> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.autocampaign.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sequences

> Build timed follow-up series of emails, texts, and WhatsApp messages that stop automatically when a contact replies, books, or opts out.

## Overview

A [sequence](/getting-started/glossary#sequence) is a series of messages sent to
each contact in order over days or weeks. For example: an email today, a text
tomorrow, and a second email three days later. Contacts enter one at a time as
they match your audience, and leave as soon as they reply, book, or
[opt out](/getting-started/glossary#opt-out). Find sequences under **Marketing →
Campaigns → Sequences** in the sidebar (`/sequences`).

<Tip>
  **In short:** 1) Pick a goal and who should enter. 2) Add email, text, and wait
  steps. 3) Set stop rules, then start the sequence.
</Tip>

<Info>
  **Time to complete:** \~30 minutes  ·  **Difficulty:** Intermediate  ·  Wizard at `/sequences/new`, timeline
  editor at `/sequences/:id/edit`, email designer at `/sequences/:id/design`,
  report at `/sequences/:id/analytics`.
</Info>

**Sequence, campaign, or workflow?** A [campaign](/campaigns/overview) sends one
message to a whole audience at once. A sequence sends a fixed chain of messages
per contact, spread out by waits. A [workflow](/automation/workflow-builder)
adds branches ("if they clicked, do this; if not, do that"), conditions, and
actions other than sending messages. Use it when a straight line isn't enough.

## Before you start

* Text steps need an **Active**, SMS-capable number ([SMS channel](/channels/sms)).
* Email steps need a **verified sender** — an email address you've proven you own
  ([Email senders](/providers/email-senders)). You can't start the sequence without one.
* WhatsApp steps need a connected [WhatsApp channel](/channels/whatsapp).
* Build the [segments](/contacts/segments) (saved groups of contacts) or
  [tags](/contacts/tags) (labels you put on contacts) that decide who should enter.

## Create a sequence

<Steps>
  <Step title="Pick a starting point" icon="wand-magic-sparkles">
    Click **Create sequence**. Choose **Start from scratch** or a ready-made
    template — Welcome Series, Lead Nurture, Appointment Follow-up,
    Re-engagement, Customer Onboarding, Review Request, Quote Follow-up, Event
    Reminder, Product Launch, or Newsletter Follow-up. Each card shows its
    channels, step count, and rough duration.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name and goal" icon="bullseye">
    Enter a name under **Name your sequence** and answer **What is your goal?**:
    **Get replies**, **Book appointments**, **Win customers**, or **Just stay in
    touch**. Picking a goal switches on the matching **Stop when** rule.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Audience" icon="users">
    Select **Segments** and/or **Tags (contacts with any of these)**, then
    optionally narrow with **Only contacts in these stages** (pipeline
    [stages](/getting-started/glossary#stage)) and **Only contacts from these
    sources**. The chip shows the live estimate, for example "120 contacts
    (110 reachable by email, 95 by text)".
  </Step>

  <Step title="Channels" icon="tower-broadcast">
    Choose **Email only**, **Text only**, or **Email + text** (a template locks
    the channels its steps need), then click **Build my sequence**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Build the timeline

The editor opens with an entry chip ("A contact joins the sequence") and your
steps in order. Click **Add a step** to insert **Email**, **Text message**,
**WhatsApp**, **WhatsApp Template**, **Wait**, or **Goal**; drag the handle to
reorder. Day markers ("Day 1", "Day 4") are worked out from the waits. Changes
save automatically.

* **Email** — **Subject line** (with **Write subject with AI**), **Preview text
  (optional)**, **Send from**, and **Email content** as a **Simple email**
  (formatted text, **AI draft**) or a **Designed email**. For a designed email,
  click **Choose a template**, then **Edit design** to open the drag-and-drop
  designer at `/sequences/:id/design`. Use **Swap template** to start over.
* **Text message** — **Send from** (required per step), **Message** (type `@`
  for a variable (merge tag), attach a picture or file to send as MMS, or
  **Choose a template**), and **Track link clicks**.
* **WhatsApp** — a **Message** you write yourself, plus **If WhatsApp can't
  message this contact right now**: **Skip this step** or **Send an approved
  template instead** with a **Fallback template**. **WhatsApp Template** sends an
  approved template only.
* **Wait** — **Wait for** a number of minutes, hours, days, or weeks (up to 180
  days).
* **Goal** — **Count it as a win when the contact…** replies, books an
  appointment, becomes a customer, or makes a purchase. Leave **Stop the
  sequence when reached** on to end the sequence for contacts who reach it.

Messages support [merge tags](/getting-started/glossary#merge-tag) like
`{{first_name}}` (placeholders that fill in each contact's details). They also
support spin text like `{Hi|Hey}`: the app picks one of the options for each
message, so they aren't all identical. The **Variation 1 of N** control previews
each version.
Click **Send test** on an email step (goes to your own address) or a text step
(**Send to phone number**) to rehearse it.

### When a message may go out

Send timing lives on the message, not on the wait before it. On an email or
text step, switch on **Only send on certain days** to pick weekdays. Switch on
**Only send at certain times** to choose **Between** a start and end time or
**At exactly** one time. The caption confirms the rule and timezone, and the
timeline card shows a clock chip.

