  • Free - no active automations
  • Solo - 3 active automations
  • Studio - 10 active automations
  • Agency - 25 active automations
Note: Inactive automations do not count against your active automation limit. Free workspaces can draft automations but cannot enable them.

Best practices

  • Keep client-facing automation copy short and specific
  • Use custom emails only for fixed operational inboxes, not one-off recipients
  • Test webhook destinations before relying on them for critical work
  • Use the invoice overdue day setting carefully so follow-ups do not duplicate existing reminder emails

Related docs