--- title: "Automations" slug: "automations" status: "new" updated: 2025-06-11T19:49:26Z published: 2025-06-11T19:49:26Z canonical: "support.tulip.co/automations" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.tulip.co/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Automations *New to automations and not sure where to start? You’ve come to the right place!* Automations is a new Tulip feature that allows you to automate and expedite Workflows in your processes. This article will cover the basics of what automations are, how you build them, and the capabilities for specific use-cases. ## Automation tasks Tasks are how Tulip measures automations. Automations are priced based on the number of tasks performed. A task is the work done by an Action Block, or the evaluation of a condition within a Decision Block. See [Overview of the Automations Editor](/r230/docs/overview-of-the-automations-editor) for a more detailed description. ## User permissions Existing roles are authorized for the Automations Page as defined below. All roles are able to create, archive, and edit an automation from the Automations page. - Account Owner - Workspace Owner - Administrator Similar to apps, any role can view automations. If you need to [change access permissions for a user](/r230/docs/adding-users-and-managing-user-roles), you can do so via the **Account Settings** page. ## Automations page overview Let’s take a tour of the Automations page to get familiar with the layout and information available. To get to the automations page, click the **Automations** tab in the top navigation bar. At the start your page may be blank, but soon your page will be full of all the automations you need to efficiently run through your process. Let’s break down what this page looks like: ![Automations Page Annotated](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/Automations%20Page%20Annotated.png) The automations page reveals information for each automation in your instance, organized by the date they were created. The status of the automation indicates where it’s active or inactive. Click the toggle button to change the status. Finally, the **“...”** button to the right of each automation allows you to duplicate or archive the automation. NOTE You cannot delete an automation for traceability purposes. To view archived automations, click the **“...”** in the top right corner of the page and select **View Archived Automations**. ![Archived Automation](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/Archived%20Automation.png) ## Write your first automation To start writing your first automation, click **+ Create Automation** in the top right corner of the automations page. Welcome to the Automations Editor! First, give your automation a name by clicking on ***Untitled Automation*** in the top left corner. Be sure to name it something identifiable that states the action or the process it completes. [Video for "VID_Automations_Walkthrough_2023_1920x1080.mp4"](https://tulip.widen.net/view/video/fnjnsyhb9o/VID_Automations_Walkthrough_2023_1920x1080.mp4?t.download=true&u=gjbdww) ## Optimize automations for your shop floor In order to get the most out of automations, it’s important to know the capabilities and integrations possible with this feature so you know exactly what’s possible. Automating processes should create streamlined workflows in order to allocate time and resources towards other, more manual tasks. To accomplish this, let’s go over some use-cases of how to incorporate automations into your shop floor. 1. **Dispatch work to the right people to minimize downtime.** ![Automation Use-cases Graphics](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/Automation%20Use-cases%20Graphics.png) 2. **Process data and update records in your system.** ![Automation Use-cases Graphics 1](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/Automation%20Use-cases%20Graphics%20%281%29.png) 3. **Get ahead of requests to keep production running smoothly.** ![Automation Use-cases Graphics 2](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/Automation%20Use-cases%20Graphics%20%282%29.png) 4. **Ensure procedures are followed and stay up to date with compliance.** ![Automation Use-cases Graphics 3](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/Automation%20Use-cases%20Graphics%20%283%29.png) 5. **Respond to quality issues quickly and maintain accurate records.** ![Automation Use-cases Graphics 4](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/Automation%20Use-cases%20Graphics%20%284%29.png) ### Integrations You can integrate Machines with automations, and soon you’ll be able to use Connector Functions as well. Link [Tables](/r230/docs/an-overview-of-tables) so you can get a notification when a row updates. Coming soon, you’ll also be able to set alerts for [Analytics](/r230/docs/what-are-analytics-1) (Insight Detected) and run the automation on a schedule or timer. The integrations with automations allow you to customize your experience and take full advantage of the Tulip platform. ## Collect data Collect data on your automations with versions and run history features. These tools give insights on the number of automation versions created and the performance of the automation itself. [Versions](/r230/docs/how-to-use-automations-versions) are iterations of an automation. Each time you edit an automation, it creates a new version and archives the former one. View the current version number from the Automations main page or the Version History page for a specific automation. ![Automations - Version History](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/Automations%20-%20Version%20History.png) [Run history](/r230/docs/how-to-use-automations-run-history) is the record of events an automation has encountered. A Run refers to each time an event is invoked and an action is fired. The run history page gives details such as the version per firing, the status, the start time, and the end time. ![Automations - Run History](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/Automations%20-%20Run%20History.png) Now that we’ve covered the basics of Automations, you can get started creating your own for your specific processes. ## Further reading - [Overview of the Automations Editor](/r230/docs/overview-of-the-automations-editor) - [How to Use Automations Versions](/r230/docs/how-to-use-automations-versions) - [How to Use Automations Run History](/r230/docs/how-to-use-automations-run-history) **Automation** **Workflow** that performs tasks in the background, without an interface. Automations run logic every time an **event** occurs. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Glossary/Automations1.gif) **Workflow** General term to describe a series of logic in Tulip including **apps** or **automations**. **Action Block** Type of **logic block** that manipulates data or alerts users. **Decision Block** Type of **logic block** that holds conditional logic. This logic block always has 2 branches coming out of it labeled “yes” and “no”. **Automations Editor** Visual editor for managing and creating **automations** within the Tulip platform. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Glossary/Automations%20Editor.png) **Machine** A **Machine** is a digital representation of a physical datasource. Machines have **Attributes** that are updated through an OPC-UA Connector or the Tulip API. **Connector Function** **Connector Functions** are individual operations to interact with an HTTP or SQL Datasources. Connector Functions can have inputs and outputs, and can be called from: Triggers, Functions, Automations, and AI Agents. Once pulled, data can be used throughout your applications. **Tulip Tables** **Tulip Tables** are a global location to store your production data. Tables are made up of Records (rows). A single can be accessed from multiple apps or stations at the same time. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/Tulip%20Tables%20Overview%20-%20Feature%20Overview.gif) **Analytics** **Analytics** are live updating graphs and metrics calculated based on app data, Table data, and machine data. Analytics can be embedded and dynamically filtered within an application. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/7c6ff534-cad3-4fc8-9583-912c4016362f/Images/Documentation/image-1662410510869.png) **Run** Occurs each time an event is invoked in an **automation**.