Learn how Ndoto's automation tools work — condition-based automation rules, node-based workflows, and macros. Automatically assign, label, route, and respond to conversations without manual effort.

Automation in Ndoto

Ndoto has two automation systems — Automation Rules and Workflows — plus Macros for on-demand agent shortcuts. Together these tools let you define logic that runs automatically based on what happens in conversations, reducing manual work and keeping your team focused on the conversations that need them most.

Automation Rules

Automation rules are condition-based triggers. You define an event, a set of conditions, and a set of actions. When the event occurs and all conditions match, the actions run automatically.

Events

Rules can be triggered by:

A new conversation being created
A conversation being updated
A new message arriving in a conversation
A conversation being resolved
A conversation being reopened

Conditions

Conditions filter which conversations the rule applies to. You can match on:

Contact attributes (name, email, phone, company, country, custom attributes)
Conversation metadata (status, priority, channel, inbox, assigned agent or team, labels)
Message content (contains or does not contain specific words)

Multiple conditions can be combined using AND (all must match) or OR (any must match) logic.

Actions

When conditions are met, the rule can perform one or more actions:

Send a message to the customer
Add or remove a label
Assign the conversation to an agent or team
Change the conversation status
Send an email
Call a webhook (notify an external system)
Add a note to the conversation
Assign a custom attribute value

How Rules Are Evaluated

When a triggering event occurs, Ndoto checks all active automation rules in order. For each rule, it evaluates the conditions against the current conversation. If all conditions pass, the actions are executed. Multiple rules can match and run for the same event.

Workflows

Workflows are a more flexible, node-based automation system. Instead of a simple condition → action model, workflows let you build branching logic with multiple steps.

How Workflows Are Built

A workflow is made up of nodes:

Trigger node — defines the event that starts the workflow (e.g., a conversation is started, a message is received)
Condition nodes — branch the workflow based on conversation or contact data
Action nodes — perform operations on the conversation

You connect nodes together to build a flow that can split into different paths based on conditions, execute multiple actions in sequence, and wait for specific events before continuing.

Workflow Triggers

Workflows can be triggered by:

A conversation starting
A message being received
A conversation status changing

Resuming on Events

Workflows can pause mid-execution and resume when a specific event occurs — for example, waiting for the customer to reply before sending a follow-up message.

Macros

Macros are manual automation shortcuts that agents can run on demand. Instead of triggering automatically, an agent clicks a macro to execute a predefined sequence of actions on the current conversation.

A macro can:

Send a message
Add or remove labels
Assign the conversation to an agent or team
Change the conversation status
Add a note
Send an email

Macros can be personal (only visible to the agent who created them) or global (available to all agents).

Automation vs. Akili AI

Automation Rules and Workflows are deterministic — they run exactly as configured, every time. Akili, the AI agent, is different: it uses AI models to understand the content of a conversation and generate intelligent responses.

Both systems complement each other. For example, you might use an automation rule to tag incoming conversations by channel, then let Akili handle the actual response.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Automation Rules and Workflows? Automation Rules are simple condition → action triggers suited for straightforward logic. Workflows support branching paths, multiple steps, and mid-execution pauses — making them better for complex multi-step processes.

Can automation rules send messages to customers? Yes. One of the available actions in an automation rule is "Send a message to the customer."

What are macros in Ndoto? Macros are saved sequences of actions (send message, assign, label, resolve, etc.) that agents run manually with a single click. They are the manual equivalent of automation rules.

Automation — Rules, Workflows & Macros in Ndoto