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Complete guide to Workflows
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Communications
September 1, 2026
afrus.ai
Automated sequences in AFRUS: who enters, what happens at each step, and how to read the report.
In this article
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⚡
What is a workflow?
An automated sequence that runs on its own, one person at a time
You define an entry condition (for example, "when someone is tagged New donor"), build an ordered list of steps with a delay between each one, and AFRUS handles the rest: each person who meets the condition enters the workflow, advances step by step at their own pace and exits when the sequence ends or when something removes them earlier.
🕐 Each person has their own clock
If someone enters today at 3pm and the second step has a 2-day delay, that email will be sent the day after tomorrow at 3pm — regardless of when others entered.
🎬 Steps are not just emails
A workflow can also add or remove tags, add or subtract scoring points, and even trigger another chained workflow.
Entry trigger
tag or event
tag or event
→
Enrollment filters
→
Step 1
after its delay
after its delay
→
Step 2 … N
→
Completed
Before each step AFRUS checks the person's status again. If they unsubscribed, have an exit tag or the workflow is paused, the step doesn't run. This check happens every time it's their turn to advance.
📋
Before you start
Three things you need to have ready
✉️
Verified email domain
Without this, the "New workflow" button appears disabled. Verification is done in the Autoresponders module. At the top of the workflows screen you'll see the current status.
🏷️
Clear tags
Tag triggers and tag steps work with tags that already exist in your organization. Create them before building the workflow.
🎯
A defined goal
It's much easier to build the sequence knowing which action counts as success. Without a goal, the report loses its most useful indicator.
📝
Step by step
From creation to activation
Part 1 — Create the workflow
1
Access the module
En el menú lateral: Processes → Flujos de trabajo.
2
Click "New workflow"
A dialog opens with two fields: Name (required) and Description (optional). The name is what you'll see in the list and the report. Use something descriptive: "New donor welcome 2026" is better than "Welcome".
3
Click "Create"
AFRUS creates the workflow in Draft status and takes you straight to the builder. While in draft nothing happens to anyone: you can build it at your own pace, save and come back another day.
Part 2 — Define who enters
4
Click the "Enrollment" block
The builder shows a canvas with three blocks: Enrollment at the top, your steps in the middle, and Exit / Goal at the bottom. Clicking the Enrollment block shows the Entry triggers in the right panel.
5
Choose the trigger type
| Type | When it fires | What you configure |
|---|---|---|
| Tag added | When that tag is added to a person | The tag |
| Event | When a platform event occurs for that person | The event type and, optionally, the campaign |
6
Si eliges Event, considera filtrar por campaña
The Campaign field is optional. If you fill it in, the trigger only fires when the event occurs within that specific campaign. If you leave it empty, any occurrence of the event fires the trigger.
7
Click "Add trigger"
You can add multiple entry triggers: they behave like an OR — it's enough for one to be met for the person to enter.
Part 3 — Build the steps
8
Add the first step
Use the "Add step" button at the top right of the canvas, or the "+" button that appears on connections between blocks to insert it in between. When adding it, you choose the action type:
| Type de paso | What it does | What it needs to run |
|---|---|---|
| Send email | Sends an email to the person | Subject + verified sender |
| Add tag | Adds a tag | A tag |
| Remove tag | Removes a tag | A tag |
| Add points | Adds points to the score | Integer greater than zero |
| Subtract points | Subtracts points from the score | Integer greater than zero |
| Start another workflow | Enrolls the person in another workflow | An active workflow different from the current one |
⚠️ A step missing its required configuration shows the "Incomplete — missing:" label on the canvas and blocks activation until you complete it.
9
Adjust the step delay
With the step selected, the right panel shows Delay and Unit (minutes, hours, days or weeks). The delay is the time waited before running that step.
A delay of 0 means "as soon as possible". In practice there's a delay of up to one minute, because AFRUS checks expirations once per minute.
10
Configure the step content
Para "Send email": completa Asunto, Nombre del remitente, Email del remitente y Responder a (opcional). El email se elige de las direcciones autorizadas de tu organización. Usa el botón de etiquetas de fusión junto al asunto para insertar campos personalizados como el nombre de la persona.
Click "Edit email" to open the editor in full screen. It has four tabs:
- Current design — preview of the current content (if one already exists)
- Gallery — pre-designed templates ready to use
- Correos enviados — reutiliza un correo que ya enviaste desde Communications
- HTML editor — paste your own HTML
You can also "Start from scratch". If the step already had a design, AFRUS asks for confirmation before replacing it — the previous design is lost.
Para Agregar / Remove tag: un único campo con buscador del catálogo de tu organización.
Para Agregar / Subtract points: un único campo numérico entero mayor que cero.
Para Start another workflow: un selector con los flujos activos disponibles (nunca el flujo actual).
