Automation Builder Overview
Automation Builder is AutoBridge's visual workflow automation engine. It lets administrators define rules that trigger automatically based on events in the platform — no code required. Use it to automate status changes, send notifications, route tasks, enforce deadlines, and connect workflows across modules.
What is Automation Builder?
An automation is a rule with three parts: a trigger (what causes it to run), optional conditions (when it should apply), and one or more actions (what it does). Once configured, automations run silently in the background every time the trigger conditions are met.
Examples of what automations handle in a typical government deployment:
- Send an email to an applicant when their permit status changes to Approved
- Automatically assign an inspection to the on-call inspector when a request is submitted after hours
- Escalate a case to a supervisor when it has been open for more than 5 business days
- Update a related record when a parent record changes status
- Notify a department head when a budget line item exceeds 90% utilization
Core Capabilities
Triggers
Triggers define the event that starts the automation. Available trigger types:
| Trigger | When It Fires |
|---|---|
| Record Created | A new record of a specified entity type is created |
| Record Updated | A field on a record changes value |
| Status Changed | A record moves to a specific status |
| Field Value Reached | A numeric field crosses a threshold |
| Date / Time | A scheduled time, or relative to a date field on a record |
| Manual | A staff member explicitly kicks it off |
Conditions
Conditions are optional filters that narrow when the automation applies. For example, a trigger on Record Updated can be conditioned to only fire when the updated field is "Assigned Inspector" and the record's department is "Building."
Multiple conditions can be combined with AND / OR logic.
Actions
Actions define what the automation does when it fires. Multiple actions can be chained in sequence:
| Action | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Send Email | Deliver a formatted email to any recipient — applicant, staff, or external contact |
| Send SMS | Text message notification |
| Update Record | Set or clear a field value on the triggering record or a related record |
| Create Record | Generate a new record of any entity type |
| Assign Task | Route a task to a specific user, role, or queue |
| Wait | Pause execution for a specified duration before continuing |
| Call Webhook | Send data to an external system |
Wait Steps
Automations can pause and resume. A Wait step holds execution until a condition is met or a time period elapses — useful for follow-up reminders, deadline enforcement, and multi-step approval sequences.
How It Fits in AutoBridge
Automation Builder is used across every AutoBridge module:
| Module | Example Automations |
|---|---|
| Permitting | Status notifications, inspection assignment, fee reminders |
| Constituent Portal | Submission confirmations, document request emails |
| Constituent Manager | Auto-routing by category, SLA escalation |
| Budget Forecasting | Threshold alerts, approval routing |
| Calendar & Scheduling | Appointment reminders, no-show follow-ups |
What Automation Builder Does Not Do
Automation Builder handles event-driven and time-based logic within AutoBridge. It is not a general-purpose integration platform and does not replace dedicated ETL or iPaaS tools for complex external system integrations.
For deep external integrations, use Automation Builder's webhook action in combination with an integration layer.
Next Steps
Documentation in Progress
Guides for trigger configuration, condition logic, action types, wait steps, and templates are being developed. Check back soon.