Build an automation

Describe the process in chat, review the agent’s proposed steps and permissions, test the draft, then activate it.

Who can use it

Owners and admins on a plan with automations (see Automations).

Build an automation in chat

A test run can change real data and create real drafts. Check the permissions before testing, and use a record you can safely change. Email drafts appear in For review. A test can send email if you have granted automatic sending.

1. In the sidebar, open Automations and click Create in chat. You can also describe the automation in any chat.
2. Describe the outcome and when it should happen, for example “Every Monday at 8:00 AM, post a summary of opportunities that changed Stage last week.”
3. The agent agrees a name and description with you, then designs the steps, triggers, inputs, who the run acts as, and what each step may do.
4. The agent saves a Draft. Its triggers don’t start runs yet.
5. Review the permissions on the approval card. Grant only the actions you intend the automation to take.
6. Ask the agent to test run the draft with your test record.
7. Review the run, ask the agent to adjust, and test again until the result is right.
8. Ask the agent to activate the automation, or click Activate. Complete the permissions approval card in the automation’s chat. The button starts that request; it does not bypass approval.

When it worked, the automation’s page shows Active under Status.

Example: draft a kickoff email after a deal closes

When Stage changes to Closed won, draft a kickoff email from the opportunity owner to the main contact. Create a task for the owner to schedule onboarding in 3 days. Emails should wait for review.

Check Triggers, Runs as and the recipient before testing on an internal opportunity. Check the resulting task and draft in For review, then delete or dismiss test output. Give specific feedback and test again before activating.

Steps and inputs

An automation has ordered steps. Each step has a name, instructions and permissions. Later steps can use earlier steps’ results.

Inputs are the values a run starts with, such as an account or a number of days to look back. They can be text, dates, numbers, CRM records or workspace members. A record trigger supplies its record; a webhook supplies the received data; a manual run uses the values you provide. Missing required inputs stop the run with an error.

Triggers

An automation can have multiple triggers, all using the same steps. Find them under Triggers.

Manual run

Click Run now on an active automation’s page, or ask the agent to run it. A paused automation can’t be run until you resume it.

Webhook

The trigger shows as POST webhook trigger. Click Copy webhook URL next to it and have your service send a POST request with a JSON body to that address. The JSON becomes the run’s input, so give the agent an example payload while you build. An automation can have one webhook trigger.

The URL is the only credential: anyone who has it can start runs. Keep it private. Putting it in a website’s JavaScript exposes it to visitors.

Example request:

fetch("https://your-webhook-url", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({ email: "dana@example.com", company: "Acme" }),
});

Send fields as JSON. A plain HTML form post sends form-encoded data, which the webhook rejects.

For a webhook integration example, see HubSpot sync.

Schedule

Runs Daily, Weekly, Monthly or on a custom (cron) schedule. Each schedule uses its own Timezone, shown under Triggers and in Schedule, including daylight saving changes. Ask the agent to change it, for example “Run the digest at 7:00 AM Europe/London.”

Record created

Fires when a new account, contact, opportunity, meeting, task, note or custom object record is created. It can also fire When an email is synced into Lightfield. Records that existed before you activated the automation don’t start runs.

Record updated

Fires when a record of the chosen type changes. Scope it to the fields you care about, so an automation that reacts to Stage changes doesn’t fire when someone edits the description. Changes from people, automations and integrations all count. Emails can’t use this trigger.

Sequence reply

When a contact replies to a sequence starts a run on a contact’s first reply to a sequence email or LinkedIn message, once per enrollment. You can limit it to specific sequences. It needs Sequences on your plan.

Permissions

Every step lists exactly what it may do, with a reason for each entry. You don’t write these yourself: the agent proposes them, and you approve them on an approval card before a test run, publish or activation needs them. If a step’s prompt or permissions change later, the agent asks you to grant again.

Depending on what you grant, a step can:

• create and update accounts, contacts, opportunities and custom object records
• create tasks, notes and files
• read and write Knowledge and Skills
• call connected connectors, such as Granola, Linear or Notion
• use Lightfield’s API and command-line tools from a secure sandbox
• make network requests and use workspace secrets
• draft emails for a person to approve in For review

Email drafts are the default. A step sends email with no review only if you ask the agent for automatic sending and grant Send emails and create drafts. Anything a step tries outside its permissions is blocked and recorded on the run.

Runs as

Every automation runs as someone, shown under Runs as on its page. This decides what a run can read and who can see the run and its drafts.

• Workspace member (the default): the run reads only what every member can see, with no access to private emails, meetings or anyone’s connected accounts. Everyone in the workspace can see its runs.
• A specific member: the run uses that member’s permissions and connected accounts. Its runs are private to that member and workspace admins. The member can be fixed (“always run as Priya”) or taken from the run’s inputs (“the owner of the account being processed”).

A scheduled automation can’t take the member from its inputs, since there’s no record in a schedule to read it from.

A connector belongs to the member who connected it. If a step needs someone’s Granola or Gmail connection, the automation must run as that member. Shared resources, such as a Slack bot token kept as a workspace secret, work with Workspace member.

A connector also has to be opted in. In the connector’s settings, its owner turns on Use in workflows and automations. Until then, steps can’t reach it, even when the run acts as that member.

Troubleshooting

I clicked Activate but the automation is still a draft

Open the automation’s chat and complete the permissions approval card. Then check Status on the automation’s page for Active. If activation reports an error, give the agent that exact message.

Opening the webhook URL shows “Method not allowed”

A browser sends a GET request, and the URL accepts only POST. Send a POST request with a JSON body from your service or page, as in Webhook.

The webhook returns “Webhook not found”

Check that the automation is Active and that you used its current webhook URL. A draft or paused automation does not accept webhook requests. Activate or resume it if needed, then try again.

The webhook returns “Webhook body could not be parsed as JSON.”

The body isn’t JSON, usually because a plain HTML form posted form-encoded data. Send the fields as a JSON object.

A scheduled automation runs at the wrong hour

The schedule’s time zone differs from yours. Check Timezone in the automation’s Schedule section, and ask the agent to change it.

A step can’t reach my connector

The automation runs as someone other than the member who connected it, or Use in workflows and automations is off for that connector. Ask the agent to run the automation as that member, and have them turn the switch on.

Common questions

How do I test an automation before turning it on? Ask the agent to test run the draft. A test run is real, so any email drafts it produces land in For review for you to check.

Can I call an automation’s webhook from my website? Yes, but exposing the webhook URL lets anyone who has it start runs. Keep the URL private and have your service send a POST request with a JSON body. Plain HTML form posts are not supported.

What time zone does a scheduled automation run in? The one set on that schedule, shown after its time under Triggers. Ask the agent to change it if it’s wrong.

Can an automation run as a specific person? Yes. It can always run as one member, or as a member taken from the run, such as the account owner. Its runs are then private to that member and workspace admins.