Create your first automation
Build a complete automation by hand. At the end you have a rule that adds a tag to each customer message that contains the word “refund.”
To describe the rule in plain words and let the assistant build it, see Use the AI Builder to generate a rule. You can change between the two ways at any time.
Before you start
- Admin permissions to edit automation rules
- A read of What are Automations? helps but is not necessary
Steps
-
Open the rules page. Go to Settings → Automation rules.
-
Start a new rule. Click Add rule. The start screen asks What should happen, and when? Click Build it by hand instead. The rule page opens with an empty rule.
-
Choose when it runs. Under When, choose A customer sends a message. This trigger runs for each message that an agent did not send, so it is correct for content matching.
-
Add a condition. Under Only if, add one condition:
Field: Content
Operator: contains
Value:refund
Each condition is on its own line. When you add a second one, choose Match all of these or Match any of these to join them.
-
Add a step. Under Then, click Add step and choose Add tag. Pick the tag Returns (create it in Tag Management first if it does not exist).
-
Name the rule. Type a name such as “Auto-tag: Returns”, or click Suggest a name. The Reads as sentence shows the rule in plain words. Read it to make sure the rule does what you expect.
-
Test it. Click Test on recent conversations. Atender replays the rule on conversations from the last 7 days and shows which ones it would have run on, and why. Nothing is sent or changed.
-
Create and turn it on. Click Create rule. A new rule starts Off. Turn on the Run this rule switch in the header. The rule is now live.
More options holds the settings that most rules do not need: Add branch, Add otherwise, Only during opening hours and Limit how often it runs. Add branch and Add otherwise show only after the rule has a condition.
Verify it worked
Send a test email with the word “refund” in the body to one of your inboxes. Open the conversation. After a few seconds, the Returns tag is on it.
If you do not see the tag after 30 seconds, open Run history on the rules page. Filter by status and the date range of your test, find your rule by name in the Rule column, then open the row. The row shows the action chips, the failure reason and any errors. Contact-scoped runs can show a dash instead of a conversation link.
Troubleshooting
-
Symptom: The rule did not run. Fix: Make sure Run this rule is on. New rules start Off. Make sure the trigger is A customer sends a message, not A new conversation starts (that one runs only on the first message). Then open Run history, filter by status and date range, and find the rule by name in the Rule column.
-
Symptom: The rule ran but the tag was not added. Fix: Open Run history, find the failed run, and read the action chips and failure reason. The most frequent cause is a tag that was deleted or renamed after you built the rule.