> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.wandb.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Automations overview

> Use W&B Automations for triggering workflows based on events in W&B

Automations exist for both **projects** and **registries**. Where you create an automation, which events you can use, and how scope works all differ. For event types by scope, see [Automation events and scopes](/models/automations/automation-events).

W\&B Automations follow this pattern: when an **event** occurs and optional **conditions** are met, an **action** runs automatically. For example:

* When a run fails (event), notify a Slack channel (action).
  <TutorialDiagramProject />
* When the `production` alias is added to an artifact (event), call a webhook to trigger deployment (action).
  <TutorialDiagramRegistry />

Events and available conditions differ for automations scoped to a [project](/models/automations/automation-events#project) or a [registry](/models/automations/automation-events#registry). See [Automation events and scopes](/models/automations/automation-events).

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart LR
  Event[Event] --> Condition[Condition]
  Condition --> Action[Action]
```

**Example:** Run fails (event) and optional run name filter (condition) then Slack notification (action). Or: alias `production` added (event) then webhook (action).

## Where to create automations

* **In a project**: Open the project, then select the **Automations** tab in the project sidebar.
* **In a registry**: Open the registry, then select the **Automations** tab.

## Use cases

* **Run monitoring and alerting**: Notify the team when a run fails or when a metric crosses a threshold (for example, loss goes to NaN or accuracy drops).
* **Registry CI/CD**: When a new model version is linked or an alias (such as `staging` or `production`) is added, trigger a webhook to run tests or deploy.
* **Project artifact workflows**: When a new artifact version is created or an alias is added in a project, run a downstream job or post to Slack.

For full event and scope details, see [Automation events and scopes](/models/automations/automation-events).

## Automation actions

When an event triggers an automation, it can perform one of these actions:

* **Slack notification**: Sends a message to a Slack channel with details about the triggering event. The message summarizes the event and includes a link to view more details in W\&B.
* **Webhook**: Calls a webhook URL with a JSON payload containing information about the triggering event. Use webhooks to integrate with external systems such as CI/CD pipelines, model deployment services, or custom workflows.

For implementation details, see [Create a Slack automation](/models/automations/create-automations/slack) and [Create a webhook automation](/models/automations/create-automations/webhook).

## How automations work

To [create an automation](/models/automations/create-automations), you:

1. If required, configure [secrets](/platform/secrets) for sensitive strings the automation requires, such as access tokens, passwords, or sensitive configuration details. Secrets are defined in your **Team Settings**. Secrets are most commonly used in webhook automations to securely pass credentials or tokens to the webhook's external service without exposing it in plain text or hard-coding it in the webhook's payload.
2. Configure team-level webhook or Slack integrations to authorize W\&B to post to Slack or run the webhook on your behalf. A single automation action (webhook or Slack notification) can be used by multiple automations. These actions are defined in your **Team Settings**.
3. In the project or registry, create the automation:
   1. Define the [event](/models/automations/automation-events) to watch for, such as when a new artifact version is added.
   2. Define the action to take when the event occurs (posting to a Slack channel or running a webhook). For a webhook, specify a secret to use for the access token and/or a secret to send with the payload, if required.

## Recommendations

* **Start small**: Begin with one or two automations for high-value events (for example, run failures or production alias changes). Validate that they work as expected before adding more.
* **Test before production**: Create automations in a test project or with a test webhook or Slack channel first. Manually trigger the event, then confirm that the action runs and that the payload or message looks correct.
* **Avoid alert fatigue**: Use run filters, metric thresholds, or alias patterns to limit how often an automation fires. If you have multiple severities, route them to different channels.

## Limitations

[Run metric automations](/models/automations/automation-events/#run-metrics-events) and [run metrics z-score change automations](/models/automations/automation-events/#run-metrics-z-score-change-automations) are currently supported only in [W\&B Multi-tenant Cloud](/platform/hosting/#wb-multi-tenant-cloud).

## Next steps

* [Automations tutorial](/models/automations/tutorial): Guides you to create a project automation to alert on run failures and a Registry automation to run a webhoook when an alias is added. The tutorial uses the W\&B App.
* [Create an automation](/models/automations/create-automations).
* [Automation events and scopes](/models/automations/automation-events).
* [Create a secret](/platform/secrets).

<Info>
  Looking for companion tutorials for automations?

  * [Learn to automatically trigger a Github Action for model evaluation and deployment](https://wandb.ai/wandb/wandb-model-cicd/reports/Model-CI-CD-with-W-B--Vmlldzo0OTcwNDQw).
  * [Watch a video demonstrating automatically deploying a model to a Sagemaker endpoint](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5CMj_w3DaQ).
  * [Watch a video series introducing automations](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD80i8An1OEGECFPgY-HPCNjXgGu-qGO6\&feature=shared).
</Info>