How to use Automation Builder
Before you get started, make sure you have auto-recharge turned on and double check your account permissions.
How to access Automation Builder for the first time
Log in to your Dashboard.
In the left-hand panel, click Automation Builder
Review the feature carousel
On the final slide, click Start Building to access your project workspace.
How to create a recipe in Automation Builder
A recipe is a combination of a trigger and one or more actions. Follow these steps to create a recipe.
1. Go to Automation Builder and click Create Recipe.
2. Name your recipe and choose what starting point will trigger this automation. It can be triggered from an app or webhook, run on a schedule and more.
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Don’t know where to start your recipe? Get some inspiration and learn to choose the right starting point for your recipe.
3.After selecting your trigger choose what action should happen next. For example, ‘send SMS’, ‘Add a contact to CRM’, ‘Post message to Slack’ and thousands more.
4. Click Save.
5. Test your recipe to make sure everything is working smoothly.
6. Click Start Recipe to turn the automation on.
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Learn about automation builder pricing and usage by reading Billing for Automation Builder.
How to use pre-built recipes
There are thousands of pre-built recipe templates to choose from. These are ready-made recipes for common tasks. To use a pre-built recipe:
1. Choose a template and click Edit.
2. Authorise any apps (connections) used.
3. Add parameters or custom logic if needed.
4. Click Save and Start Recipe.
How to choose the right starting point for your recipe
When creating a recipe, the first step is choosing how it should start. Here’s a breakdown of each option — and when to use it.
Starting Point | What it means | When to use it | Example |
App Trigger | Starts when something happens in another app you've connected (e.g. Salesforce, Shopify). | When you want to respond to an event in an external tool | A new contact is added in Salesforce → send them a welcome SMS |
Scheduled | Runs at a specific time or on a repeating schedule. | For daily, weekly, or timed sends | Every day at 9AM → send a daily promo SMS |
Webhook | Starts when a webhook is triggered from your website or app. | When you're capturing form submissions or custom events | A customer submits a form → send a confirmation SMS |
App Event Monitor | Listens for events inside ClickSend or other tools. | When you want to monitor failures, alerts, or status updates | A message fails to deliver → notify your team in Slack |
Recipe Function | A reusable block of logic you can insert into multiple recipes. | For applying the same transformation or action logic repeatedly | Format names + insert into a templated message |
Internal API Endpoint | Exposes your recipe as an API endpoint for other tools to call. | When you want other systems to trigger a message programmatically | Internal tool calls API → trigger SMS to user |
Slack Command | Lets you start a recipe by typing a custom command in Slack. | For quick, manual triggers by your team | Type /holiday-sms → send holiday message to a segment |