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Automations run the follow-up you should not have to remember. A missed ShopWrk call can get a text. A Facebook lead form can create the contact and tag them. An Instagram comment can get a public reply. Open Automations to see what you already have. When you create one, ShopWrk opens the builder. There is no setup screen before the canvas. Messaging, lead forms, and calling only fire if those pieces are already connected. Instagram and Messenger and Facebook Lead Ads start on Settings -> Integrations. ShopWrk calling is your shop phone, not a separate phone vendor.

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The builder

The editor is a two-pane workspace. The left pane is the canvas, where steps sit in order. The right pane opens when you click a step or click ShopWrker. The header has back, Builder, Activity, Settings, publish, and ShopWrker.

ShopWrker

Ask ShopWrker to draft the workflow. It has to pick a real trigger, such as Instagram Message Received, Meta Lead Form, or Missed inbound call. New automations do not get one combined message trigger.

Write with AI

On a message step, Write with AI drafts the text in that panel. The same writing rules apply here as they do when you apply a ShopWrker proposal, including titles.
Publish from the header when the workflow is ready. ShopWrk will not publish a Meta Lead Form or ShopWrk Form Submitted trigger until you pick exactly one form.

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How a workflow is built

Each automation has a trigger, optional filters, and actions. The trigger is the event that starts it. Filters decide whether this contact should continue. Actions are the work: send a text, send an email, add a tag, wait, or send information to another tool you already use. Actions run in order. Put a wait between them when you want breathing room, like a same-day text and a next-day email.

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Insert details into texts and emails

If you want a text or email step to fill in names, shop details, or other fields when the automation runs, use Insert or Insert variable on that step. Click Insert (or Insert variable). Search with Search variables. Pick a field. ShopWrk adds an orange pill for that field. When the automation runs, ShopWrk fills the real value for that contact or event. The same picker appears when you send an invoice or estimate. On automations you may also see fields from the trigger, your shop, and other apps you already use. Reset puts the message back to the default wording for that step. Example: on a text step after Missed inbound call, insert First name and Shop name so the follow-up says hi to Jordan from your shop name when it sends. Blank fields stay blank in the sent message. If a token is unknown, it can stay as written instead of filling in.

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Message and comment triggers

These are separate triggers. There is not one “message received” item for new automations.
  • SMS Received
  • Email Received
  • Instagram Message Received
  • Facebook Message Received
  • Instagram Comment Received
  • Facebook Comment Received
Reply actions are split the same way. Reply to Instagram Comment and Reply to Facebook Comment are two separate steps you can add. Instagram DMs and Facebook messages need the Instagram & Messenger connection on Integrations first. Those threads also land in Conversations, on the same contact.
Instagram and Messenger automations can send for up to 7 days after the customer last wrote in. After 7 days, ShopWrk will not send. See how long you can reply.

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Calling triggers

These use ShopWrk calling. They are three separate triggers, not one call step with a dropdown.
  • Missed inbound call fires when an inbound call is not answered. It does not also fire Call ended.
  • Voicemail left fires when the caller leaves a voicemail. That is not a missed call and not a call ended.
  • Call ended fires after an answered call hangs up.

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ShopWrk form submitted

ShopWrk Form Submitted is its own trigger. You must pick exactly one ShopWrk form. There is no “any form” option, and you cannot leave it blank. If you change the form, ShopWrk asks you to confirm, then clears field mappings for the old form. Draft and test submissions do not run live automations. Only a real submission on that form does.

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Meta lead form

Meta Lead Form is a different trigger from ShopWrk Form Submitted. That is the name on the step. It is not labeled Facebook. You must pick exactly one Facebook lead form. Publish is blocked until that form is set. Connect Facebook Lead Ads first. See Instagram, Messenger, and Facebook Lead Ads. Then pick that form on this trigger. Changing the form confirms and clears mappings, same as ShopWrk forms. When that form is submitted, the person lands in ShopWrk as a lead. The automation can then Add Tag, send a text, or move them through the rest of your follow-up.
If the form list is empty, import the Facebook lead form in Forms first. The Facebook Lead Ads connection lives on Integrations. The import is not in this builder.

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When ShopWrker needs setup first

If you ask ShopWrker to build an automation that starts from a ShopWrk form or a Meta lead form, and your shop has no form ready yet, ShopWrker stops with a setup card instead of a broken draft. The card tells you what is missing and links to the fix (create a ShopWrk form, or finish the Facebook lead form connection). After you finish that setup, click Check again on the card so ShopWrker can continue. ShopWrk will not save an invalid automation while the form is missing. You can still type in the composer or change your request.

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Tags

Add Tag and Remove Tag are the tag actions. Add and remove are separate. New automations cannot replace every tag in one shot. If an older automation still used replace-tags, it will not publish until you rebuild that part with add and remove.

