---
description: "How Plandalf Automations work: sequences, the built-in triggers and steps, data from earlier steps, testing safely, and connecting apps like Kit, Slack and Tolt."
---
# Automations overview

Automations run steps for you after something happens in Plandalf: a checkout is paid, a visitor leaves without paying, a renewal payment fails. Each automation is a **sequence**: one trigger, then the steps that run when it fires.

The built-in Plandalf app provides the triggers and the core steps, such as sending an email or a webhook. It is always on and needs no connection. Connected apps, such as Kit, Circle or Slack, add their own steps and sometimes their own triggers.

## Where to find it

Open **Automation** in the sidebar. It has four tabs:

-   **Marketplace**: every app you can connect. Live apps have a **Connect** button; the Plandalf card has **Build**.
-   **Templates**: ready-made sequences you add to a checkout, plus recipes such as Slack notifications.
-   **My Sequences**: the sequences in your organization.
-   **My apps**: the accounts you have connected, where you can test, reconnect or remove them.

## Triggers

Choose **Plandalf** as the trigger app to start a sequence from a Plandalf event. Most triggers have an **Offer** field: pick one or more checkouts to limit the sequence to them, or leave it empty for all.

-   **Checkout Completed**: a customer completes a main checkout and the invoice is paid.
-   **Invoice Paid**: any invoice is paid, including checkouts, upsells, subscription renewals and invoices you send.
-   **Invoice Finalized**: a draft invoice is finalized and ready for payment.
-   **Invoice Voided**: an invoice is voided, that is cancelled without payment.
-   **Upsell Created**: a new upsell invoice is created after checkout.
-   **Upsell Accepted**: a customer pays an upsell offered after their main checkout.
-   **Cart Abandoned**: a visitor entered their email at checkout but didn’t pay. Choose how long to wait first, from 5 minutes to 7 days (30 minutes by default). When the wait is over Plandalf checks again, and the sequence only runs if they still haven’t paid. **Skip GDPR-region visitors** leaves out visitors from the EU, EEA and UK.
-   **Cart Recovery**: a payment fails, for example a declined card. The trigger includes a `retry_url` that opens a payment page for that invoice.
-   **Webhook Trigger**: anything that sends an HTTP request to the trigger’s **Webhook URL**, such as a script or another tool. The request body becomes the trigger data. Keep the URL private, because anyone who has it can start the sequence.

Plandalf has no refund or subscription-cancelled trigger yet, so a sequence can’t run automatically when a buyer refunds or cancels.

## Steps Plandalf can run

-   **Send Email**: sends an email you write. Fill in **Recipient Email**, **Email Subject**, **Email Body** (HTML or plain text) and **Sender Email**. The sender must use a verified sending domain.
-   **Send Order Receipt**: emails the buyer their receipt. It works after **Checkout Completed**, **Invoice Paid** and **Upsell Accepted**. **Recipient Email** is optional and defaults to the customer’s email. **Send as Test** adds TEST to the subject.
-   **Send Webhook**: sends a request to any URL. Set the **Webhook URL**, the **HTTP Method** (POST by default), a JSON **Payload** and optional **Headers**. The receiver has 30 seconds to answer. Use it for tools that accept webhooks, such as Zapier, Make or your own server.
-   **Enroll in Promo**: enrolls someone in a promo and starts their timer. **Promo** and **Ref** are required. **Ref** identifies the participant, and an email address works. **Email** defaults to the ref when the ref is an email. **Start date** is optional and defaults to now.
-   **Delay**: waits a number of **Minutes** before the next step. If a checkout has upsells, a delay before a receipt or invoice step lets every product land on one document.
-   **Get Current Date & Time**: returns the current time in the **Timezone** and **Format** you choose, for use in later steps.

## Use data from earlier steps

Any field can include data from the trigger or an earlier step. Type it in double curly braces, for example `{{trigger.customer_email}}`, or pick it from the variable menu next to the field.

The variable menu fills once the trigger has sample data. On the trigger’s **3\. Test** tab, pick a sample record, such as your most recent checkout. Do the same for each step you want to read from.

