How to add steps inside an automation workflow

Quick map

• The round + button on the workflow canvas opens the action picker.
• The sparkles button opens the AI workflow assistant for plain-English edits.
• Click any node to edit its settings in the inspector.
• Data collection is added inside a Send Message step, not as a separate top-level step.
• Send Email sends through LinkStack with the creator profile email as the default reply-to.
• A workflow with Send Email cannot be published until sender details are saved under Settings → Email.
• Add Tag, Remove Tag, Set User Field, Clear User Field, Pause Automations, and Mark Conversation can run as normal workflow steps or as actions after a valid reply.

Add a normal workflow step

1. Open Dashboard, then Automations.
2. Create a custom workflow or open the workflow you want to edit.
3. On the canvas, click the round + button.
4. Browse Messaging, Contacts, Flow control, AI, or Integrations. Recently used keeps your latest steps; Add note is a separate button at the bottom. Use Search actions to search action names, descriptions, categories, apps, and aliases across every available category. Clear the search to return to the previous category.
5. Choose a step such as Send Message, Send Email, Add Tag, Set User Field, Wait, Condition, Delay, Start Automation, AI Step, or Comment.
6. Click the new node and fill out the inspector settings.
7. Connect the node to the right path if the workflow has branches.
8. Save the workflow, then run a test before turning it loose.

Return an automation to draft

1. On Automations, open More actions for the automation and choose Unpublish. This is available for active and paused automations, including inside Collections.
2. You can also open the automation and choose Unpublish beside its status or publishing controls. It returns to Draft and stops starting new live runs.
3. Keep editing the saved draft. Unpublishing preserves your steps, draft edits, published history, activity, and analytics; messages already sent cannot be recalled.
4. When ready, choose Publish workflow in the workflow editor and confirm the review, or Publish in the simple editor. You can publish again without changing any steps.

Branch by Instagram verification or follower count

LinkStack checks the available saved Instagram profile. Missing verification data is not the same as Not verified: neither Verified nor Not verified matches an unknown status. Use Verification status is available or Verification status is unavailable when you want a path based on whether Instagram supplied that information.

1. On Growth, add or open a Condition card in an Instagram workflow.
2. Choose Verification, then Verified or Not verified. This checks the contact's Instagram verification badge.
3. Add Follower count or Follows you to the same card if needed. All conditions requires every check to match; Any condition requires at least one.
4. Connect Matches and Does not match to the steps you want each group to follow.
5. For a comment-triggered workflow, use Add “Send me the link” step when offered so the person can tap a reply button before the profile check. A comment or website click alone does not grant profile access.
6. Draft changes autosave. Review and test the paths, then publish to apply the condition to new live runs.

Start another automation

Both automations can run at the same time. Start Automation bypasses the automatic cooldown that stops competing triggers. Manual Inbox pauses, Pause All Automations steps, messaging windows, email subscription checks, and provider limits still apply. It does not post the target trigger's public comment reply or grant another private reply to the original comment. If Instagram's DM window is closed, the destination message waits for a new eligible reply. When both workflows wait for a reply, one event resumes only the oldest matching wait. A paused, deleted, or unavailable destination is skipped while the source continues. Self-starts and loops are blocked. Linked starts reuse the original trigger allowance. To restart a test, start a new test of the source workflow with the same contact. This stops unfinished paths from its previous tests, including linked automations whose source has already finished. For live Instagram tests, send the new one-time code; opening Test alone does not stop an existing run.

1. Publish and turn on the workflow you want to start. A social workflow must use the same connected account as the source workflow.
2. In the source workflow, click + and choose Start Automation under Flow control.
3. Select the new step, then search for and choose the destination automation. Open automation opens it in another tab; Clear selection removes the destination.
4. Connect the step's Then output to continue the source path. The destination starts separately for the same contact without matching its regular triggers.
5. Publish the source workflow to activate the connection. Draft changes autosave, but they do not change the live path.
6. Open the destination workflow and check Triggers. It lists source workflows with live, unpublished, or paused Start Automation connections. A published connection remains listed until a change removing it is published.

Add cards or a carousel

Card blocks use the existing Instagram messaging windows. For comment-triggered workflows, send a text opening message and wait for a reply before sending the Card. A website click does not open the messaging window. A card can link to checkout, but payment and product delivery still use the existing product flow.

