What Is Agent Automation?

Agent automation allows you to quickly build automation flows with your custom AI agents in the center to perform sequences of tasks without intervention.

💡 Powered by Taskade Genesis

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💡 Note: This feature is part of our Automation Interface.

Build Agent Automations

You can set up your first agent automation in a few steps:

Go to the Agents tab at the top of your workspace/folder.
(1) Select an existing agent or (2) create a new one.

Click ✏️ Edit agent in the top-right corner.

Go to the Automation tab on the left.
Choose one of the available connectors to instantly create an automation flow.

Finish setting up your agent automation in the creator.

💡 Note: Visit our Getting Started Automation guide to learn more.

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Browse templates, agents, and apps built by the Taskade community at taskade.com/community.

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When to Use Agent Automation vs. Standard Automation

Taskade offers two types of automations. Here's when to use each:

Feature	Standard Automation	Agent Automation
Logic	Fixed rules: if this, then that	AI decides what to do based on context
Best for	Repetitive, predictable tasks	Tasks that need judgment or language understanding
Setup	Select trigger → choose actions → done	Select trigger → configure agent instructions → choose actions
Example	"When a task is completed, move it to Done"	"When a support email arrives, read it, classify priority, and draft a reply"
Flexibility	Follows exact rules every time	Adapts to different inputs and contexts

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Rule of thumb: If you can describe the task as a simple if/then rule, use a standard automation. If the task requires reading, understanding, or making decisions, use an agent automation.

Step-by-Step: Build Your First Agent Automation

Here's a complete walkthrough to create an agent automation that drafts email replies from support tickets:

Step 1: Create the automation

Go to your workspace and click the Automations tab
Click + Add Automation
Choose a trigger — for this example, select Email Trigger (fires when a new email arrives)

Step 2: Add an AI Agent action

Click + Add Action after your trigger
Select Ask Agent from the action list
Choose which AI agent should handle the task
Write clear instructions for the agent, for example:

"Read the incoming support email. Classify the priority as urgent, normal, or low. Draft a helpful reply that addresses the customer's question. Keep the tone friendly and professional."

Step 3: Add follow-up actions

Add a Branch action to route based on priority
For "urgent" → add a Send Slack Message action to alert the team
For all paths → add a Send Email action with the agent's drafted reply

Step 4: Test and activate

Click Preview to test with sample data
Review the agent's output and adjust instructions if needed
Toggle the automation On to activate

Writing Effective Agent Instructions

The agent's instructions determine how well your automation performs. Here are three proven patterns:

Pattern	Template	When to Use
Classify & Route	"Read the input. Classify it as [category A / B / C]. Output only the category name."	Ticket triage, lead scoring, content tagging
Extract & Summarize	"Read the input. Extract: [field 1], [field 2], [field 3]. Format as a brief summary."	Email parsing, form processing, data entry
Draft & Respond	"Read the input. Draft a [type] response. Keep tone [formal/casual]. Include [key points]."	Support replies, follow-ups, acknowledgments

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Tip: Be specific in your instructions. Instead of "handle the email," write "read the email, identify the main question, and draft a 2-3 sentence reply." The more specific your instructions, the more consistent the agent's output.

Agents Can Use Any Automation Action in Chat

Beyond pre-built automation workflows, your agents can use individual automation actions as one-off tools during conversations. This means agents don't need a full workflow to take action — they can do things on the fly.

What agents can do in a single chat message:

Action	Example
Send an email	"Send a follow-up email to [email protected] with the meeting summary"
Post to Slack	"Post this week's report to the #marketing Slack channel"
Create a spreadsheet row	"Add this lead to the Google Sheets CRM"
Create a GitHub issue	"Create a bug report in our GitHub repo for this issue"
Send a Discord message	"Notify the team on Discord that the deployment is ready"

How to enable it:

Open your agent's settings
Go to the Tools tab
Enable the specific automation actions you want your agent to use
Your agent will ask for your approval before executing any action (human-in-the-loop)