Activate a playbook
Activating a playbook creates a fully-configured journey in your workspace. You customise the variables, review the flow, and publish — typically under 2 minutes. Activation is audited on the control plane (playbook_activations) and materialises an operational run on the cell plane (playbook_execution_instances).
Select a playbook
From Engage → Automations → Discover, find the playbook you want and click Activate.
Customize variables
Every playbook exposes a set of variables you can tune without editing the journey itself:
| Variable type | Examples |
|---|---|
| Segment | Which contacts enter the flow (e.g., “All contacts” vs “VIP only”) |
| Channel | Which channels to use for each send step (WhatsApp, Email, SMS, etc.) |
| Timing | Wait durations between steps (e.g., “1 day” vs “3 days”) |
| Content | Message templates per step (pick from your library or use the defaults) |
| Incentive | Coupon code, discount percentage, reward points (for playbooks that include offers) |
The activation wizard shows each variable with a sensible default. Override any value you want.
Preview the flow
The wizard shows a simplified view of the journey graph with your customized variables applied. Each node displays:
- What happens at that step
- Which segment/channel/template is configured
- The timing between steps
Publish
Click Activate to publish the journey. It immediately starts accepting contacts that match the trigger.
Activation scope
If the workspace contains multiple outlets, the activation drawer respects the chip-strip’s ?location= URL state:
- chip = “All outlets” → brand-tier activation; every outlet receives a branched execution
- chip = a specific outlet → outlet-tier activation; the run is scoped to that outlet only
After activation
The playbook appears in both:
- Engage → Automations — with a badge showing “Active” and performance metrics
- Engage → Journeys — as a regular journey (you can edit it further on the canvas)
Deactivating
To pause or stop a playbook:
- Go to Engage → Automations → [playbook name]
- Click Pause (holds contacts in-flight) or Deactivate (stops the journey entirely)
Deactivated playbooks keep their analytics. You can reactivate at any time.
What’s next
- Journey analytics — measure playbook performance per step
- How Actii decides — let the AI agent suggest and activate playbooks for you