1. Select an Instagram Send Message step. In Message sequence, choose Card.
2. Add a title and an image, description, or button. Titles and descriptions allow up to 80 characters each.
3. Optionally choose Use a product and select a published product. This copies its details and public page link; edit the card independently afterward. Shorten any copied text that exceeds the limits.
4. Add up to 3 buttons per card. Choose Open Link, Open website, or Perform actions. Button titles allow up to 20 characters. Connect each action button to its next step.
5. Choose Add card for a carousel of up to 10 cards. Move cards left or right to change their order. Duplicate creates a new card with separate button connections.
6. Choose Layout to arrange the carousel and its connected steps, then Preview to try the conversation. Drafts autosave; Publish applies the changes to live runs.

Add an audio message

For an Instagram comment trigger, keep the first Send Message step to one audio block. It does not need placeholder text. Put additional messages in a later step; Instagram's messaging window still applies.

1. Select a Send Message step and add an Audio block.
2. Click Upload audio or drag in an MP3, M4A, WAV, AAC, Ogg, or WebM file up to 25 MB. LinkStack automatically prepares uploaded recordings as AAC/M4A before sending them to Instagram. You do not need to convert Apple Voice Memos or MP3 files yourself.
3. To use a hosted recording, click Paste URL and enter its public audio URL. External URLs must already use an Instagram-compatible format, such as AAC/M4A. If Instagram reports an unsupported attachment format, upload the file so LinkStack can prepare it.
4. Play the uploaded recording to check it, then save and test the workflow.

Add a data collection question

1. Select or add a Send Message step.
2. In Message sequence, click Data.
3. In the Data collection option modal, keep Collect this response turned on.
4. Write the question you want to ask, like "What email should I send it to?"
5. Choose the Reply type: Email, Phone, Text, Multiple Choice, Number, Name, URL, Image, Date, or Date and time.
6. Choose where to save it. Email and phone can save to the contact profile; other answers save to a User Field that you can search or create.
7. Set how long the workflow should wait and whether invalid replies should get a retry message.
8. Use Actions on valid input when the collected answer should also add a tag, set a field, pause automations, or mark the conversation.
9. Save the option. Use the If contact has not responded path if you want a follow-up branch.

Set a tag

1. For a standalone tag step, click the canvas + button and choose Add Tag.
2. Click the Add Tag node.
3. Search for an existing tag, or type a new tag name and choose the New tag option.
4. If it is a new tag, choose or keep the folder, usually User Tags.
5. To tag only after someone answers a data collection question, open that question and add Add tag under Actions on valid input instead.
6. Save the workflow and test with a contact that should receive the tag.

Continue or add a tag when a link is clicked

Was clicked is a one-time condition check; Wait for link click waits for a future click. Repeated clicks do not repeat the same continuation. A click on a different button or a different workflow run does not match. Only tracked clicks count, and detected preview crawlers are excluded. The conversation preview simulates Clicked and Timed out; it does not record a real click. Clicking a web link does not reopen Instagram's messaging window, so later DM steps still need an eligible messaging window.

1. On Growth, add an Open Link or Open website button to a Send Message step.
2. Add Wait for link click and connect the message's Then path to it. Choose the exact button and message in Link button.
3. Connect Clicked to Add Tag or another step. The branch continues once when the selected button is clicked in this workflow run; clicks already recorded for that run can continue immediately.
4. Set Timeout (minutes). The default is 1440 minutes (24 hours); use 0 for no timeout, or a whole number up to 43200 (30 days). Connect Timed out if you want a fallback when there is no click. Without a connected timeout path, the run ends at timeout.
5. Review and publish the workflow. New runs use the new step. Existing completed runs and historical clicks are not backfilled.

Other useful moves

• Use Set User Field when you want to store a fixed value or the collected reply on the contact.
• Use Send Email after digital product purchase or checkout-start triggers. For abandoned carts, put a Delay before the email.
• Use Condition when the next path depends on whether a contact has a tag or a custom field value.
• Use Wait when the workflow should pause until a DM reply, comment, tag change, field change, or deletion happens.
• Use Delay when the workflow should wait a fixed or random amount of time before continuing.
• Use quick replies inside the final text block or action buttons on text and Card blocks when taps should branch the workflow.