Getting Started with StretchAutomate

What is StretchAutomate?

StretchAutomate is the workflow automation app inside StretchSuite. It watches for an event in one of your apps — a new CRM lead, a paid invoice, a submitted form — and automatically runs a chain of steps in response, such as sending an email, creating a task, or tagging a customer. If you have used Zapier, the idea is familiar: connect your apps once, then let StretchAutomate move information and trigger work between them without manual effort.

What makes StretchAutomate different is that it is native to StretchSuite. Your StretchCRM, StretchMail, StretchBooks, StretchShop, StretchTasks, StretchSchedule, StretchForms, StretchSocial, and StretchSupport apps are all built‑in connectors — no third‑party setup, no brittle integrations, and no data leaving your platform. You can also reach anything else over the web with a Webhook / HTTP connector.

Key concepts

Before you build, it helps to know the vocabulary you will see across the app:

• Workflow — one automation: a trigger plus the steps that run when it fires.
• Trigger — what starts a workflow. StretchAutomate supports four trigger types: Manual, Webhook, Schedule, and App event (an event from a connector, like lead_created).
• Step — a unit of work inside a workflow. Steps come in four kinds: actions (do something in a connector, e.g. send_email), filters (only continue if a condition is met), transforms (reshape data), and delays (wait before continuing).
• Connector — a StretchSuite app (or Webhook/HTTP, or Built‑in logic) that provides triggers and actions. The full list lives in the Library tab.
• Connection — a linked account or credential reference a workflow uses to reach a connector. Connections store references, never plaintext secrets.
• Run — one execution of a workflow, recorded in the Run ledger whether it was a simulate (dry) run or a live run.
• DAG — your workflow's steps form a directed acyclic graph; each step can depend_on earlier steps. StretchAutomate can validate this graph and compute an execution plan before you run it.

The StretchAutomate workspace

The app is organized into six tabs:

Build your first workflow, step by step

We will build a simple automation: when a new lead is created in StretchCRM, send them a welcome email.

1. Browse the Library. Open the Library tab. Each card is a connector with its triggers (which start a workflow) and actions (which run inside one). Confirm that StretchCRM offers a lead_created trigger and StretchMail offers a send_email action.
2. Create a workflow. Click New workflow. Give it a clear name such as New lead → welcome email. It starts as a Draft, so nothing runs yet.
3. Choose a trigger. Set the Trigger type to App event and the Trigger config to the CRM lead_created event. (The other trigger types are Manual, Webhook, and Schedule.)
4. Add an action step. Add a step with a step key like welcome_email, type action, connector StretchMail, action send_email. In its configuration, map the recipient to the lead's email from the trigger — for example {{ trigger.email }} — and write your subject and body.
5. Validate the graph. Open Validate & Plan, pick your workflow, and review the validation result and execution plan. Fix any errors it reports (for example, a step that references a missing dependency).
6. Simulate. Run the workflow in simulate mode with a sample trigger payload. Open the Run ledger to see exactly what each step resolved to — no real email is sent in a simulation.
7. Activate. When you are happy, set the workflow status to Active (or use Publish, which validates first and then activates). Now it fires automatically on every new lead.

Realistic example

A studio wants every new lead nurtured immediately. They build New lead → welcome email with a CRM lead_created trigger and a StretchMail send_email action. They simulate with a test lead named Dana whose email is dana@example.com; the ledger shows the email step resolved the recipient to dana@example.com and rendered the subject "Welcome, Dana". Confident it works, they publish. From then on, every lead receives a welcome within seconds of entering the CRM.

Tips

• Keep new workflows in Draft or Paused while you build and test. A workflow only fires automatically once its status is Active.
• Always validate and simulate before you activate. Simulation has no real side effects, so it is safe to run as often as you like.
• Use clear, kebab‑case step keys (welcome_email, tag_customer) — you will reference them when mapping data between steps.
• The Dashboard is your daily starting point: it surfaces failed and partial runs so you notice problems early.

FAQ

Do I need to write code? No. You assemble workflows from triggers and steps in the UI. The Webhook/HTTP connector is available if you want to reach external systems.

Will a simulation email my customers? No. Simulate mode is a full dry run — it resolves and records every step but performs no real side effects.

Where do I see whether an automation actually ran? The Run ledger records every execution with a per‑step trace. The Dashboard summarizes overall health.