Automations
An Automation is a standing rule: when something happens, send a saved prompt to a Thread or a Captain, or start a new Thread. Whorl has no separate workflow engine. Repeatable work is a prompt, usually naming a skill, plus a trigger that says when to run it.
Every run happens in a Thread that your team can open, so you can see what it did.
Create an Automation
- Choose Automations in the sidebar, then New automation. The shortcut for the Automations page is ⌥⌘A (Alt+Ctrl+A on Windows and Linux).
- Name it, and describe what it should do in the prompt, as you would to a teammate. Name the skill to use, the inputs and where to put the result. For example: "When a deal moves to Closed Won, draft a thank-you email to the customer's main contact and list the next steps for onboarding."
- Choose the trigger, which says when it runs. See below.
- Choose the target, which says who does the work: a new Thread for each run, one existing Thread that keeps its history, or a Captain.
- Choose Create automation.
An Automation starts working at once. There is no approval step. Test it with Run now, then open the last run to read the result.
An Automation runs as one person, and with that person's access: the person who last saved its prompt, trigger or target. It never gets more access than they have.
Triggers
| Group | Trigger | Runs |
|---|---|---|
| Time | On a schedule | Once, hourly, daily, on weekdays, weekly, monthly, yearly, or on a custom schedule written as a cron expression or minutes between runs. Choose the time zone, and when it ends: never, on a date, or after a number of runs. |
| Whorl | A thread is created | When a Thread starts. |
| A thread finishes | When a Thread finishes its work. | |
| A file or folder changes | When a file is added, changed or removed in the whole Space or a folder. You can limit it to subfolders or file types. | |
| Another automation finishes | After a chosen Automation. Whorl refuses a chain that would loop. | |
| Microsoft 365 | An email arrives | When mail arrives in your inbox. You can match the sender or a word in the subject. |
| A Teams message is posted | When a message arrives in a chat or channel, or when one mentions you. | |
| A meeting is about to start | 15 minutes before each meeting. | |
| Other apps | A webhook gets an event | When a webhook endpoint receives an event. |
The Microsoft 365 triggers need Microsoft 365 to be connected. Email, chat and meeting details are shown to everyone who can open the run's Thread.
Webhook endpoints
A webhook endpoint turns an outside service's calls into events that Automations can react to.
- In Automations, choose New webhook.
- Give it a name, name the app that sends events, and choose Create webhook.
- Copy the address Whorl shows. It works like a password, so Whorl shows it only once. Choose I've copied it when you have it saved.
- Paste the address into the other app as the place to send events, then make a change in that app so it sends one. Choose Send a test event to check the endpoint without waiting.
- On the webhook's page, under When an event arrives, start, pick the Automations it starts. You can also create an Automation with the trigger A webhook gets an event and choose this endpoint.
The webhook's page shows Listening and the Last event it received. Choose Pause to turn events away until you Resume it.
Anyone with the address can send events, so treat it like a secret. If you delete the endpoint, its address stops working and the Automations that listen to it pause. For people who write code, an endpoint can run a handler file first, which can check or reshape each event.
Pause, resume and failures
- Pause stops an Automation without deleting it, and Resume turns it on again. A paused Automation shows Paused.
- After three failed runs in a row, an Automation pauses itself. The person it runs as sees Paused automations in Activity. Check the last run, fix the cause, then choose Resume.
- An Automation also pauses when its event source is deleted, when its owner leaves, or when the person it runs as loses access to what it needs. Whorl tells you why.
- To change who an Automation runs as, save a change to its prompt, trigger or target. You become the person it runs as.
Waits and Reminders
Agents set Waits and Reminders for their own work. There is no page for them, so ask an agent.
- A Wait is a one-time "wake me when this happens". An agent sets one when it needs to check back, for example "check the build in two days". It always has a timeout, so a Wait never lasts forever.
- A Reminder is a Wait that, when it comes due, posts a Note that mentions the people it names. It does not wake the agent.
Say it in a Thread or to a Captain: "Remind Priya on Friday to send the venue list." The agent sets it and tells you when it will fire.
Related
- Captains keep their own follow-ups and routines.
- Activity and Requests tells you when an Automation pauses.
- Threads