The purchase triggers include, among others:

-   `customer_email`, `customer_name`, `customer_first_name`, `customer_last_name`
-   `total_amount` (for example `29.70`) and `currency`
-   `line_items_summary`, a short list of what they bought
-   `invoice_id`, `invoice_number` and `offer_id`

## Build a sequence

1.  [Create it](#overview-create)

    Go to **Automation → My Sequences** and create a sequence. Give it a name that says what it does, such as “Pro plan buyers to Slack”.

2.  [Choose the trigger](#overview-trigger)

    On **1\. Setup**, choose the app (**Plandalf** for purchase events) and the trigger event. On **2\. Config**, fill in its fields, such as **Offer**. On **3\. Test**, pick a sample record.

3.  [Add steps](#overview-steps)

    Click **Add a step**. Choose the app, the action and, for a connected app, the account. Fill in the fields on **2\. Config**, then run the test on **3\. Test**.

4.  [Turn it on](#overview-on)

    New sequences are off until you turn them on. Use the **On**/**Off** switch on the sequence, or **Turn on** in the banner at the top.

To start from a template instead, open **Automation → Templates**, choose a template and pick the checkout it is for. Templates include sending a receipt, recovering an abandoned cart, recovering a failed payment, enrolling buyers in a promo, sending buyers to a CRM by webhook and recording Tolt commissions. A checkout’s **Automation** view lists the sequences linked to it.

## Test safely

-   **Step tests are real.** Testing a step sends the email, posts the Slack message or changes the record in the connected app. Use your own email address or test records.
-   **Test purchases skip automations by default**, so a test card can’t email a customer or pay a commission. To try a sequence end to end, open its **Settings**, switch on **Run on test purchases**, buy with a test card through the checkout’s test link, then switch it off again.
-   **Check the result.** Each sequence has an **Events** view that shows every run, which steps ran, and each step’s output or error.

When a run fails, Plandalf emails your notification recipients, at most once every 15 minutes per sequence. Change this under **Settings → Notifications → Failed automation notifications**. The [Slack app](https://plandalf.com/docs/product-guides/integrations/slack) can post the same alerts to a channel.

## Connect other apps

Connected apps add steps that act in other tools. Each guide covers the credential to get, connecting, the steps and an example:

-   [Circle](https://plandalf.com/docs/product-guides/integrations/circle): add buyers to your community and its spaces.
-   [Kajabi](https://plandalf.com/docs/product-guides/integrations/kajabi): create contacts and tag them.
-   [Kit](https://plandalf.com/docs/product-guides/integrations/kit): tag subscribers, add them to forms and sequences, and start sequences from Kit events.
-   [MailerLite](https://plandalf.com/docs/product-guides/integrations/mailerlite): add subscribers to groups and update their fields.
-   [Slack](https://plandalf.com/docs/product-guides/integrations/slack): post purchase and failure alerts to a channel.
-   [Teachable](https://plandalf.com/docs/product-guides/integrations/teachable): enrol buyers in courses.
-   [Thinkific](https://plandalf.com/docs/product-guides/integrations/thinkific): enrol buyers in courses and bundles.
-   [Tolt](https://plandalf.com/docs/product-guides/integrations/tolt): record affiliate commissions in Tolt.

Not every tool needs an app. **Send Webhook** reaches any tool that accepts a webhook, and other systems can read and write Plandalf data with an API key.

## Common errors

| What you see | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| The sequence never runs | Check it is **On** and that its **Offer** filter includes the checkout. For a test purchase, switch on **Run on test purchases** in its **Settings**. |
| A field is empty in the step output | The variable didn’t resolve. Pick it from the variable menu instead of typing it, and check the trigger sample has that value. |
| The variable menu is empty | Pick a sample record on the trigger’s **3\. Test** tab first. |
| A step shows **skipped** | The step decided there was nothing to do, for example no affiliate on the sale. The run’s **Events** view shows the reason. |
| Send Email completes but nothing arrives | Open the run and check the step output. A `failed` status includes the reason, often a sender address that isn’t on a verified domain. |
| No **Send Order Receipt** in the step list | It only appears after **Checkout Completed**, **Invoice Paid** or **Upsell Accepted**. |

## Related guides

-   [Create a checkout](https://plandalf.com/docs/product-guides/checkouts/create)
-   [Create a promo](https://plandalf.com/docs/product-guides/promos/create-promo)
-   [Automations on plandalf.com](https://plandalf.com/products/automations)

Source: https://plandalf.com/docs/product-guides/integrations/plandalf