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Workflows let you automate multi-step support processes: route threads, follow up after delays, branch based on conditions, and chain actions together without code. Use them for anything that needs more than a single if-then rule.
Workflows in Plain

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What you can do

  • Run multi-step automations when specific thread events happen
  • Take different paths based on thread state, labels, tier, channel, or other properties
  • Pause for minutes, hours, or days before continuing
  • Cancel a pause early if something changes (e.g. the customer replies)
  • Trigger workflows manually on a thread or automatically from events
  • Set the order several workflows run in when they match the same event

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How workflows work

Every workflow starts with a trigger. You can trigger a workflow manually on a specific thread, or set it to run automatically when something happens (like a thread being created or a message being added). After the trigger fires, the workflow runs through steps. There are three types:
  • Condition steps check whether something is true or false and branch accordingly. For example, check if a thread has a specific label and take different paths based on the result.
  • Action steps do something like assigning a thread, setting priority, or sending a message, then continue to the next step.
  • Wait steps pause the workflow for a set duration. Each wait step has two outcomes: completed (the wait finished) or canceled (a cancel condition was met, e.g. the customer replied).

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Run order

One event can trigger several workflows. When it does, they run one after another, in the order they are sorted on the Workflows page. The order matters when one workflow depends on what another did on the same event. The workflow that applies the label has to run before the one that routes by it. Both need the same trigger. Run order does not start a Labels changed workflow from an Add labels step. A label a workflow adds or removes does not start Labels changed workflows, including an AI triage Add labels step. Plain does this so workflows cannot loop. See Labels changed. To change the order, go to Workflows and drag a workflow up or down the list. The new order applies to the next event. Runs already underway keep the order they started with. Two exceptions:
  • A workflow that pauses at a wait step, a Sidekick Agent action, or a Start Agent discussion step lets the next one start. The paused workflow continues with its later steps when the wait or Sidekick Agent action finishes. See wait for and Sidekick Agent in workflows.
  • Workflows started by two different events are separate runs, and neither waits for the other. See triggers.
If a later workflow depends on a Sidekick Agent result, put that logic in the same workflow, after the Sidekick Agent step.

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Create a workflow

1

Create the workflow

Go to Workflows in the sidebar, click New workflow, and give it a name.
2

Set a trigger

Choose Manual or Automatic, then select the events that should start the workflow.
3

Add and connect steps

Right-click the canvas, or drag a block from the Add block tab in the sidebar.Drag between step handles to connect them.If/Else and Wait Cancel conditions support and/or grouping. Each condition, or group of conditions creates a new branching option.If/Else also supports Else If Conditions, which create an additional branch. If/Else conditions with multiple Else If branches will run in order from top to bottom.
4

Publish

Click Publish. The workflow starts running against new threads.

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Duplicate a step

To reuse a step without rebuilding it, duplicate it. Two ways to do this:
  • Right-click any node on the canvas and select Duplicate.
  • Hold Option (Mac) or Alt (Windows) while dragging a node to place a copy at the new position. The original stays in place.
The copy keeps the step’s full configuration and branch structure. Connections to other nodes are not carried over: wire the copy into your workflow after placing it.

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Limits

  • Steps can only move forward. No loops
  • Wait durations: 1 second to 1 year

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Credits

Each run of a workflow that uses AI, such as one with a Sidekick Agent action step, uses 1–300+ credits from your workspace’s monthly allowance, depending on the work. Workflows without AI don’t use credits. See How credits work.