Create a workflow

Building an automation in Grivo takes about five minutes. You start from a blank canvas, drop a trigger, wire in a few actions, configure each step in the right-side inspector, and click Publish. The first run starts as soon as the trigger fires.

Before you start

Have these ready so you don't leave the canvas mid-build:

• The trigger source. If it's a chat trigger, the chatbot already exists. If it's a list trigger, the list exists.
• The first email campaign you want to send (you can also create one inline from the Send email inspector).
• Any tags or contact attributes you plan to branch on.

Step by step

1. Create a blank automation

Go to Automations in the sidebar and click New automation. Give it a name like "Welcome series". You'll land on an empty canvas with the node palette on the left and an empty inspector on the right.

2. Pick a trigger

Drag one trigger from the palette onto the canvas. Every workflow needs exactly one trigger. The four shipped triggers are:

• Chat message: visitor sends a matching chat. See Triggers.
• Added to list: contact joins a list.
• Contact tagged: a tag is applied to a contact.
• Manual: you start the run by hand or via API.

3. Drop the first action

Hover the trigger and click the small + button that appears below it. The palette pops open with all actions, conditions, and flow nodes. Click Send email. Grivo creates the node, wires the edge, and auto-selects the new node so its inspector is ready on the right.

4. Add waits, branches, and exits

Keep clicking + below each new node to build out the rest of the flow:

• Wait nodes pause the run (1 minute up to 30 days). Pick from presets like 1 hour, 1 day, 7 days.
• Condition nodes split the run. The + button shows up under each branch (yes / no), so you can build different paths. See Conditions and branching.
• Exit closes the run cleanly. Every leaf node (the bottom of every path) must connect to either another action or an Exit. See Wait and exit.

5. Configure every node

Click any node to open its inspector on the right. Fill in the fields. Common gotchas:

• Send email: pick a campaign. If you don't have one yet, click + Create campaign at the bottom of the dropdown to open the campaign editor. Your draft is auto-saved, so you can leave and come back.
• Add to list / Remove from list: pick a list, or click + Create list to make one inline.
• Webhook: paste the URL, pick a method, add headers if needed. See Actions.

6. Validate and publish

Click Publish in the top right. Grivo runs the validation rules and shows any issues in a side panel. Click any issue to jump straight to the offending node. Fix them, hit Publish again. The status badge flips from Draft to Active and the first run starts as soon as the trigger fires. See Publish and lifecycle for what each state means.

Common mistakes

• Two triggers: only one trigger is allowed per workflow. The palette blocks adding a second.
• Dead-end node: every non-Exit node needs at least one outgoing edge. The validator will name the node so you can find it.
• Empty campaign / list / tag fields: the inspector saves your draft permissively, but Publish refuses until every field has a real value.
• Forgetting the Exit: the flow technically runs without one, but completion metrics need an explicit Exit.

Next steps