An automation is a message that sends itself at the right moment. Instead of choosing an audience and a date, the program defines a trigger, and the message fires per member whenever the trigger occurs: a pass installed, a birthday, a pass anniversary, a stretch of inactive days, points earned, a tier changed. The result reaches the member as a lock screen message through their pass.
Automations are how a program covers its lifecycle without anyone pressing send. A welcome message greets every new pass holder minutes after they join; a birthday message arrives on the day without a monthly export; a win-back message finds each lapsing member exactly when they lapse, not when someone remembers to run the campaign. One definition, executed per member, forever.
Two controls keep automations precise rather than noisy. Conditions narrow who qualifies, using the same rule vocabulary as segments, so a tier-change message can apply only to upgrades, or a win-back only to members above a points floor. And a frequency cap limits how often automations may message any one member, so overlapping triggers never stack into spam.
The division of labor with campaigns is clean: campaigns carry news and offers on the program's schedule, automations carry lifecycle moments on each member's schedule. In Stell, automations live in Engage, the messaging module.