<Note>
  Older sequences that set a time or weekday on a **Wait** step were updated
  automatically — that timing now appears on the message that followed the wait.
</Note>

## Audience & rules

Click **Audience & rules** in the editor header. The sheet has three tabs:

* **Audience** — the same segment, tag, stage, and source picker as the wizard.
* **Stop when** — the **Sequence goal** plus exit rules: **They reply** (on by
  default), **They book an appointment**, **They become qualified or a
  customer**, **Their email bounces** (on), **Their text message fails**, and
  **They unsubscribe from email** (on). **They opt out of texting** is always on
  and marked **Required**.
* **Sending rules** — **Timezone** (defaults to your organization's), **Send
  during business hours** with **On these days**, **Skip weekends**, **Respect
  quiet hours** (a 9 PM–8 AM window you can adjust). Limits: **Max messages
  per day, per contact**, **Max emails per week, per contact**, **Max texts per
  week, per contact**. Held messages send when the window opens.

<Note>
  A sequence without its own business hours follows your organization's business
  hours. **Respect quiet hours** is a per-sequence setting.
</Note>

## Start, pause, and update

Click **Validate** to open the publish checklist; blocking issues also appear in
a banner ("To publish, fix: …"). Then click **Start sequence** — contacts who
already match the audience join now, and new matches join automatically. The
status changes from **Draft** to **Running**.

Edit a running sequence and click **Update live sequence**: changes apply to
future sends while contacts already inside continue where they are. From the
list's row menu use **Pause** (no new contacts join, and contacts already inside
pause at their next send) or **Resume**. The menu also has **Duplicate**, **View
report**, **Archive** (cancels everyone still in the sequence), **Unarchive**,
and **Delete** (drafts only). Filter the list with **My sequences**, **Running**,
**Paused**, **Drafts**, and **Archived**.

## How contacts enter and leave

* **Automatically** — when a contact joins a selected segment, receives a
  selected tag, moves into a selected stage, or is created from a selected
  source. Stages and sources act as filters when segments or tags are chosen.
* **Manually** — in **Contacts**, select rows and use **Bulk Actions → Add to
  Sequences** (running sequences only). Contacts already in the sequence are
  skipped, and opted-out contacts are skipped for any sequence with a text step.
  Use **Remove from Sequences** to cancel. A contact's page has **Add to
  Sequence** and an **Active Sequences** panel.
* **From automations** — the **Add to sequence** workflow action, or a
  [join keyword](/growth/join-keywords)'s **Follow-up sequence**.

Contacts leave when a **Stop when** rule fires, when they finish the last step,
or when you click **Remove from sequence** on the report. Each contact goes
through a given sequence once.

## Read the report

Open **View report** for stat cards — **Entered**, **In progress**,
**Finished**, **Replied**, **Goals hit**, **Conversion rate** — and the
**Step-by-step journey**. Each step shows how many contacts reached it, plus
Sent, Delivered, Opened and Clicked rates for email, link clicks for texts, and
bounced or failed counts. **Why contacts left** tallies exit reasons, **Link
performance** lists tracked links, and **Contacts in this sequence** shows each
person's status and join time.

<Note>
  **Goals hit** counts contacts who left because they replied or booked an
  appointment. A goal of **Became a customer** or **Made a purchase** still
  stops the sequence, but isn't counted as a conversion in this report.
</Note>

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can I mix email, text, and WhatsApp in one sequence?">
    Yes. Email and text steps require the matching channel from the wizard;
    WhatsApp steps are always available once WhatsApp is connected.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens when a contact replies?">
    With **They reply** on (the default), any text or email reply ends their
    follow-ups. Handle the conversation in the [Inbox](/inbox/overview).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can a contact go through a sequence twice?">
    No — each contact can join a given sequence once, so re-adding a contact
    who already finished has no effect.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does replying STOP end a sequence?">
    Yes. The opt-out exit is always on and can't be switched off. See
    [Opt-out](/compliance/opt-out).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Why do I see 'Pick a sending number' or 'Verify an email sender before starting this sequence'?">
    Every text step needs a **Send from** number, and email steps need a
    verified sender in your workspace. Fix these before **Start sequence**
    becomes available.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why does a step say 'This step can never run — it comes after a goal that stops the sequence'?">
    Move the step above the goal, or turn off **Stop the sequence when reached**
    on that goal.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why didn't a contact join the sequence?">
    The sequence must be **Running**. Check that the contact matches every
    audience filter, isn't already in the sequence, and hasn't opted out (text
    sequences skip opted-out contacts).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why is a message 'held' longer than the wait?">
    Business hours, **Skip weekends**, quiet hours, the per-day and per-week
    limits, and a step's own day/time schedule all delay sends until they open.
    The warning "This message only sends on … but the sequence only sends on …"
    means the two rules never overlap.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Build a segment" icon="filter" href="/contacts/segments">
    Define who enters the sequence.
  </Card>

  <Card title="One-off sends" icon="paper-plane" href="/campaigns/overview">
    Send a single text or email campaign instead.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>