# Automations in Uniform

> Automations are actions that execute automatically in response to events that happen in a Uniform project, on a schedule, or on signals from external systems.

Source: https://docs.uniform.app/docs/guides/automations

> **Enterprise plan only:**
>
> The **Automations** feature requires a [Uniform Enterprise plan](https://uniform.dev/pricing/). Please contact your Uniform representative to provision your project with this feature.

Automations are actions that execute automatically in response to events that happen in a Uniform project. Use them to attach custom logic to your content, to a schedule, or to signals from external systems, such as validation, enrichment, synchronization, notification, and workflow progression.

There are two ways to define an automation:

- **Code automations** are serverless TypeScript functions that run in a sandbox. You write them with the Automations SDK and deploy them with the Uniform CLI.
- **Scout automations** execute a prompt using [Scout](https://docs.uniform.app/docs/guides/ai/scout), Uniform's AI agent. You write instructions instead of code, and you create and manage them in the dashboard.

Both kinds use the same [triggers](https://docs.uniform.app/docs/guides/automations/triggers), run under the same execution model, and appear together in the dashboard.

## Use cases

Automations are a good fit for jobs like these:

- **AI-assisted editorial stages**: when content enters a workflow stage, run an AI review (brand/tone, SEO), generate metadata or alt text, or translate it, then advance the workflow.
- **Inbound synchronization**: keep Uniform in step with external systems such as a PIM, DAM, commerce platform, or CRM. Receive a webhook when a product changes and update the corresponding entry.
- **Outbound synchronization**: push content changes downstream on publish, to rebuild a site, purge a CDN cache, or update an external search index.
- **Validation gates**: block or flag workflow progression on broken links, missing fields, or compliance violations before content advances.
- **Scheduled maintenance**: recurring jobs such as nightly syncs, batch re-tagging, unpublishing expired content, and periodic reporting.
- **Governed AI actions**: expose an automation as a tool that Scout can call to perform a deterministic, permission-scoped action on a person's behalf.

## Manage automations

Automations are created for projects and can be accessed under **Settings > Automations**, where you can see every automation registered for the project along with its runs and their logs. Only users with the **Manage Automations** permission can see and use these interfaces. See [roles and permissions](https://docs.uniform.app/docs/guides/roles-and-permissions) to grant it.

On the automations list you can:

- Enable or disable an automation.
- Delete an automation entirely.
- Create and edit Scout automations.
- Run a [scheduled](https://docs.uniform.app/docs/guides/automations/triggers#schedule) automation on demand.

![Automations list showing Scout and code automations with their triggers and enable toggles.](https://docs.uniform.app/images/guides/automations/automations-list.png)

Code automations are authored and deployed with the [Uniform CLI](https://docs.uniform.app/docs/guides/cli/commands/automation), which keeps their source in version control where it belongs. Deployed code is encrypted for your security, so it is not displayed in the dashboard.

The **Runs** tab lists every execution, with status, start time, and latency. Open a run to inspect its logs. Runs and their logs are kept for 7 days after the run finishes.

![Automation runs list showing successful runs with start time and latency.](https://docs.uniform.app/images/guides/automations/automation-runs.png)

## Execution model and limits

- **Asynchronous:** Automations run out of band, so authors never wait on them. A save, publish, or any other action that triggers an automation completes right away.
- **Isolated runs:** When one event triggers multiple automations, all of them trigger at the same time and may run in parallel.
- **Loop protection:** Automations can call Uniform APIs, which can trigger more automations. Two guards keep that safe: a write made by an automation will not re-trigger that same automation, and a depth limit stops ping-pong between automations. Runs stopped by either guard are recorded, so they stay visible in the run history.

Every run is subject to these limits:

| Limit | Value |
| --- | --- |
| CPU time per run | 5 minutes (time spent awaiting doesn't count) |
| Wall clock time per run | 15 minutes |
| Outbound HTTP requests per run | 100 |
| Deployed code bundle size | 1 MB |

> **Use an AI coding assistant:**
>
> The [`uniform-automations`](https://github.com/uniformdev/agent-skills/tree/main/skills/uniform-automations) agent skill teaches coding assistants such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and Copilot how to write, test, and deploy code automations with the Automations SDK, including `ScoutClient` calls and syncs with external systems. To install it, see [Uniform agent skills](https://docs.uniform.app/docs/guides/ai/agent-skills).

## In this guide

- [Triggers](https://docs.uniform.app/docs/guides/automations/triggers): Content events, schedules, incoming webhooks, and AI tools, plus filtering and combining them.
- [Code automations](https://docs.uniform.app/docs/guides/automations/code-automations): Author, test, and deploy TypeScript automations with the Automations SDK, including calling Scout and notifying people.
- [Scout automations](https://docs.uniform.app/docs/guides/automations/scout-automations): Write instructions instead of code and let Scout carry them out on every trigger.
- [Best practices](https://docs.uniform.app/docs/guides/automations/best-practices): Patterns that keep automations predictable and cheap to run.