Communication

# Send messages automatically with message automations

Set up emails, notifications, chat, WhatsApp or SMS messages that go out on an event or a schedule, to fixed or data-driven recipients.

Updated 5 October 2026

**Who can do this:** Administrators (role level 800 or higher) with the messageAutomation permission.

A message automation sends a message by itself when something happens or at set times. For example: email the customer when a trip starts, notify a planner when a sensor value changes, or send a daily report every morning. You choose when it runs, who receives it, through which channel, and what the message says.

## Start a new automation

1. Open the side menu (☰, top right) and choose **Message Automations**.
2. Click **\+ Create message automation**.
3. Choose how to start:  
  * **Create from Scratch** opens an empty form.
  * **Generate with AI** lets you describe the automation in a sentence, optionally upload example documents, and click **Generate Automation**. The form opens filled in for you to check.
  * A template tile from the gallery, grouped by category, opens a filled-in copy that you can adjust.
4. Enter a **Name** and a **Description**.
5. Choose the type in **Select message automation type** (see below).

| Type                | What it does                                         |
| ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| **Message**         | Sends a one-way message.                             |
| **Question answer** | Asks a question and records each recipient's answer. |
| **File request**    | Asks recipients to send files back and stores them.  |

## Choose when it runs

1. Choose the trigger in **Select trigger Type**.
2. For **Trigger**: choose the event in **Select trigger event**, for example **After creating a trip** or **After a sensor value update**.
3. For **Scheduled**: enter a **Value** and choose a unit (seconds, **Minutes**, **Hours** or **Days**). Or choose **Cron** and enter a **Cron expression** and **Timezone**; the form shows the next run times.
4. Add conditions with **\+ Add filter** if the message should only go out in certain cases, for example only for one customer. All conditions must be met.

A cron expression has five parts: minute, hour, day of the month, month and day of the week. `0 6 * * 1-5` runs on weekdays at 06:00.

To send about a set of records instead of one event, switch on **TQL** and build a query with **Select Entity Type**, **Select Fields**, filters and the sort options. The query runs each time, and only the records that match its filters are the data for the message. This works the same way as the [query builder](/en/help/reporting-query-builder).

If an automation with a query stops with an error, open it, check that every filter in the query has a field, and save it again. Transportial does not run a query with an incomplete filter, so a message never goes out about every record by mistake.

## Choose the recipients

* Switch on **Toggle For All** to send to a fixed list. Enter the recipients in **Receivers**, separated by commas: email addresses for email, phone numbers for WhatsApp, Telegram and SMS.
* Switch it off to take the recipient from the data. Enter the path in **Recipient Selector**, for example the email address of the driver or of the customer contact.
* Switch on **User Toggleable** (**Allow users to enable/disable this automation**) to let users switch the automation on or off for themselves. Under **User Permission Filters** you choose which users see it. They find it in their [notification settings](/en/help/notifications).

## Choose the channel

1. Choose the channel in **Select channel**: **Email**, **Chat**, **Notification**, WhatsApp, Telegram or **SMS**.
2. For email, WhatsApp, Telegram and SMS, choose the connection in **Select Integration**, such as your SMTP mail server or SMS provider. See [Integrations](/en/help/integrations).
3. Choose the languages and write the message. See [Write the message and add attachments](/en/help/message-automation-content).
4. Switch the automation on with **Off/On**.
5. Click **Save**.

Changing the channel clears the message and subject you wrote, because each channel uses its own format. Choose the channel before you write the message.

## Manage automations

The **Message Automations** list shows each automation with its **Name**, **Made on** and **Modified on**; you can add the **Type**, **Trigger type** and **Channel** columns. Click a row to see the trigger and the message. Row actions:

* **Edit**: change the automation.
* **Duplicate**: make a copy and open it for editing.
* **Remove**: delete it after confirming with **Remove**.

To pause an automation without deleting it, edit it and switch it off with **Off/On**.

## Related articles

* [Write the message and add attachments to an automation](/en/help/message-automation-content)
* [Create message templates for chat](/en/help/message-templates)
* [View and manage notifications](/en/help/notifications)
* [Connect other systems with integrations](/en/help/integrations)

## Still need help?

Our support team is happy to answer any question about Transportial.

[Contact support](/en/contact)[Report an issue](/en/report-issue)

---
Canonical page: https://transportial.com/en/help/message-automations