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Start from another tool

Two pieces stay in the builder for shops that already use other software. Start from another tool is a trigger. Another tool you already use can tell ShopWrk to start this automation. Send info to another tool is an action. It sends info to another tool you already use. You set both on the automation itself.

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Other shop events

You can also start automations from everyday shop work: a new contact or lead, a deal moving, an estimate sent or approved, a job changing status, an invoice paid, a booking request, or a warranty coming due. Those sit alongside the message, calling, and form triggers above.

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Activity: see how runs went

Open the automation, then click Activity in the header. This is the run history for that workflow, not a second builder.

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Filter and find a run

Across the top you get a filter bar:
  • Search with Search name or error…. It matches customer, lead, or deal names, and error text.
  • Status: All, Failed, Completed, Running, Pending, or Cancelled.
  • Sort Newest or Oldest.
  • Refresh to pull the latest runs.
Run cards use the customer, lead, or deal name when ShopWrk has one. Click a card to open the Run details drawer. There you get Execution path, Step results, and Trigger data so you can see which step ran and what started the run. Empty states are plain: No runs yet when nothing has fired, or No matching runs when filters hide everything.

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Cancel, retry, and diagnose

If you can manage automations, the drawer (and related actions) lets you: Use Activity when a customer says they never got the text, or when the automations list shows failing runs. Fix the step in Builder, publish if needed, then retry from Activity when the failure is still on that run.

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Settings: send window and failure emails

Click Settings in the header for this automation. Besides the name and whether it is on, two safety areas matter for day-to-day shops: Communication -> Send window and Safety.

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Send window

Under Communication, turn on Send window. The label is: “Only send messages during this time window.” You get a row for each day, Monday through Sunday. Each row has an enable switch plus start and end times.
  • If the day list is empty the first time, ShopWrk fills weekday defaults so you are not staring at a blank grid.
  • If end is before start on the same day, treat that as an overnight window and double-check the times. ShopWrk warns when the range looks backwards.
Outside the window, outbound message steps skip or wait for the next allowed time. Your own quiet-hours and shop rules still apply on top of this. The send window is the automation’s clock, not a replacement for how you talk to customers. Turn the whole Send window off when this automation should message any time it runs.

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Email on run failure

Under Safety, Email on run failure is on by default. You can opt out. When it is on, ShopWrk emails owners and admins after consecutive failures hit Alert after failures. If failures keep going and hit Disable after failures, the automation trips a circuit breaker and stops running so it does not keep failing in a loop. Rules that matter:
  • The alert number must be lower than the disable number.
  • Opting out of the failure email takes effect from the live draft, even before you publish. You do not have to publish just to stop the emails.
Use a low alert number when this automation texts customers and you want to know fast. Use a higher disable number only if short blips are normal and you do not want the whole workflow turned off too early.

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Turn one on, pause it, or check the list

The automations list shows whether each workflow is on, what starts it, and whether runs are failing. Use Builder to edit steps. Use Activity to inspect runs, cancel, retry, or diagnose. Use Settings for the name, on/off, send window, and failure emails. You can pause one without deleting it. Old automations that used one combined message trigger are moved onto the matching channel when ShopWrk can tell which channel it was. If it cannot tell, that step is marked incomplete so you can pick SMS, email, Instagram, or Facebook yourself.

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How this ties to Conversations, Estimates, and Jobs

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Walkthrough: missed-call text with quiet hours

Sam misses a call from Alex on Saturday night. You already built Missed inbound call -> Wait 2 minutes -> Send SMS with a short “sorry we missed you” text. In Settings you turned on Send window, enabled Monday through Saturday 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and left Sunday off. Email on run failure stays on, alert after 3 failures, disable after 10. When Alex calls Saturday at 9:40 PM, the automation starts, but the SMS waits until Monday morning inside the send window. Monday you open Activity, see the Completed run named for Alex, and open Run details to confirm the text step sent. If the SMS step had failed three times in a row on other contacts, owners would get the failure email. At ten straight failures the automation would disable so it stops looping. You would open the Failed run, click Diagnose with AI, review ShopWrker’s prompt in Builder, fix the step, publish, then Retry from Activity.

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Gotchas

  • Activity is per automation. Open the workflow first, then Activity. The list only hints that runs are failing.
  • Diagnose does not send itself. ShopWrker opens with a prompt. You still decide whether to submit.
  • Retry is not always available. Some cancelled or reconciled cases cannot retry. Read the run details before assuming Retry will show.
  • Send window only shapes outbound message steps. It does not delete the run. Steps may skip or defer until the window opens.
  • Alert must be less than disable. The form expects the warning earlier than the circuit breaker.
  • Failure email opt-out is live from the draft. You do not need to publish to stop the emails.
  • Form triggers still need one form. Publish stays blocked until Meta Lead Form or ShopWrk Form Submitted has exactly one form picked.