> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Create automation > Set up an automation from a [template](/automations/api/list-templates) on one of your [stores](/automations/api/list-stores), with the template's inputs and a schedule. - With a schedule (`daily`, `weekly` and the other cadences), the automation is `active` and its runs are queued at the times the schedule gives, in the store's timezone unless you send `timezone`. - With `schedule.cadence: manual`, it is a `draft` that runs only when you [run it now](/automations/api/run-now). - A template that starts when the store sends an event (it has a `trigger`) takes only `schedule.cadence: manual`, and its automation is `active` at once. The automation is set up even when the template is not ready yet (its `readiness` says why, such as a connection your organisation does not have). Its runs then end `refused` (`connection_missing`), saying what to connect, until that connection is there. The automation is recorded as created by the person you logged in as, through the API (`created_via: api-token`, with your `api_client_id`). Answers `404` when the template or the store is not your organisation's, and `422` when the store is not connected, or an input or the schedule is not valid. Needs the `automations:write` scope. ## OpenAPI ````yaml automations/api/openapi.json POST /v1/automations openapi: 3.1.0 info: title: Vortex IQ Automations API version: 1.0.0 description: > REST API for Vortex IQ Automations. List the templates your organisation can use, set automations up on your stores, schedule them, run them, and follow every run, from your own tools instead of the Automations screens. The API is served from `https://automations-api.vortexiq.ai`; the login that gives you a token is on `https://app.vortexiq.ai`. Every call acts as the person who logged in, within their organisation, and every answer is JSON. See [Authentication](/automations/api/authentication). contact: name: Vortex IQ Support url: https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us servers: - url: https://automations-api.vortexiq.ai description: Vortex IQ Automations (production) security: - bearerAuth: [] - apiCredential: [] tags: - name: Authentication description: >- Exchange your identity and your organisation's API credential for a bearer token. - name: Templates & stores description: What you can set up, and what it can run on. - name: Automations description: Set automations up, read them and change them. - name: Automation controls description: Pause, resume, archive and restore. - name: Runs description: Run an automation now, follow a run, read the history. - name: Schedules & calendar description: Preview a schedule, list the coming runs, move or skip one. - name: Approvals description: >- The runs waiting for a decision. Deciding happens in the Vortex IQ app only. - name: Imported workflows description: >- Bring an n8n or Shopify Flow workflow in, see how it would run, and run it as your own automation. - name: Status description: >- Whether Automations are on for your organisation, and how the service is doing. paths: /v1/automations: post: tags: - Automations summary: Create automation description: >- Set up an automation from a [template](/automations/api/list-templates) on one of your [stores](/automations/api/list-stores), with the template's inputs and a schedule. - With a schedule (`daily`, `weekly` and the other cadences), the automation is `active` and its runs are queued at the times the schedule gives, in the store's timezone unless you send `timezone`. - With `schedule.cadence: manual`, it is a `draft` that runs only when you [run it now](/automations/api/run-now). - A template that starts when the store sends an event (it has a `trigger`) takes only `schedule.cadence: manual`, and its automation is `active` at once. The automation is set up even when the template is not ready yet (its `readiness` says why, such as a connection your organisation does not have). Its runs then end `refused` (`connection_missing`), saying what to connect, until that connection is there. The automation is recorded as created by the person you logged in as, through the API (`created_via: api-token`, with your `api_client_id`). Answers `404` when the template or the store is not your organisation's, and `422` when the store is not connected, or an input or the schedule is not valid. Needs the `automations:write` scope. operationId: createAutomation requestBody: required: true content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/AutomationCreate' example: template_id: shopify-catalogue-quality integration_id: 101 name: Weekly catalogue check inputs: {} schedule: cadence: manual responses: '201': description: >- Created. The automation, with its first run time when it has a schedule. content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/AutomationResponse' example: success: true contract_version: 1 data: automation: id: 01M520GSDQH5TQ3CAAQ584TTKH version: 1 kind: template import_id: null template_id: shopify-catalogue-quality template_version: 4 platform: shopify integration_id: 101 store_label: Example Shopify store name: Weekly catalogue check state: draft trigger: kind: schedule paused_by: null paused_reason: null inputs: {} bindings: {} plan_version: 1 connections: [] schedule: cadence: manual run_at: null day_of_week: null day_of_month: null date: null days: null week_of_month: null timezone: Europe/London spread_minutes: 2 next_run_at: null last_run_at: null consecutive_failures: 0 send_mode: ask created_at: '2026-10-16T09:26:03.448Z' updated_at: '2026-10-16T09:26:03.448Z' created_by: 7 created_via: api-token api_client_id: viq_auto_Ab12Cd34Ef56Gh78Ij90Kl12 '401': $ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorised' '403': $ref: '#/components/responses/Forbidden' '404': $ref: '#/components/responses/NotFound' '422': $ref: '#/components/responses/ValidationFailed' '429': $ref: '#/components/responses/TooManyRequests' security: - bearerAuth: - automations:write - apiCredential: - automations:write components: schemas: AutomationCreate: type: object required: - template_id - name - inputs - schedule properties: template_id: $ref: '#/components/schemas/TemplateId' integration_id: type: integer description: >- The store or account it runs on. Required unless its template runs on nothing, and refused when it does. connections: type: array minItems: 1 maxItems: 20 uniqueItems: true description: >- For a template that runs on nothing, the connections it reads, by id, in the order to read them: each the organisation's own, connected, and of a kind in the template's `connections`. Refused for any other template. items: type: integer minimum: 1 timezone: type: string minLength: 1 maxLength: 64 description: >- The timezone its schedule runs in (IANA name, such as Europe/London); the store's when absent. name: type: string minLength: 1 maxLength: 120 inputs: type: object additionalProperties: true schedule: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Schedule' AutomationResponse: type: object required: - success - data - contract_version properties: success: type: boolean const: true contract_version: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ContractVersion' data: type: object required: - automation properties: automation: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Automation' TemplateId: type: string description: The template's id, such as `shopify-catalogue-quality`. pattern: ^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]{1,80}$ Schedule: type: object required: - cadence properties: cadence: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Cadence' run_at: type: - string - 'null' description: >- The time of day in the automation's timezone, `HH:MM`. Required for once, daily, weekdays, weekly and monthly. pattern: ^([01][0-9]|2[0-3]):[0-5][0-9]$ day_of_week: type: - integer - 'null' minimum: 1 maximum: 7 description: >- 1 is Monday. Required for weekly, and for monthly with `week_of_month`. day_of_month: type: - integer - 'null' minimum: 1 maximum: 31 description: >- For monthly, unless `week_of_month` is given. 31 runs on the last day of a shorter month. date: type: - string - 'null' pattern: ^[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}$ description: >- Required for once; the local calendar day it runs on, in the automation's timezone. A day and time already passed are refused. days: type: - array - 'null' items: type: integer minimum: 1 maximum: 7 minItems: 1 maxItems: 7 uniqueItems: true description: >- For weekdays; which days, 1 is Monday. Absent means Monday to Friday. week_of_month: type: - integer - 'null' enum: - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - -1 - null description: >- For monthly, with `day_of_week`; the first to fourth, or -1 the last, such weekday of the month, instead of `day_of_month`. ContractVersion: type: integer minimum: 1 description: >- The version of the API this answer follows. It changes only for a breaking change. Automation: type: object required: - id - version - kind - import_id - template_id - template_version - platform - integration_id - store_label - name - state - paused_by - paused_reason - inputs - schedule - timezone - spread_minutes - next_run_at - last_run_at - consecutive_failures - created_at - updated_at properties: id: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Id' kind: type: string enum: - template - workflow description: >- `template` runs one of Vortex IQ's templates. `workflow` runs your own imported n8n workflow, and runs only once every step that needs a connection has one. import_id: description: >- The import a `workflow` automation was made from; null for a template. The automation keeps its own copy of the plan, so the import may since have been deleted. oneOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Id' - type: 'null' source: type: string enum: - n8n - shopify_flow description: >- Where a `workflow` automation's workflow came from, `n8n` or `shopify_flow`, kept with the automation so it still answers once the import is deleted. Absent for a template. bindings: $ref: '#/components/schemas/StepBindings' description: >- A workflow automation's steps bound to your connections; empty for a template. plan_version: type: integer minimum: 1 description: >- The `version` at which a workflow automation's steps or bindings last changed. A run queued on an earlier one is refused as `superseded`. readiness: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Readiness' description: >- A `workflow` automation's readiness to be turned on or run now, on the answers about one automation (get, set-up, change). Absent from lists, and for a template. version: type: integer minimum: 1 description: >- Raised on every change. Update automation must carry the version you last read. template_id: $ref: '#/components/schemas/TemplateId' template_version: type: integer minimum: 1 platform: description: >- What it runs on, by kind; null when its template runs on nothing, and it reads `connections` instead. oneOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Platform' - type: 'null' integration_id: type: - integer - 