# Automations

An automation sends a series of emails to each contact who meets a trigger. Open Automations and click New Automation to start from a blank automation or a starter.

## Triggers

| Trigger             | Starts when                                                                              |
| ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Event received      | Your app sends the event with [Track Events](https://inboxjot.com/docs/track-events.md). |
| Subscribed to topic | A contact subscribes to the topic.                                                       |
| Added to segment    | A contact is added to a static segment.                                                  |
| Matches segment     | A contact matches a dynamic segment. Inboxjot checks every hour.                         |

By default a contact goes through an automation once. Turn on Allow re-entry to let them go through again after they finish. A Matches segment trigger always lets each contact through once.

## Steps

| Step           | What it does                                                   |
| -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Send Email     | Sends a template. You can change the from address and subject. |
| Wait           | Waits 1 to 365 minutes, hours or days.                         |
| Wait for Event | Waits until the contact sends an event, or until a timeout.    |
| Check If       | Splits into Yes and No paths.                                  |

Check If tests whether the contact opened or clicked an earlier email, has a property value, is subscribed to a topic, is in a segment, or sent an event. An automation can have up to 100 steps.

## Turn On

An automation turns on when it is complete.

- It has a trigger and at least one step.
- Each email step has a template and a subject, and sends from a verified domain.
- Each Wait for Event step has an event name.
- Your postal address is set in Settings or on each sending domain.

> Turn an automation off to change its trigger or steps. Runs pause while it is
> off and continue when you turn it on again.

## Runs and Activity

Each contact in an automation has a run. The Activity page lists runs as In progress, Completed, Exited or Failed. Open a run to see its timeline, skip a wait, or remove the contact.

A run exits when the contact unsubscribes, is suppressed or is deleted. Use Send Test to send every email on the Yes path to one address right away, with no waits.