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Order the steps
Drag the blocks on the canvas to change the order. When you release, the new order is saved automatically. The connection entering each block shows its delay, so you can read the complete timeline at a glance.
Part 4 — Define how to exit and what the goal is
12
Click the "Exit / Goal" block
The panel shows the Exit triggers, with the same mechanics as entry triggers: by tag added or by event. An exit trigger removes from the workflow whoever meets it, even if they have pending steps. It's how you say "if they already donated, stop asking them to donate".
13
Mark which one is the goal
Next to each exit trigger there's a selector. The one you mark is the workflow's goal: exits via that trigger are the ones that count as success and feed the Goal rate in the report. There can only be one goal.
Unsubscription and suppression always remove the person from the workflow, whether configured or not. It's a system rule, not an option.
Part 5 — Review Settings
14
Open "Settings" from the top bar
Here you'll find three options that significantly change the workflow's behavior:
- Allow re-enrollment: if disabled, a person who has already enrolled can't enter again even if the trigger fires again. Even with re-enrollment enabled, there are never two active enrollments at the same time for the same person.
- Enroll leads that already match the entry trigger — retroactive enrollment. It has its own section below.
- Send window: define horas, zona horaria y días en los que el flujo puede enviar. También tiene su sección propia.
Part 6 — Activate
15
Click "Activate"
A confirmation opens reminding you that once active, people matching the trigger will start enrolling. The dialog includes the retroactive enrollment toggle.
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If something is missing, AFRUS will tell you
| Problem blocking activation | What it means |
|---|---|
| No entry trigger | The workflow has no way for anyone to enter |
| No steps | The workflow does nothing |
| Incomplete email step | Missing subject, or sender is not verified |
| Tag step with no tag | Missing tag selection |
| Points step with no amount | Missing number, or it's not an integer greater than zero |
| Workflow step with no destination | Missing workflow selection |
✓
Done!
On activation you'll see the message "Your sequence was created and activated correctly. It's already enrolling leads." with direct access to the report.
🔄
Statuses del flujo
What happens to enrollments in each status
Draft— No one enters. It's the editing status, has no report.
Active— New people enter and existing enrollments advance.
Paused— No step advances. Active enrollments are frozen where they were and resume when reactivated.
Archived— Estado final. Las inscripciones activas se cierran con motivo Archived. No se puede volver atrás.
⚠️ Transitions are made from the Status selector on the editing screen, not with separate buttons. They apply on save.
🚪
Who enters y quién no
The enrollment filters and their reasons
The trigger firing doesn't guarantee the person enters. AFRUS applies a series of filters in order. The first one not met stops the enrollment, and the reason is recorded in the report.
| Reason | What happened |
|---|---|
| ✓ Enrolled | Entered the workflow correctly. |
| Suppressed | The email cannot receive sends: hard bounce, voluntary unsubscription or disabled address. A soft bounce does not suppress. |
| Re-enrollment blocked | Has already been through this workflow before and re-enrollment is disabled. |
| Already active | Has an active enrollment in this same workflow. |
| Exit condition present | Already meets one of the tag exit conditions, so they would enter only to exit immediately. |
| Lead not found | The person doesn't exist or doesn't belong to your organization. |
| Failed | Unexpected error processing that enrollment. |
⏮️
Retroactive enrollment
How to include those who already met the condition when activating
By default, a workflow only reaches those who meet the condition from activation onwards. If you activate today a workflow with entry by the tag New donor, people who already have that tag don't enter.
The option "Enroll leads that already match the entry trigger" changes that: on activation, AFRUS does a catch-up and enrolls those who already match today.
⚠️ It's a one-time action per workflow
The catch-up runs once and doesn't run again. If you try to activate it again, you'll see a notice that it already ran.
⚠️ Limit of 10,000 people
If the population exceeds that number, AFRUS rejects the operation instead of enrolling a random few. You must activate without retroactive and then enroll in batches.
⚠️ You can enable it with the workflow already active from Settings. This can enroll many people at once — review it before saving.
ℹ️ Does not cover all triggers. Resolves: entry tag and donations (
donation, subscription, recurrent_charge, failed_donation, failed_subscription, cancelled_subscription, donation_pending). Does not cover: lead, registration, abandoned_lead.Messages that may appear when finished
"Retroactive enrollment finalizada"Finished successfully. Open the report to see how many entered.
"Finished with issues"Finished, but N people could not be enrolled. Open the report to see the reasons.
"No one was enrolled"Either the workflow has no tag trigger, or no one has that tag right now. Check the trigger.
"A retroactive enrollment has already run"The catch-up has already been done for this workflow. This is expected.
"The workflow was activated, but the retroactive enrollment could not be queued"The workflow is active and no existing lead was enrolled. New ones will enter. Contact support.
"It's taking longer than expected"AFRUS stopped tracking progress from this screen. Open the report to check it.