'null' description: >- The id of the store or account it runs on; null when its template runs on nothing. store_label: type: string description: >- The name of what it runs on; for an automation that reads several connections, their names as they were when they were last set. connections: type: array description: >- The connections an automation of a template that runs on nothing reads, by id and kind, in the order they were set; empty for any other. Part of its version. Each one's name and state are on `GET /connections`. A run is refused, naming it, while one of them is not connected. Absent from an older service. items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/AutomationConnection' name: type: string maxLength: 120 state: $ref: '#/components/schemas/AutomationState' paused_by: type: - string - 'null' enum: - merchant - system - null paused_reason: type: - string - 'null' description: Plain words, kept until resumed. inputs: type: object additionalProperties: true schedule: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Schedule' timezone: type: string description: The timezone its schedule runs in (IANA name). spread_minutes: type: integer minimum: 0 maximum: 9 description: >- The fixed offset added to every slot, so "08:00" means "at about 08:00, starts within ten minutes". next_run_at: oneOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Timestamp' - type: 'null' last_run_at: oneOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Timestamp' - type: 'null' consecutive_failures: type: integer minimum: 0 send_mode: type: string enum: - ask - send description: >- How a workflow automation sends: `ask` (the default) collects a run's sends and waits for approval in the Vortex IQ app; `send` sends at the step. send_mode_allowed: type: boolean description: >- Whether `send_mode: send` would be accepted now (see `send_mode`). On the answers about one `workflow` automation (get and change), as `readiness` is; absent on set-up, where nothing is approved yet, from lists, for a template, and from an older service. trigger: $ref: '#/components/schemas/AutomationTrigger' description: 'How it starts: on its schedule, or when its store sends an event.' created_at: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Timestamp' updated_at: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Timestamp' created_by: type: - integer - 'null' description: >- The id of the person who set it up: with this API, the person named at login. Null for one Vortex IQ made itself. created_via: description: >- How it was set up: `ui` in the Vortex IQ app, `api-token` through this API. Null for one Vortex IQ made itself. oneOf: - type: string enum: - ui - api-token - type: 'null' api_client_id: type: - string - 'null' description: >- The API credential's client id when `created_via` is `api-token`; null otherwise. ErrorResponse: type: object required: - success - message - contract_version properties: success: type: boolean const: false contract_version: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ContractVersion' message: type: string description: Plain words saying what happened and what to do. code: type: string description: >- A stable code to act on, such as `wrong_state`, `stale_version` or `allowance_spent`. errors: type: object description: Field name to messages, for 422. additionalProperties: type: array items: type: string Cadence: type: string description: >- How often an automation runs. `once` runs on one date and time and then has no next run. enum: - manual - once - hourly - every_6_hours - daily - weekdays - weekly - monthly Id: type: string description: A public id (a ULID). pattern: ^[0-9A-HJKMNP-TV-Z]{26}$ StepBindings: type: object description: >- A workflow automation's steps bound to connections, by the n8n step's name (unique in a workflow). maxProperties: 500 additionalProperties: $ref: '#/components/schemas/StepBinding' Readiness: type: object description: >- Whether your organisation can set the template up right now; for a workflow automation, whether it can be turned on or run now. required: - ready - missing properties: ready: type: boolean unconfigured: type: array description: >- A workflow automation's steps still without a connection they can use, in order. Absent for a template. items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/UnconfiguredStep' missing: type: array description: >- Connections not present, by kind, always a subset of the template's `connections`; never a key of Vortex IQ's own. Empty when ready. items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ConnectionPlatform' Platform: type: string pattern: ^[a-z][a-z0-9_]{1,63}$ description: >- What an automation runs on: a store's platform (`shopify`, `bigcommerce`), or an account a template runs on, such as a cloud account (`aws`). example: shopify AutomationConnection: type: object description: One connection an automation of a template that runs on nothing reads. required: - integration_id - kind additionalProperties: false properties: integration_id: type: integer minimum: 1 kind: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ConnectionPlatform' AutomationState: type: string enum: - draft - active - paused - archived Timestamp: type: string format: date-time description: A time in UTC (ISO 8601). AutomationTrigger: description: >- How the automation starts: `schedule`, on its schedule; or `event`, when its store sends one of `topics`. oneOf: - type: object additionalProperties: false required: - kind properties: kind: type: string const: schedule - type: object additionalProperties: