Send messages in an automation
Add a messaging step to send an SMS, email, or WhatsApp message as part of a workflow.
This guide covers the Automations dashboard preview, which is not yet generally available.
Configure a send step
- Add Send SMS, Send email, or Send WhatsApp to the flow.
- Choose the message content or a channel template. Map its parameters from trigger data, earlier outputs, or variables.
- Enter or map the recipient, then select a sender if the chosen template does not provide one.
- Inspect Message preview and the prepared inputs with representative sample data.
- Connect the success path to the next step and decide what should happen on failure.
Preview does not send. Check the recipient mapping carefully before publishing: a fixed recipient receives each run's message, while a mapped recipient varies with the run's data.
SMS
Choose how to supply the message:
| Content | Sender and category |
|---|---|
| Write a message | Choose a sender eligible for the destination and set the message category. |
| Workspace SMS template | Choose a sender. The published template supplies the message category. |
| Bird built-in SMS template | Bird selects the sender and uses the template's category. |
When an SMS step uses a workspace template, it reads the template's current published content at send time. Publishing the automation does not freeze that content. Review template changes that affect active workflows, including runs waiting at a delay.
For personalized text, insert values using the editor's field controls. Check missing names and empty message fields. Message length and encoding can affect the number of SMS segments; inspect the channel record for the actual send result.
Send email supports subject and text or HTML content, or an email template with parameters. Configure the sender and recipient fields, including CC or BCC when needed. Use a verified sending domain.
For an automation responding to a received email, its trigger provides message details. Add Read received email body when a later decision needs the text or HTML body. Those body fields can have no value, so handle that case before using them.
If a delivery wait watches an email send, configure one recipient. A send with multiple recipients cannot provide the supported one-message receipt correlation for that wait.
Send WhatsApp supports a WhatsApp template or supported text, image, document, audio, and video content. Template sends must use approved content and a compatible language and parameter mapping. Other content remains subject to the channel's sender and customer service window requirements.
Bird-managed templates select their sender automatically. For other sends, choose the sending WhatsApp number.
If changing a template or language makes existing mappings incompatible, review and repair the affected fields before publishing. A content preview does not establish that the template is approved or the recipient can receive it.
For media, supply a reachable HTTPS URL. It must remain available when WhatsApp fetches the file, including after queueing or retries. The automation does not extend an expiring link.
Handle acceptance, failure, and delivery
The success path means the channel accepted the send request. Delivery can fail later. Use Wait for event when the next action depends on a supported delivery receipt, and connect both its matched and timeout paths.
The failure path handles a rejected send request. An unconnected failure ends the run as failed. A fallback attached directly to send failure does not catch a later delivery failure after acceptance.
A wait timeout means the expected receipt did not arrive before the deadline. It is not proof that the recipient did not receive the message. Consider duplicate-message risk before following a timeout with another send.