🕐
The send window
Controls what hours and days the workflow can send emails
Without a send window, a step runs as soon as its delay expires, whatever the time. With the window enabled you define from what time, until what time, in what timezone and whether weekends are skipped.
✅ The rule is simple: if a step expires outside the window, it's not cancelled — it's rescheduled to the next allowed time. No one misses a step because it expired at midnight.
Important details
Timezone
It's taken from your user profile the first time you activate the window. If not configured, defaults to
America/Bogota.First step
The window also applies to the first step. Someone who enrolls at 3am doesn't receive the first email at 3am.
Live changes
It's checked again right before executing each step, not just when scheduling it. If you change the window while the workflow is running, pending steps adjust.
Daylight saving changes
All arithmetic is done in the configured timezone, so daylight saving time changes are handled correctly.
🚪
How people exit the workflow
Reasons de salida y cuándo ocurren
| Reason | When it occurs |
|---|---|
| Completed | All steps were executed. It's the natural end of the sequence. |
| Goal ⭐ | The exit trigger marked as goal was met. It's the one that counts as success and feeds the Goal rate. |
| Tag | A tag exit trigger that is not the goal was met. |
| Event | An event exit trigger that is not the goal was met. |
| Unsubscribed | The person unsubscribed or their email was suppressed. Always active, cannot be deactivated. |
| Manual | Someone removed them from the workflow via the enrollments table. It's the only exit that can be undone with the Reactivate button. |
| Archived | The workflow was archived while the person was still inside. |
Unsubscription and tag exits are checked before each step, not just on entry. Someone who unsubscribes in the middle of a sequence doesn't receive the remaining emails.
📊
How to read the report
Indicators, delivery per step and enrollment table
📈 The four indicators
| Indicator | What it counts |
|---|---|
| Enrolled | Historical total of workflow enrollments. |
| Actives | People currently inside, waiting for their next step. |
| Completeds | People who reached the end of the sequence. |
| Goal rate | Percentage of enrollments that exited via the goal: Goal exits / total enrolled. |
💡 El denominador de la Goal rate es el total histórico, incluidas las personas que todavía están dentro. Por eso en un flujo joven la tasa se ve baja y sube sola con el tiempo. Si no marcaste ninguna meta, la tasa es siempre 0%.
📦 Delivery per step
Each step shows three clickable counters — clicking them opens the detail with the list of people, date and reason:
| Counter | What it means |
|---|---|
| Sent | The step ran correctly. For emails: AFRUS delivered it to the sending system (doesn't mean the person opened it). |
| Faileds | The step failed. The detail shows the exact error. |
| Skipped | The step didn't run due to an expected cause, not an error (e.g.: the target workflow is not active). A growing number of skipped steps is a configuration signal. |
👥 The enrollments table
Lista a cada persona que pasó por el flujo. Puedes buscar por nombre o correo y filtrar por Estado y por Reason de salida.
- Next expiration: when the next step is due. Empty if the enrollment has ended.
- Remove from workflow: only available for active enrollments.
- Reactivate: only available for those that were manually removed.
Click any row to open that person's timeline: each step run, with its date, result and, for emails, the interaction: Clicked (clicked a link) · Opened (opened it, no click) · No data.
✅
Best practices
To get reliable results and avoid surprises
- Test the workflow with yourself first. Create it with an entry tag only you have, activate it with short delays, go through the entire sequence. Then duplicate with the real tag and actual delays.
- Start with retroactive enrollment off. Enable it only when you're sure the sequence is correct. It's a one-time action and there's no undo.
- Marca siempre una meta. Sin meta, la Goal rate es siempre 0% y el reporte pierde su indicador más útil.
- Use exit conditions to avoid being untimely. If the workflow asks for a donation, add an exit for the
donationevent. Nothing is more annoying than keep receiving the same request after already acting on it. - Set up the send window from the start. An automatic email at 4am reads as spam and the unsubscriptions it generates are permanent.
- Don't chain 0-delay steps. Several consecutive steps with no wait arrive almost simultaneously and the person perceives them as a flood.
- Check the skipped steps one week after activating. That's where configuration errors appear that activation validation can't detect.
⚠️
Limitations
What the tool doesn't do in this version
- The sequence is linear. There are no conditional branches like "if opened, send A; if not, send B". The only possible fork is exiting the workflow.
- Manual enrollment from the report is not available. People enter through triggers or retroactive enrollment.
- Triggers by tag removal and by segment are not enabled. Only tag added and event are offered.
- The catch-up does not cover events that are not part of the donation family (
lead,registration,abandoned_lead). - The enrollments table no se puede ordenar por columna. Se filtra con los filtros y la búsqueda.
- The retroactive enrollment limit is 10,000 people per workflow.
- An archived workflow cannot be reopened. It's a final status.
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