Each automation includes one trigger and as many actions, waits, and conditions as you need. This article covers all available options and what they do.

📚 Tips

This article covers Automations 2.0 — HoneyBook's automations builder with conditional logic, third-party app integrations, and more. Learn more about Automations 2.0.
Once your automation is set up, activate it so it starts running in projects when the trigger is met

Triggers

A trigger is the event that causes an automation to start running in a project. For any trigger, select the project or event type(s) it applies to — or select all. For most triggers, you can also require a project to have specific tag(s) before the automation runs.

Apps

Acuity: Meeting scheduled	Runs after a meeting is scheduled from your connected Acuity account Requires a Create Opportunity/Project step
Calendly: Meeting scheduled	Runs after a meeting is scheduled from your connected Calendly account Requires a Create Opportunity/Project step

Inquiry

Contact form submitted	Runs after a contact form is submitted
Lead form submitted	Runs after a lead form is submitted You can select specific lead form(s), or apply to all

Session

📣 Note

Session-related triggers only apply to sessions scheduled through the Scheduler.

Session is scheduled	Runs after a session is scheduled by a participant in the project. When setting up this trigger, you can: Select which session types (including team members) will activate it, or apply to all Select the sources of the scheduling trigger that’ll activate it. Any combination of options can be selected: Lead form Smart file Scheduler link Manual scheduling
Session starts	Runs a set amount of time before or after a session is scheduled to begin You can select which session types will activate it, or apply to all
Session ends	Runs a set amount of time before or after a session is scheduled to end You can select which session types will activate it, or apply to all

File

Questionnaire submitted	Runs after a questionnaire is submitted by a client You can select specific template(s), or apply to all
Smart file is completed	Runs after a smart file is completed You can select specific template(s), or apply to all 📣 Note: A smart file is completed once the client has finished all required actions and mandatory questions and navigated to the final page. If the final page contains questions or actions, the client must submit it. You can also manually mark a smart file as completed.

Booking

📣 Note

Payment-related triggers work for payments made through HoneyBook or marked as paid on a HoneyBook invoice.

All signatures are signed	Runs after all required signatures in a contract are collected. You can select specific template(s), or apply to all.
Contract is signed	Runs after a contract is signed by a client. If a contract has multiple signature lines, it triggers after the first signature. You can select specific template(s), or apply to all.
First payment paid	Runs after the first payment in a payment schedule is made. You can select specific template(s), or apply to all. If the schedule has only one payment, this trigger fires after that sole payment The invoice file must be active and published (not expired, not a draft) If both "first payment" and "paid in full" automations are active and the file has a single payment, both will trigger when that payment is made
Invoice paid in full	Runs after the final payment in a payment schedule is made. You can select specific template(s), or apply to all. If the schedule has only one payment, this trigger fires after that sole payment The file must be active, not expired For recurring invoices, this trigger only fires after the final payment if an end date is set If both "first payment" and "paid in full" automations are active and the file has a single payment, both will trigger when that payment is made Manually marking a payment as paid will also activate this trigger

Project

Project start time	Runs a set number of minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months before or after the project start time
Project stage changed	Runs after a project is moved to a selected pipeline stage You have full control over which stage triggers the automation 📚 Tip: This trigger replaces the old "Project moved to completed" trigger. Older automations using that trigger will continue running as-is.
Tags added to project	Runs when specific tags are added to a project Follows “or” logic — for example, selecting "Summer wedding" and "Ghosted" means the automation runs in any project that has either tag applied going forward
Project end time	Runs a set number of minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months before or after the project end time

Other

Manual trigger

Runs in a project once manually triggered. Learn how to manually trigger an automation in a project.

Actions

An action is something that happens when the automation runs.

📚 Tips

To skip a step in a running automation, open the automation in the project, hover over the step, and select Skip
Steps with conditional logic can't be skipped

Create/update subscriber	Available to members with a connected Flodesk account Automatically adds project contacts to your Flodesk subscriber list Learn how to connect Flodesk and best practices for this action
Create email draft	Creates a new email draft in the project based on a selected email template You can edit the draft before sending or delete it
Create task	Adds a task to you or a team member's task list The assignee receives an email reminder Clients can’t view tasks 📣 Note: Tasks created by an automation have their due date set to today, with the time set to the next round hour, based on your company's timezone (defaults to PST if not set). You can edit the due time by clicking on it. Automation-created tasks appear in Task Management and can be skipped but not deleted
Move pipeline stage	Moves the project to a selected pipeline stage when the trigger occurs The "Do not track on pipeline" stage can’t be selected 📚 Tips: Use this action to automate stage moves triggered by events like a smart file being completed or a session ending Pair it with pipeline automations for full pipeline control
Send email	Sends an email based on a selected email template automatically when the step runs If approval is required before sending, you can choose to send or skip The email goes to all project participants — recipients can’t be adjusted 📚 Tip: If you want to review and edit the email before it goes out, use Create email draft instead.
Send smart file via email	Sends a smart file from an existing template along with a selected email template You can create new templates directly in the automations builder 📣 Note: If the smart file includes a contract, it sends as-is. The contract signee will be the first participant in the project. Learn more about booking automations.
Archive project	Automatically archives a project. Choose an archive reason from the dropdown. Archiving ends the automation — place this as the final step

Waits

A wait is a delay between the trigger and the first step, or between 2 steps. Waits can be time-based or event-based.

Time-related	Configure the automation to wait a set number of minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months between steps
Event-related ("Wait until...")	Pause the automation until a specific event occurs in the project. Available events: Session scheduled File completed Questionnaire submitted First payment paid Invoice paid in full Contract signed All signatures signed Project tags added

Conditions

Conditions let you split an automation into different paths based on whether a specific event has occurred. Learn more about adding conditional logic to automations.

📣 Note

If a future condition is completed early, it won't skip any previous or subsequent conditions — those will still run as normal until completed or the condition time expires.

Project tags added	Splits the automation based on whether a tag has been added You can specify any tag or specific tags you've created
File was viewed	Splits the automation based on whether a file was viewed You can specify any file, the file sent in the previous automation step, or specific templates
Contract signed	Splits the automation based on whether a contract has been signed You can specify any contract, the contract from the previous step, or specific templates
Questionnaire was submitted	Splits the automation based on whether a questionnaire was submitted You can specify any questionnaire, the questionnaire from the previous step, or specific templates
Session was scheduled	Splits the automation based on whether a session was scheduled You can specify any session in the project, or specific session types (including team members)
Task was completed	Splits the automation based on whether a task was completed You must select a specific task — it must have been created earlier in the automation with a Create task step
File was completed	Splits the automation based on whether a file was completed You can specify any file, the file sent in the previous step, or specific templates 📣 Note: What counts as completed: The client has finished all required actions and mandatory questions, navigated to the final page, and submitted it if the final page contains actions or questions You can also manually mark a smart file as complete
First payment has been paid	Splits the automation based on whether the first payment has been made You can specify any invoice, the invoice from the previous step, or specific templates
Invoice paid in full	Splits the automation based on whether an invoice has been paid in full You can specify any invoice, the invoice from the previous step, or specific templates