Automations let you build rules that automatically take action on conversations — so your team spends less time on repetitive tasks and more time on customers who need real help. When something happens (a new conversation, a message), Commslayer checks your conditions and executes the actions.
Where to find Automations
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Go to Settings
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Under Conversations Tools click on Automations
How automations work
Each automation has three parts:
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Event — What triggers the automation (new conversation, new message, etc.)
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Conditions — What must be true for the automation to run (sender email contains "noreply", subject includes "refund", etc.)
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Actions — What happens when conditions match (add label, assign agent, send reply, resolve)
You can combine multiple conditions with AND/OR logic, and chain multiple actions together.
Events
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Conversation created — Fires the moment a brand new conversation comes in, for example when a customer sends their first message through your chat widget, email, or social channel. Use this for rules that should run at the start of every new interaction, like auto-assigning to a team or adding a label.
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Conversation updated — Fires whenever something about an existing conversation changes, such as its status, assignee, or labels. It does not fire for new messages alone — it is specifically about changes to the conversation's properties. Use this for rules like "when a conversation is reassigned, notify the new agent."
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Conversation opened — Fires when a conversation is moved to Open status, either for the first time or when it is reopened after being resolved or snoozed. Useful for rules that should trigger whenever a conversation becomes active again.
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Message created — Fires every time a new message arrives in a conversation. Use this for keyword-based rules, like tagging conversations that mention "refund" or triggering a response when a specific phrase is detected.
Quick comparison:
Conversation created = brand new conversation just came in
Conversation opened = conversation became (or became again) active/open
Conversation updated = something about the conversation changed
Message created = a new message was received in an existing conversation
Conditions
Set conditions based on:
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Inbox — Which channel the conversation came from
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Email subject — Text in the subject line
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Message content — Text in the message body
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Email address — Sender's email, including partial matches
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Labels — Whether specific labels are present
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Country — Customer's location
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Status — Open, pending, snoozed, resolved
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Assignee — Which agent (or no agent) is assigned
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Shopify customer tags — Tags from your Shopify customer data
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Shopify purchase history — Whether they've ordered before, total spend
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Customer intent — Detected intent from AI
Conditions support operators like "equals", "contains", "starts with", "is one of", and "is present/not present". Leaving conditions empty means the rule will apply to all conversations that match the event.
Actions
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Send message — Auto-reply to the customer
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Add label — Tag the conversation
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Remove label — Remove a tag
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Assign agent — Route to a specific agent
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Assign team — Route to a team
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Change status — Set to open, pending, or snoozed
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Resolve conversation — Close and skip CSAT survey
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Change priority — Set urgency level
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Mute conversation — Silence notifications for the conversation
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Send email to team — Notify team members via email
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Send webhook — POST conversation data to an external URL
You can stack multiple actions in a single rule.
Example: Auto-reply to new conversations
Send an acknowledgment when customers reach out.
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Event: Conversation created
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Conditions: Inbox equals "Email Support"
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Actions: Send message → "Thanks for reaching out. We'll get back to you within 24 hours."
Example: Label conversations by content
Tag refund requests automatically.
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Event: Message created
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Conditions: Message content contains "refund" OR "money back"
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Actions: Add label → "Refund request"
Example: Auto-resolve by sender
Close automated notifications from no-reply addresses.
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Event: Conversation created
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Conditions: Email address contains "noreply@" OR Email address contains "no-reply@"
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Actions: Resolve conversation
Example: Auto-resolve by subject
Skip order confirmation emails.
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Event: Conversation created
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Conditions: Email subject contains "Order confirmation" OR Email subject contains "Shipping notification"
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Actions: Resolve conversation, Add label → "Auto-closed"
If you want to check more automation templates, check this page here.
Managing your automations
From Settings → Automations you can:
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Toggle a rule on or off without deleting it
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Edit any rule to update its event, conditions, or actions
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Duplicate a rule as a starting point for a similar one
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Delete rules you no longer need
Tips
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Name rules clearly — Use a descriptive format like "Conversation Created - Assign to Support Team" so the list stays readable as it grows.
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Order matters — Automations run in the order they appear. Place more specific rules above broader ones. If two rules assign the same conversation to different teams, the last one to run wins.
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Test before going live — Create a test conversation to confirm your rule fires as expected before relying on it in production.
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Use "contains" for partial matches, "equals" for exact matches — Getting this wrong is the most common reason a rule doesn't fire.
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Automations won't loop infinitely — If an automation changes something that triggers another automation, Commslayer limits executions to prevent runaway rules.