Deploying Automations

Publishing saves an automation to the shared library. Deploying places a copy of it where you can run it: the Tools page, the Ribbon, a project folder, or a Power Strip button. Each placement belongs to one project and has its own input, settings, and triggers.

Publish to the Library

On the Automations tab, choose Publish to Library. ThinkForge checks the automation before saving it, and publishing stops with a message when:

  • A Tool the automation uses no longer exists.
  • Cards aren't connected, or the lines loop back on themselves.
  • An automation with Input, Merge, or Output cards doesn't have exactly one Input, at least one Output, and a path from the Input to an Output through every card.
  • A Tool card or Output card has more than one incoming line.
  • A Merge card has fewer than two incoming lines, or two of its lines share an input name.
  • A card's outgoing lines mix route styles, share a priority, leave a condition empty, or don't have exactly one Default route.
  • A per-item setting has a path or maximum that isn't valid.

A single Tool can be published on its own.

The library is shared across projects, so an automation built in one project can be placed in any other. Document cards and the canvas layout aren't published.

Place an Automation on the Tools Page

  1. Open the project that should own the placement.
  2. Open the Tools page and choose Add from Library.
  3. Open Automations.
  4. Select the automation and choose Deploy Automation.

The placement always goes into the open project, even while the Global inventory is showing.

Place It on the Ribbon or a Folder

Select an automation on the Tools page and open its More menu:

  • Deploy to Ribbon adds a quick-run action to the Ribbon. The action starts the automation with whatever is selected in the current tab. Right-click a Ribbon action or choose Manage at the end of the Ribbon to open the manager, where you can Run the automation, change its Context, set Triggers..., or Remove it.
  • Deploy to Folder... attaches the automation to a folder in the project. It then appears in that folder's right-click Tools menu, in Manage Folder Tools..., and in Power Strip Folder panels for the folder. A folder placement always uses its folder as input.

Place It on Power Strip

Add an Automation command to Power Strip and use Change Automation to pick an automation from the library. You can also choose an automation for an Agent button. Either way, the button gets its own copy, so two buttons can use the same automation with different settings. Removing the button removes its copy.

Automation Settings

Select a placed automation to see its settings:

  • Documents or folders — the input it uses when a run doesn't supply its own.
  • Optional guidance — supporting local text files read by AI-backed Tools during a run. This is separate from the main input. Missing, unreadable, or unsupported references can stop the run. See Context and Input for accepted files and limits.
  • Save New Files To — one folder used by every Tool in the automation that saves files. It appears only when at least one Tool saves files. Clear it to let each Tool save to its usual location.

Connected Tool Settings

Tools in this automation starts collapsed. Expand it to see each Tool in the automation with its own Settings. Changing a Tool's settings here affects only that Tool inside this placement. It doesn't change the saved Tool, the library automation, or any other placement.

Details

Details shows the placement's identifiers, including which library automation it came from. Opening it doesn't change anything.

Run It Automatically

On the Tools page, select the automation and choose Schedule, or expand Schedules & triggers to add a schedule or file watch. In the Ribbon or folder manager, use Triggers... on the automation's row.

Triggers belong to one placement, so two copies of the same automation can run on different schedules or watch different folders. See Triggers.

Automation More Menu

More manages the selected placement on the Tools page.

Rename

Rename changes this placement's name. The library automation and its canvas keep their names.

Duplicate

Duplicate makes an independent copy on the Tools page with (Copy) added to its name. The copy gets its own Tool settings.

Remove from Tools

Remove from Tools removes only this placement. The canvas draft and the library automation stay.

Copy to Tools

When you've selected an automation placed somewhere else, such as on Power Strip, Copy to Tools makes an independent copy on the Tools page.

Changing placement settings does not change the library automation, the canvas, or another placement. The connected Tools' workflows are shared: editing a reusable Tool changes future runs wherever that Tool is used, and deleting it prevents those steps from running.

Publishing Again

Publishing the canvas again updates the library. Placements you already made keep their own version and settings. To give a placement the new version, place the automation again.

What Placements Can't Do Yet

  • There's no switch to turn a placement off without removing it.
  • There's no version history, and a publish can't be undone.
  • Saved file and folder inputs point to paths on this computer.
  • ThinkForge MCP can't run automations.