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Automations are the rules that make cases work without manual intervention. They enable intelligent workflows by automatically executing actions when specific conditions are met — moving cases forward, revealing next steps, and integrating with external systems. Four automation types power case workflows: status transitions (automatically move from one status to another), step visibility rules (show or hide steps based on case evolution), automatic step execution (trigger steps when conditions are met), and post-automations (send data to external systems via API or n8n when conditions are met).

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Status Transitions

Status transitions automatically move a case from one status to another when conditions are met, eliminating manual status updates and ensuring consistent workflow progression. How status transitions work:
  • Monitor case data for changes
  • Evaluate conditions when relevant data updates
  • Automatically update case status when condition is true
  • Log the transition in case timeline
  • Can trigger additional automations
Common status transition patterns: Move to “Ready for Review” when all documents uploaded:
  • Watch: Document upload fields
  • Condition: All required documents have values
  • Action: Change status to “Ready for Review”
Move to “Awaiting Payment” when quote approved:
  • Watch: Quote approval field
  • Condition: Approval equals “approved”
  • Action: Change status to “Awaiting Payment”
Move to “Closed - Completed” when final signature received:
  • Watch: Signature field
  • Condition: Signature is defined
  • Action: Change status to “Closed - Completed”
Status transitions eliminate the need for team members to manually update status, ensuring cases progress consistently and nothing falls through the cracks.
Learn more about Statuses →

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Step Visibility Rules

Step visibility rules hide or reveal steps based on case evolution, showing team members only the actions that are relevant to the current case state. How step visibility works:
  • Steps can be hidden by default
  • Conditions determine when steps become visible
  • Based on case data, status, or other factors
  • Steps appear in the case when conditions are met
Common visibility patterns: Show “Request Additional Documents” only when initial review incomplete:
  • Condition: Review status equals “incomplete”
  • Effect: Step appears for case manager to request more documents
Show “Premium Service Options” only for high-value customers:
  • Condition: Annual revenue greater than threshold
  • Effect: Step appears to offer premium services
Show “Compliance Review” only for regulated industries:
  • Condition: Industry in regulated list
  • Effect: Step appears for compliance workflow
Show “Multi-Signature Workflow” only when multiple signers needed:
  • Condition: Number of signers greater than 1
  • Effect: Multi-signature step appears
Step visibility rules keep case workflows clean by showing only relevant actions, reducing confusion and ensuring team members focus on what matters.

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Automatic Step Execution

Automatic step execution triggers a step when specific conditions are met, enabling fully automated workflows that respond to case data changes. How automatic execution works:
  • Monitor case data for changes
  • Evaluate conditions when data updates
  • Automatically execute the step (send email, SMS, form) when condition is true
  • Step appears in timeline as executed
  • Contact receives communication automatically
Common automatic execution patterns: Send reminder email if no response after 3 days:
  • Watch: Form sent date, form response status
  • Condition: 3 days elapsed and no response received
  • Action: Execute “Reminder Email” step
Send approval request when all documents collected:
  • Watch: Document fields
  • Condition: All required documents uploaded
  • Action: Execute “Send Approval Form” step
Send welcome email when case status changes to “Active”:
  • Watch: Case status
  • Condition: Status equals “Active”
  • Action: Execute “Welcome Email” step
Trigger compliance check when high-risk flag set:
  • Watch: Risk assessment field
  • Condition: Risk level equals “high”
  • Action: Execute “Compliance Review Form” step
Automatic step execution sends communications to contacts automatically. Test conditions thoroughly to ensure emails, SMS, and forms are sent at the right time.

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Post-Automations

Post-automations send data to external systems via API or n8n when conditions are met, enabling seamless integration between Penbox and back-office systems. How post-automations work:
  • Monitor case data for changes
  • Evaluate conditions when data updates
  • Send HTTP request to external system when condition is true
  • Log request and response in timeline
  • Can retry on failure
Common post-automation patterns: Send to CRM when case status changes to “Closed”:
  • Watch: Case status
  • Condition: Status equals “Closed”
  • Action: POST to CRM API with case data
  • Payload: Case ID, customer data, outcome
Trigger n8n workflow when signature collected:
  • Watch: Signature field
  • Condition: Signature defined
  • Action: POST to n8n webhook
  • Payload: Signed document, case details
Update accounting system when invoice approved:
  • Watch: Invoice approval field
  • Condition: Approval equals “approved”
  • Action: POST to accounting API
  • Payload: Invoice details, amounts, dates
Send to document management system when case closed:
  • Watch: Case status
  • Condition: Status equals “Closed”
  • Action: POST documents to DMS
  • Payload: All case documents and metadata
Post-automations enable Penbox to act as the intelligent interaction layer while seamlessly integrating with existing back-office systems via API.

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AI-Specific Automations

Penbox Intelligence enables AI-powered automations for email drafting and data extraction.

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Email Drafting Prompts

Configure an email drafting prompt so Intelligence prepares draft responses to incoming emails automatically. How it works:
  • Define a prompt that tells Intelligence how to draft responses
  • When emails arrive, Intelligence analyzes the content
  • Draft response is prepared based on your prompt
  • Draft appears in case timeline for review before sending
Example prompts: Customer support: 
Draft a professional response acknowledging the customer's inquiry, 
confirming we've received their message, and explaining the next steps 
in our process. Maintain a friendly, helpful tone.
Claims processing: 
Draft a response confirming we've received the claim, listing what 
documents we still need, and providing an estimated timeline for review. 
Be empathetic and professional.
Best practices for prompts:
  • Be specific about tone and style
  • Define what information should be included
  • Specify any compliance requirements
  • Mention if certain phrases should be avoided
Learn more about Intelligence →

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Automation Execution

When automations run:
  • Automations evaluate whenever case data changes
  • Watched fields (if specified) trigger evaluation when they change
  • Conditions are evaluated against current case data
  • Actions execute when condition evaluates to true
Execution tracking:
  • All automation executions appear in case timeline
  • Shows automation name, timestamp, and outcome
  • Success or failure status displayed
  • Full execution details available on click
  • Can retry failed automations
Performance considerations:
  • Watch specific fields to reduce unnecessary evaluations
  • Use execute_once for one-time transitions
  • Test conditions before deploying to production

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Common Patterns

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Sequential Workflow

Combine status transitions and step execution to create sequential workflows:
  1. Form completed → Status: “Under Review”
  2. Status “Under Review” → Execute “Request Documents” step
  3. Documents uploaded → Status: “Ready for Approval”
  4. Status “Ready for Approval” → Execute “Send Approval Form” step
  5. Approval received → Status: “Closed - Approved”

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Conditional Branching

Use step visibility and execution for different paths: If customer type is “Enterprise”:
  • Show “Enterprise Onboarding” steps
  • Execute “Assign Account Manager” step
  • Send to enterprise CRM endpoint
If customer type is “Standard”:
  • Show “Standard Onboarding” steps
  • Execute “Send Welcome Email” step
  • Send to standard CRM endpoint

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Integration Workflow

Combine multiple automation types for complete integration:
  1. Data collected → Post to validation API
  2. Validation passes → Status: “Validated”
  3. Status “Validated” → Execute “Send Contract” step
  4. Contract signed → Post to accounting system
  5. Accounting updated → Status: “Closed - Complete”

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Next Steps

Case Templates

Configure automations in templates

Statuses & Lifecycle

Understand status transitions

Steps

Learn about automatic step execution

Data Schema

Define data for automation conditions