Automations connect several Agent Tools so one Tool's result feeds the next. You can run Tools one after another, send a result down more than one path, choose a path based on what a Tool returned, bring paths back together, and run a Tool once for each item in a list.
Open Automations from the desktop command bar. There is one Automations tab for the whole app, and it keeps your drafts and the selected automation when you switch projects.
What an Automation Can Do
- Run Tools in order. Each Tool receives the complete result of the Tool before it.
- Fan out. One Tool can send the same result to several Tools. Those paths run one after another, not at the same time.
- Choose a path. A connection can carry a rule, such as "category equals support." ThinkForge checks the rules in priority order and takes the first path that matches, or the default path when none do.
- Bring paths back together. A Merge card waits for the paths that lead into it and passes their results on together.
- Repeat a Tool for each item. A Tool can run once per item in a list from the previous result, up to 100 items.
Rules are exact comparisons you set on the canvas. They are not instructions to an AI model, so the Tool before a branch needs to return a clear value for the rule to check.
Tools and Automations
A Tool is one fixed sequence of skills. An automation decides which Tools run, in what order, and which path a result takes. The Tools themselves don't change when you use them in an automation.
Automations use your live Tools. If you edit a Tool, every automation that uses it picks up the change on its next run.
Drafts, the Library, and Placements
You build and edit automations as drafts on the canvas. Publish to Library saves the finished automation to a shared library that every project can see.
To use an automation, you place it somewhere: the Tools page, the Ribbon, a project folder, or a Power Strip button. Each placement is an independent copy that belongs to one project, with its own input, settings, and triggers. Publishing again updates the library but doesn't change placements you've already made.
See Deploying Automations for placement steps.
Where Automations Run
- Run on the canvas, for testing
- The Tools page
- The Ribbon
- A project folder's Tools menu, and Power Strip Folder panels for that folder
- A Power Strip Automation command, including files, folders, or text you drop on it
- The Power Strip Run Automation browser command, which captures the active Chrome page first
- Schedules and file watches attached to a placement
ThinkForge MCP can't run automations.
Build Your First Automation
- Open Automations and choose New.
- Use Add Tool to place the Tools you need.
- Connect them by right-clicking the card a result comes from, then the card it goes to.
- Set a rule on any connection that should only be taken in some cases.
- Choose Run to test with empty input.
- Choose Publish to Library, then place the automation where you want to run it.
A simple chain of Tools doesn't need Input, Merge, or Output cards. Automation Canvas explains when you need them and covers each step in detail.