false required: - kind - topics - words - listening - reason - events_dropped - events_dropped_at properties: kind: type: string const: event topics: type: array minItems: 1 maxItems: 8 items: type: string minLength: 1 maxLength: 80 words: type: string listening: type: string enum: - 'yes' - not_yet - failed - 'off' description: >- `yes` when the store's subscription for every topic is in place; `not_yet` while it is being made; `failed` with `reason`; `off` while the automation is not active, whether or not another automation keeps the subscription. reason: type: - string - 'null' description: >- Why it is not listening, in plain words, when `listening` is `failed`; null otherwise. events_dropped: type: integer minimum: 0 description: >- How many store events were not run: each is a run of this automation that never started, refused as `too_many_waiting` (200 of its runs were already waiting) or `event_too_large` (the event was over 256 KB). events_dropped_at: oneOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Timestamp' - type: 'null' StepBinding: type: object additionalProperties: false required: - integration_id - kind - target properties: integration_id: type: integer minimum: 1 description: >- The id of one of your organisation's connections (see List destinations). kind: type: string enum: - google_sheets - teams description: >- The kind of connection, never `store`: the store is the automation's own. target: description: >- For a Google sign-in Sheets connection, the spreadsheet (and tab) the step writes to, which it may reach; a service-account connection is one spreadsheet already. Null for the other kinds. oneOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/StepTarget' - type: 'null' UnconfiguredStep: type: object required: - step - kind - target - why properties: step: type: string kind: $ref: '#/components/schemas/StepNeedKind' target: oneOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/StepTarget' - type: 'null' why: type: string enum: - no_connection - wrong_target - needs_reconnecting - not_arrived description: >- `no_connection`: none bound, or the bound one is not yours or not of the step's kind. `wrong_target`: it leads to another spreadsheet. `needs_reconnecting`: the connection is disconnected; connect it again in the Vortex IQ app. `not_arrived` is reserved and not used yet. ConnectionPlatform: type: string pattern: ^[a-z][a-z0-9_]{1,63}$ description: >- What a connection is for, by connector id: a store (`shopify`, `bigcommerce`), or an account a template reads beside its store (`google_ads`, `klaviyo`, ...). example: klaviyo StepTarget: type: object additionalProperties: false description: >- Where a step's connection must lead, as far as the plan can read it from the step. A field the step decides only while running is null or absent. properties: spreadsheet_id: type: - string - 'null' description: The spreadsheet a Google Sheets step writes to or reads. sheet: type: - string - 'null' description: The tab, by its name. StepNeedKind: type: string enum: - store - google_sheets - teams description: >- What a step needs to run: `store`, the automation's own store, always there; or a Google Sheets or Microsoft Teams connection you bind. responses: Unauthorised: description: >- The token is missing, has expired, or is no longer valid (for example, the API credential was rotated or disabled). The answer carries `WWW-Authenticate`; log in again for a new token. content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' Forbidden: description: >- Your token is valid but may not do this: it lacks the scope, the operation is not part of the Automations API, or Automations are switched off for your organisation. content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' NotFound: description: >- Not found. Anything that belongs to another organisation is answered the same way. content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' ValidationFailed: description: The request was not valid; `errors` names the fields. content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' TooManyRequests: description: >- Too many calls in a minute from you or your organisation; nothing was done. `Retry-After` says how many seconds to wait. headers: Retry-After: schema: type: integer minimum: 1 content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' securitySchemes: bearerAuth: type: http scheme: bearer bearerFormat: JWT description: >- A bearer token from [Login](/automations/api/login), sent as `Authorization: Bearer `. Valid for 60 minutes; it acts as the person named at login, within their organisation, and never approves. Rotating or disabling the organisation's API credential ends every token made with it on its next call. See [Authentication](/automations/api/authentication). apiCredential: type: oauth2 description: >- Your organisation's API credential, exchanged at [Login](/automations/api/login) for the bearer token above: an OAuth 2.0 client-credentials request, with the `username`, `email` and `organization_name` of the person the token acts as sent as extra fields, as Postman's OAuth 2.0 helper can send them. The token never holds `automations:approve`. flows: clientCredentials: tokenUrl: https://app.vortexiq.ai/v2/api/automations/login scopes: automations:read: >- Read automations, templates, stores, runs, the calendar, approvals and imports. automations:write: >- Set automations up, change, pause, resume, archive, restore and run them; move and skip coming runs; keep and delete imports. ```` This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.