Have an automation in mind? In this lesson, you'll learn how to build it with AI. Describe it to Opie, review the flow it proposes, and get an unpublished draft to finish in the Automation Builder. You'll also see how to ask Opie to explain any saved automation.
Click the Opie button in the bottom-right corner of your screen. Then describe the automation in plain language: what starts it, and what should happen next. Here, we're asking for a welcome automation for contacts who submit a consultation form. It sends the existing welcome email, waits two days, then sends a confirmation email. Use the names of your forms, emails and tags as they appear in your account, so Opie picks the right ones. You can also start from Automations, then New Automation, where Help me build an Automation sits at the top of the page.
Opie works out the flow and finds the form and email you named. Then it proposes the automation step by step: the trigger, each action and the timing, with the asset it picked for each one. Check that it chose the right ones. If you mention an email or tag that isn't in your account yet, Opie can create a new email or tag after you confirm. It won't write the email for you, so it lists any new email that still needs content.
At this point, nothing is built yet. On the confirmation card, choose Other to describe a change, like a different wait or another email, and Opie updates the proposal. Choose No to cancel. When the flow looks right, choose Yes, then click Submit Answer.
Opie builds the map, checks it and saves it as an unpublished draft. If it can't build a map that passes its checks, it tells you, and nothing is saved.
Click Open in app, and the draft opens in the Automation Builder. Before you publish, add content to any new emails. They start empty, and Ontraport won't stop you from publishing without it. Then finish any Webhook or AI Assistant settings, and run the checklist. When everything looks right, click Publish, then Save & Publish.
Opie can also explain any saved automation, including one someone else built. Ask about it by name, and Opie walks you through its triggers, steps and branches in plain language. It reads the last saved version, so save your changes first.
A few things to know about this version. Opie only builds automations for Contacts. It builds new automations, but it can't change ones you've already saved, so make those edits in the Automation Builder. And publishing is always up to you.
So, to build an automation with AI: describe it to Opie, review the proposal, then finish and publish the draft. Next up, we'll take a closer look at triggers.