Quickstart

This guide shows you how to create and run your first automation in Automation Hub. You'll start with a Workspace, organize it in a Collection, build a Job, and define the Workflow steps visually.

Concept flow

Workspace → Collection → Job → Workflow Steps

• Workspace: Groups all your automations for a team or environment
• Collection: Organizes related jobs within a workspace
• Job: The complete automation workflow with a name and description
• Workflow Steps: Individual actions (fetch data, send message, call API, etc.)

What you'll build

A simple Slack Summary Report automation that:

1. Gets triggered manually or on a schedule
2. Reads data from a data source (Google Sheets, database, API)
3. Posts the summary to a Slack channel or thread

Prerequisites

• Automation Hub running (UI accessible)
• At least one Connection configured (Slack, Google Sheets, etc.)
• Basic understanding of your data source

First time? Use Test Mode

Before running automations against live systems, turn on Test Mode from the Canvas toolbar (the Enable Test Mode toggle). Steps with pinned output return saved data instead of calling real systems — ideal for validating your workflow end to end safely. See Test Mode.

New to the interface? Start with Navigating Automation Hub for a tour of the tabs, search, and card actions.

1. Create a Workspace

A Workspace is your top-level container for all automations.

Create a Workspace

1. Open the Workspaces tab
2. Open the Create dropdown (top of the page) and choose Workspace — or, on an empty tab, click + Create Workspace
3. In the slide-in panel, name it Production Use Cases
4. Click Create

2. Create a Collection

A Collection groups related jobs within a workspace.

Create a Collection

1. Open the Collections tab
2. Open the Create dropdown and choose Collection — or, on an empty tab, click + Create collection
3. Name it Slack Notifications and select Production Use Cases as its workspace
4. Click Create

3. Create a Job and Build Your Workflow

A Job is your automation. It contains ordered Steps that run sequentially.

Create a Job

1. Open the Create dropdown and choose Job — or, on an empty Jobs tab, click + Create Job
2. Give it a name (e.g., "Data Sync", "Report Generator", "Alert Monitor") and select its workspace and collection
3. Click Create
4. On the new job's card, click the Canvas icon button to open the builder

Build the workflow in the Canvas

The builder opens on three tabs — Configurations, Canvas, and Executions. The Canvas is a visual, drag-and-drop interface where you design your automation workflow. Steps and triggers are added from the Step Palette:

Build your workflow on the Canvas

1. Click the + button (Toggle Step Palette) to open the Step Palette
2. On the Triggers tab, search and add a trigger — Manual, Schedule, Webhook, Chat, Form, and more
3. Switch to the Actions tab, search for a node, and add your action steps (read, transform, post, notify, etc.)
4. Drag from one step's output port to the next step's input to connect them
5. Open each step to configure it, then click Save

Canvas Interface

Here's what the Canvas looks like when building a workflow:

The Canvas shows:

• Triggers on the left (Manual, Webhook, Scheduled execution, etc.)
• Steps connected together with visual connectors
• Color-coded boxes showing different step types
• Output/Input ports for connecting steps
• Minimap on the right for navigating large workflows

4. Run your automation

Once your workflow is built and saved:

Run your automation

1. Click the Execute-WorkFlow play button in the Canvas toolbar — it appears only when the job has a manual trigger
2. Watch the execution flow in real-time on the Canvas
3. Steps turn green when they succeed, red if they fail
4. Open the Executions tab for detailed logs

Run a single step

To test one step on its own, open it and click Execute Step in its config panel. This is enabled only while the job has a manual trigger; otherwise the button shows "Enable a manual trigger to execute steps".

View results

• Canvas: Real-time visual execution flow
• Executions Tab: Full logs and step-by-step outputs
• Slack: Your message appears in the configured channel

5. Set up automation triggers

To run your job automatically, add a schedule trigger. Each trigger is its own node from the Step Palette — you add a Schedule trigger alongside (or instead of) the Manual one; you do not switch an existing trigger's type.

Add a Schedule trigger

1. Open the Step Palette and go to the Triggers tab
2. Add the Schedule trigger to the Canvas
3. Open it and set it to run Every day at 9:00 AM
4. Click Save

A job can have more than one trigger — for example, a Manual trigger for testing and a Schedule trigger for production. The Execute-WorkFlow play button appears only while a Manual trigger is present.

Common step types

Step Type	What it does	Example
Trigger	Starts the job	Manual, Schedule, Webhook
Read Data	Fetches from a source	Google Sheets, Database
Condition	Makes a decision	If value > 100, then...
Transform	Formats or calculates	Combine fields, math
Post Message	Sends to a channel	Slack, Teams, Email
Approve	Waits for review	Human approval gate

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Step fails	Check the Executions tab for error details
Data not showing	Verify your Connection is configured with valid credentials
Slack message blank	Check the message formatting uses correct step output variables
Trigger not running	Confirm you saved the job after making trigger changes

Next steps

• Jobs & Steps — Learn about workflow structure
• Connections — Set up reusable system access
• Triggers — Schedule and automate execution
• Integration Nodes — Explore all available actions