What are rules

Rules are event-driven automations: when something happens, Sendra checks conditions and performs actions. Think of them as "if this, then that" for your email marketing.

How rules work

Every rule has three parts:

1. Trigger — the event that starts the rule (e.g., "contact opened an email," "form submitted," "custom event received")
2. Conditions (optional) — filters that narrow when the rule fires (e.g., "only if contact has tag 'trial'")
3. Actions — what Sendra does when the trigger fires and conditions are met (e.g., "add tag 'engaged'," "add to list 'Active Users'")

Example rules

Tag engaged contacts:

• Trigger: Contact clicks a link
• Action: Add tag "engaged"

Move trial users to onboarding list:

• Trigger: Custom event "trial_started"
• Condition: Contact property plan equals "trial"
• Action: Add to list "Onboarding"

Flag complaints:

• Trigger: Contact marks email as spam
• Action: Add tag "complained"

Rules vs automations

Rules execute a single action in response to an event. They're simple and immediate.

Automations are multi-step flows — sequences of emails with delays, branching, experiments, and enrollment tracking. Use rules for instant reactions (tag a contact, add to a list, fire a webhook) and automations for journeys over time.