Use this article as a practical reference for choosing triggers, actions, and common automation patterns inside Sutra. For a deeper strategy walkthrough, read Designing Automations on Sutra: The Complete Guide.
Automation availability can vary by space, account access, plan, and connected integrations. If you do not see a trigger or action listed here, check your permissions and the setup of the space you are working in.
How to choose the right trigger
Start with the moment that should begin the journey. A trigger should be specific enough that the right people enter the automation only once, and broad enough that you do not need to manage the same flow manually.
When someone registers or joins
Best for onboarding, welcome messages, approval flows, registration surveys, adding people to cohort spaces, event invites, and first-step instructions.
Recommended workflow: Send welcome email -> Survey person on join -> Add person to a space -> Wait -> Send follow-up email or direct message.
When someone submits a contact form or shows interest
Best for lead follow-up, inquiry routing, application starts, waitlists, and external CRM or operations handoffs.
Recommended workflow: Send confirmation email -> Webhook to your external system -> Wait -> Send next-step email.
When someone completes a survey
Best for segmenting people by answers, moving people into the right space, updating member properties, or triggering a personalized next step.
Recommended workflow: Set member property -> Condition -> Add person to the matching space -> Send tailored email.
When someone completes a space or milestone
Best for courses, cohort programs, certification paths, module unlocks, and next-step journeys.
Recommended workflow: Issue certificate -> Add person to the next space -> Send next-step email -> Wait -> Send check-in message.
When someone is removed or should be cleaned up
Best for removing access from related spaces, cleaning up contacts, and notifying an external system that someone should no longer be included.
Recommended workflow: Remove member from related spaces -> Remove contact if appropriate -> Webhook to your external system.
When your account has additional activity or structure triggers
Some spaces and accounts may expose additional triggers based on activity, parent spaces, subspaces, or configured objects such as surveys. Use these when the automation should respond to a more specific moment than registration.
Recommended workflow: Send direct message -> Wait -> Condition -> Send email, add to space, or call a webhook.
Automation actions
These are the core action types you may be able to add in Sutra. The actions available in a specific automation depend on the selected trigger and your account access.
Send email: Send a welcome message, confirmation, reminder, or next-step instruction.
Send direct message: Send a message inside Sutra for a more personal nudge or check-in.
Add person to a space: Place someone into a cohort, resource library, module, welcome area, or private discussion space.
Remove member from a space: Remove access when someone leaves, completes, or no longer belongs in a related space.
Remove contact: Clean up contacts when someone should no longer be tracked in that context.
Wait: Delay the next step by a period of time. Wait timing is approximate because these steps run in the background.
Survey person on join: Require a registration survey before the person continues through the joining flow.
Set member status to pending: Hold a registrant for review before they fully enter the space.
Set member property: Store useful information for segmentation, reporting, or later automation logic.
Condition: Branch the workflow so different people receive different next steps.
Go to step: Send the automation back to another step when you need a loop or repeated path. Sutra includes safeguards to prevent unsafe loops.
Invite to Google Calendar event: Add someone to a calendar event when your Google connection is active.
Webhook: Send data to an external system, such as a CRM, email platform, spreadsheet, or operations tool.
Issue certificate: Award a certificate after a completion or qualification step, when certificate access is available.
Recommended workflow recipes
Simple registration onboarding
Use this when everyone who registers should receive the same welcome path.
Person registers -> Send welcome email with {{space_link}} -> Add person to welcome space -> Wait -> Send orientation message.
Application or approval flow
Use this when you want to collect information and review someone before they fully enter.
Person registers -> Send email explaining the process -> Survey person on join -> Set member status to pending -> Review and approve manually.
Cohort placement
Use this when registrants should move into a specific cohort, private space, or track.
Person registers -> Survey person on join -> Set member property -> Condition -> Add person to the matching cohort space -> Send tailored welcome email.
Course or module progression
Use this when completion of one space should unlock the next experience.
Space completed -> Issue certificate if needed -> Add person to next module -> Send next-step email -> Wait -> Send check-in.
Live event registration
Use this when a registrant should receive event logistics automatically.
Person registers -> Invite to Google Calendar event -> Send prep email -> Wait -> Send reminder email or direct message.
External handoff
Use this when another system needs to know that something happened in Sutra.
Person registers or completes a survey -> Webhook -> Set member property -> Send confirmation email.
Access cleanup
Use this when leaving one space should remove someone from related areas or external lists.
Member removed -> Remove member from related spaces -> Remove contact if appropriate -> Webhook.
Build checks before turning it on
Confirm the starting event is the exact moment you want.
Make sure the automation is Active before people should enter it.
Review each email, direct message, survey, destination space, wait step, and branch.
Check integration-dependent steps, such as Google Calendar or webhooks.
Use the automation report after launch to confirm that people are entering and completing the workflow.