> ## Knowledge Base Index
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> Use this file to discover available pages before exploring further.
> Pure-Markdown content can be obtained by appending a '.md' suffix to the content URLs listed in the sitemap (without the trailing slash).

# Automate a request type

| **Plans:** Pro and Agency.

You can automate each request type. With automations you can set it up so that every request of that type gets the same assignee, message, status or Intake Form without anyone on your team lifting a finger. You set this on the **Automations** tab in **Settings › Requests › Request types**. Automations apply to every request of that type.

## Set up assignees and triggers

1. Open **Settings › Requests › Request types**, select a request type and open **Automations**.
2. In **Assignees**, choose one or more team members in **Assign** and the clients in **To clients**: specific clients or **All clients**. You must fill in both.
3. Select **Create new rule** to add a rule for other clients — for example, one rule for the account manager of one client and one rule for all other clients.
4. Select **Add new trigger** and choose a trigger.
5. Choose the action: **Change status**, **Send message** or **Send intake form**, and fill in its settings. For example, `Creating new Request` → `Send message` tells the client that you received their request.
6. Select **Save**.

![The Automations tab: assignees (2), another assignment rule (3), triggers (4) and their actions (5), and Save (6).](https://getzendo.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/kb-q7-automations.webp =652x574)

To change the order of the triggers, drag them by the handle on the left.

## Five triggers react to what happens to the request

| Trigger | When it runs |
|---|---|
| **Creating new Request** | A request of this type is created — by a client, by your team on their behalf, or by a service purchase. |
| **Operator assigned** | Somebody from your team is assigned to the request. |
| **Request status changed** | The request moves to a status that you pick by name. |
| **Request state changed** | The request moves into a state that you pick: Pending, Active or Completed. |
| **Request archived** | The request is archived. |

## Assignment rules name people, not roles

The people in a rule are assigned when the request is created; if a rule names several people, all of them are assigned. Roles play no part in this. If a type has no rules, its requests arrive unassigned, and someone assigns them by hand on the request.

![The five triggers, and the action that follows each one.](https://getzendo.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/kb-q7-triggers.webp =500x404)

## Automated messages come from the system bot

An automation posts messages as the automated sender, not as a person. You set its name and avatar under **System bot** in **Settings › Brand › Domain & email**. A form sent by an automation appears in **Forms › Shares** with the same sender in the **Shared by** column. See [Name the system bot and set your help links](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/name-the-system-bot-and-set-your-help-links-qvqbis/).

## Changes apply to requests already in progress

Automations are read each time something happens, so a change to them applies at once, also to requests that are already open. A status change made by an automation does not start other automations, so automations cannot loop.

## Automations cannot react to payments, orders, deadlines or schedules

There is no trigger for a payment, an order, a deadline or a schedule. To tell your team about these, use notifications. To make something happen outside Zendo, use Zapier. See [Set notification defaults for your team and clients](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/set-notification-defaults-for-your-team-and-clients-7uej9f/) and [Connect Zapier](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/connect-zapier-19h5kki/).

## Related

- [Create a request type](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/create-a-request-type-pucu6t/)
- [Understand statuses and the three states](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/understand-statuses-and-the-three-states-10e4jci/)
- [Send an Intake Form to a client](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/send-an-intake-form-to-a-client-1pgejux/)
- [Name the system bot and set your help links](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/name-the-system-bot-and-set-your-help-links-qvqbis/)
- [Take requests from people without an account](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/take-requests-from-people-without-an-account-pcoofh/)