## Overview

The **Automation & Flows** area brings together the tools that make ConversaLabs work for you:
assigning conversations, replying at the right moment, moving deals in the CRM, firing webhooks, and
running entire dialogues with no manual effort. Instead of repeating tasks, you describe **what
should happen** and the platform does it.

There are five complementary capabilities, from the simplest to the most advanced:

- **Automation rules** — "when X happens, do Y" (trigger → conditions → actions).
- **Macros** — reusable sequences of actions an agent runs with one click on a conversation.
- **Flow Builder** — a visual builder for conversational flows (menus, questions, integrations).
- **Smart Routing** — distributes conversations to agents based on a policy.
- **Bots and Captain** — AI-powered replies and support bots.

## Prerequisites

- An active ConversaLabs account and a user with admin permission to configure automations.
- At least one connected **inbox**, so there are conversations to automate.
- Some capabilities are optional (enabled by plan or feature flag): **Flow Builder**, **Smart
  Routing**, and **Captain** may need to be enabled for your account. If they aren't in the menu,
  talk to an administrator.

## Step by step

1. Start with the basics: create an **automation rule** for your team's most frequent repetitive task
   (for example, assigning new conversations to a team).
2. Standardize day-to-day replies and procedures with **macros**.
3. When you need a multi-step dialogue (menu, data capture, integration), use the **Flow Builder**.
4. Decide **how** conversations reach agents with **Smart Routing**.
5. Add **bots and Captain** to answer common questions and qualify contacts automatically.

## Settings & options

- **Automation rules**: live under Settings, in Automation. Each rule has a trigger, conditions, and
  one or more actions.
- **Macros**: also under Settings; they become available inside the conversation for the agent to run.
- **Flow Builder**: its own module, with a visual node builder (messages, options, conditions, HTTP
  requests, and more).
- **Smart Routing**: routing policies and capacity policies, bound to inboxes.
- **Captain**: AI assistants, a document and response knowledge base, and the agent copilot.

## Use cases

- Automatically assign new conversations to the right team and add labels by keyword.
- Send an after-hours greeting and resolve a conversation after inactivity.
- Run a menu-based self-service experience on WhatsApp with the Flow Builder.
- Balance load across agents with a balanced routing policy.
- Let Captain answer frequently asked questions and only escalate to a human when needed.

## Tips, limits & best practices

- Start with a few rules and watch the result before creating dozens of automations.
- Give rules and macros clear names — it keeps maintenance manageable as the operation grows.
- Watch out for **overlapping rules** (two rules acting on the same conversation). Test in a sandbox
  inbox before applying to production.
- Respect channel limits (for example, WhatsApp anti-ban best practices when sending automatic
  messages).

## Troubleshooting

- **My rule didn't fire**: check the trigger and conditions — all conditions must be true. Also
  confirm the rule is active.
- **I don't see Flow Builder / Smart Routing / Captain**: the capability may not be enabled for your
  account or your access role. Talk to an administrator.
- **The action didn't happen**: confirm the agent/team/label referenced in the action still exists.

## See also

- [Automation rules: triggers, conditions, and actions](/hc/ajuda/articles/automation-flows-regras-de-automacao-en)
- [Macros: reusable actions](/hc/ajuda/articles/automation-flows-macros-en)
- [Flow Builder: visual conversational flows](/hc/ajuda/articles/automation-flows-flow-builder-en)
- [Smart Routing](/hc/ajuda/articles/automation-flows-smart-routing-en)
- [Bots and Captain (support AI)](/hc/ajuda/articles/automation-flows-bots-e-captain-en)