Build automations

Automations handle repetitive work for you. Instead of manually triaging every ticket, sending the same follow-up messages, or routing requests to the right team, you describe what should happen and Copilot builds a workflow that runs automatically. Describe the automation you want in plain language. Copilot first returns a plan describing the workflow it intends to build and waits for your approval before creating anything. Once you approve, it builds the workflow with the triggers, conditions, approval steps, and multi-step logic you described. When you open Copilot from a workflow page, it automatically has context about that workflow’s setup and run history.

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How the plan-and-approve flow works

Every workflow build goes through the same two steps.

1. Copilot returns a plan. For any request to build a workflow, Copilot summarizes the workflow it intends to create (the trigger, the steps, and any approval or branching logic) and asks whether to build it, adjust it, or cancel. Nothing is created yet.
2. You approve, and Copilot builds it. After you confirm, Copilot creates the workflow, configures each step, and validates it.

Phrasing your request as an imperative like Build a workflow that... does not skip the plan step — that is just how the request is phrased. To have Copilot build without the approval round-trip, give explicit standing approval in the same message, for example go ahead and build it, no need to confirm or create and configure it end-to-end without asking. Standing approval still does not skip disclosure when part of your request is unsupported (see Requests with unsupported parts).

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Create workflows

Tell Copilot what you want to automate and it generates the workflow with the right trigger, steps, and settings. You can describe a complete workflow in a single message or build it up step by step.

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What Copilot supports

• Triggers with filters: Choose the event that starts the workflow and narrow it to specific conditions (for example, only run when a ticket is created in the IT Support channel with high priority)
• Conditional branches: Add steps that follow different paths depending on a condition. For example, check whether a user belongs to a group and take different actions based on the answer
• Approval steps: Add approval gates where the workflow pauses and waits for someone to approve or deny before continuing
• Passing data between steps: Use information from one step as input to a later step. For example, use the requester’s email from the trigger to look up their manager, then send that manager a notification

Example prompts:

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Walkthrough: building a simple notification workflow

Start with a straightforward workflow to see how the process works before adding complexity.

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Walkthrough: building a workflow with conditional branching

You can describe workflows with “if this, then that” logic and Copilot sets up the branching for you.

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Walkthrough: building a workflow with approval

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Walkthrough: scheduled Slack reports of ticket data

Ask Copilot to send a recurring Slack report of live ticket data (for example, your open tickets each morning, or a team’s backlog every Monday). Copilot builds a workflow with a cron-based schedule trigger, queries the tickets you describe, formats the results, and posts them to a Slack DM or channel. You can preview the message before turning the workflow on. Use this when you want raw ticket data on a recurring schedule. For AI-generated summaries of custom dashboard widgets, use AI Briefs instead. Example prompts:

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Requests with unsupported parts

Some outcomes are configured elsewhere in Ravenna and no workflow step can produce them. When your request mixes a buildable workflow with one of these, Copilot returns a plan for the buildable part and, in the same message, names each unsupported part and where to configure it instead. It does not silently drop the unsupported part, and it does not decline the whole request. Outcomes Copilot cannot build into a workflow:

• SLA policies, response and resolution targets, and breach alerts. A workflow can trigger on an SLA breach, but no workflow step creates, attaches, or edits an SLA policy — the SLA engine attaches policies to matching tickets automatically. To manage SLA policies from Copilot, ask Copilot directly instead of putting it in a workflow (see Manage SLA policies); you can also configure them in Settings → SLAs.
• Access levels, access policies, and entitlements. Configure them in the Access Requests settings pages. Access Requests owns the eligibility, approval, provisioning, and revocation lifecycle end to end.
• Ticket categories and app activation. Configure them in workspace settings.

Example: a mixed request. Copilot returns a plan for the buildable half — a workflow triggered on the access request that gates provisioning behind manager approval — and, in the same message, calls out that the 4-hour SLA cannot live inside the workflow. Copilot can still create the SLA policy for you (see Manage SLA policies) or you can configure it in Settings → SLAs. You approve the plan, Copilot builds the workflow, and the SLA policy is created as a separate step. Standing approval like go ahead, no need to confirm skips the approval step for the buildable part but does not skip this disclosure. Copilot still names each unsupported part before building.

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Edit and organize workflows

Update existing workflows by adding, removing, or changing steps. You can also adjust triggers, update conditions, and organize workflows into collections (folders). What you can change:

• Add, remove, or reorder steps in an existing workflow
• Update trigger events and filter conditions
• Change step settings like message content, assignees, or channel targets
• Move workflows between collections to keep them organized
• Rename workflows and update their descriptions

Example prompts:

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Validate workflows

Before turning on a workflow, ask Copilot to check it for common problems like missing triggers, disconnected steps, or invalid references between steps. Example prompts:

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Troubleshoot workflow runs

When a workflow run fails or does something unexpected, Copilot can pull up the full run history, show you which steps succeeded, which failed, and what the error was. Example prompts:

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Tips

• Start simple. If you are new to workflows, begin with a single trigger and one or two steps. You can always ask Copilot to add more steps later.
• Describe the complete workflow in one message when possible. Copilot handles triggers, branches, and step configuration all at once, which works better than adding pieces one at a time.
• Open Copilot from the workflow page to give it automatic context about the workflow you are editing or troubleshooting.
• Validate before publishing. Ask Copilot to check for issues before opening the workflow editor to publish it.
• Skip the plan approval when you don’t need it. Add explicit standing approval to your message (for example, go ahead and build it end-to-end without asking) and Copilot builds without the round-trip. A bare Build a workflow that... does not count — you have to say you don’t want to confirm. Copilot still discloses any unsupported parts before building.
• Ask what actions are available. If you are not sure what steps you can add, ask “What workflow actions are available?” and Copilot lists them, including available integrations.