Advanced Automations Playbook

What it is

Automations is Joby's build-it-yourself follow-up system. You pick one thing that happens in your business (the trigger), then you add the steps that should run after it — texts, emails, tasks, status changes, alerts to your team, and more.

You find it at Settings›Pipeline›Automations. The page header says "Automations" and shows how many you have and how many are active.

Every automation is built from four kinds of card, and the builder labels them in plain English:

If your company renamed "Lead" to "Job" (or "Office Agent" to something else) in your settings, the cards use your words. So a card this guide calls "Wait Until Lead Time" may read "Wait Until Job Time" on your screen.

When to use it

Reach for the advanced steps when a plain "text them once" automation is not enough:

• Different customers need different messages. Use an Only if… step to split VIP jobs from everything else.
• You only want to reply during opening hours. Use Only during these hours and Only on these days.
• You want a reminder tied to the job itself. Use Wait Until Lead Time so the reminder moves when the job gets rescheduled.
• You want to react to a reply. Use Wait for a Text Back, which has one exit for "they replied" and another for "they never did".
• You are messaging hundreds of people at once. Use Slow Down a Big Send so you do not blast everyone in one minute.
• Another system needs to know. Use Call a Webhook to push the details out, or the Webhook Received trigger to let another system start a Joby automation.

Before you start

• A Pro plan. Automations is a Pro feature. On a Starter account the page shows an upgrade prompt instead of the builder.
• The Visual Flows permission. Your role needs it, otherwise the page is hidden. An admin turns it on under Settings›People›Team Roles, in the Admin & Settings group.
• A phone number that can send texts if any step sends a text — you pick it in the step's From Number box.
• A shared sending address if any step sends an email. The step's From Email list is filled from Settings›Email Accounts; if nothing is set up there, the list will be empty.
• Your lead statuses and service types already named the way you want them. Filters store the name you picked, so renaming a status later can quietly stop an automation from matching.
• A test lead with a real phone number you own, so you can trigger the automation without messaging a customer.

Step-by-step: build a branching automation

This example texts every new lead, but sends VIP jobs a different message and alerts the team. It uses a trigger, an Only if… fork, and a wait.

1. Go to Settings›Pipeline›Automations.
2. Click New Automation. On the "Add new automation" page, click Create your own automation.
3. Type a name in the box at the top left. An orange dot appears next to the name whenever you have unsaved changes.
4. The left panel is headed When this happens and shows only triggers. Under Leads & customers, click Lead Created. (You can also type in the search box — try "missed call".)
5. The left panel now switches to Add a step and shows only steps. Open the Only if group and click Only if….
6. Click the new step on the canvas. In the panel on the right, set Operatorto Field Equals, pick your Field, and choose the Value from the list. For statuses, service types and field workers the Value box gives you your real records to pick from rather than free text.
7. Under Message the customer, add two Send a Text steps — one for each branch.
8. Drag from the green Yes dot on the bottom-left of the Only if step to the first text, and from the red No dot on the bottom-right to the second text.
9. Fill in each text: choose a From Number, choose who it goes To, and write the Message Template. Use Insert Variable to drop in the customer's name (see the next section).
10. Optional: under Tell my team, add Notify My Team after the VIP text so an office agent gets a bell alert.
11. Click Tidy up if the canvas has become messy — it tidies the steps into a clean tree.
12. Click Checklist on the toolbar and clear every red item. Warnings in orange are worth reading too.
13. Click Save (or press ⌘S / Ctrl+S).
14. Only when the checklist is clean, switch Active on and save again.

How to check it worked

1. In the builder, click Checklist. Red rows must be fixed; orange ones are warnings. It flags an automation with no name, no trigger, no steps, missing trigger details, steps that are not connected, incomplete step details, and wait steps with nothing after them.
2. Trigger it for real with your test lead — for example, create a lead if your trigger is Lead Created.
3. Click Runs on the builder toolbar. The Waiting tab shows who is currently held in a wait or send-rate step; the History tab shows what has already run, with the exact path it took through your canvas. Use Filter by node to narrow it to one step.
4. Or go back to Settings›Pipeline›Automations. Each row shows Workflow progress, how many are In workflow, how many are Done, and the Last activity time. The history icon on the right opens the same run list.
5. For a company-wide view, use the Activity Log tab at the top of the Automations page. Filter by automation, filter results to Success or Failed, or search for a specific lead number.

Common mistakes

"My automation is Active but has never run"

The Automations list adds an orange Never run badge to anything that has been active for over a month with zero runs. Almost always the trigger has a filter naming a lead status or service type that has since been renamed. Open it, and the checklist will name the missing value directly.

Looking for step cards before you have a trigger

The left panel shows either triggers or steps, never both. Until you add a When card it is headed When this happens and only shows triggers. Add the trigger and the Do, Only if and Wait groups appear.

Typing variables by hand

{{lead.first_name}} and {{agent.name}} are not real variables. Use the Insert Variable button so the capital letter and the exact field name are always right.

Leaving a branch or a wait dangling

A wait step with nothing wired after it silently ends that branch — the customer just stops hearing from you. The checklist flags this as "A wait step has nothing after it". The same applies to the timeout exit on Wait for a Text Back.

Turning it on before saving

Active and Save are separate. Flipping the switch marks the automation as changed — you still have to press Save.

Testing on a real customer

Once it is Active it messages real people immediately. Use a test lead with your own phone number, watch it in Runs, then switch it on for everyone.

Trying to edit a built-in automation

Automations with a Default badge are Joby's built-ins. You can turn them on or off, but the builder opens in view-only mode. Click the duplicate icon on the list to get an editable copy of your own.

Deleting instead of pausing

Deleting an automation also deletes its run history and cannot be undone. If you only want it to stop, switch it off — the row stays, and Hide paused keeps your list tidy.