⚙️ Automations
Automations run actions automatically in response to Discord events. Each automation is built from three parts — When (the event that starts it), If (optional conditions that must match), and Do (one or more actions, run in order). Automations are Discord-only.
Overview
With automations, the agent can:
- React to eleven Discord events — messages, reactions, role changes, voice activity, threads, button clicks, and joins
- Filter events with conditions — channel, roles, message content, attachments, reactions — combined with Match ALL or Match ANY
- Run ordered, reorderable actions: send or repost messages, grant or remove roles, create threads, pin, delete, react, and more
- Compose rich responses with message text, an embed, and link buttons
- Retry failed retry-safe actions automatically for up to 24 hours
Configuration
To build an automation:
- Open your project in the Fren One webapp.
- Select the Discord server you want to configure.
- In the sidebar under Agent Configuration, select Automations.
- Select "Add Automation", give it a Name, and fill in the When/If/Do builder.
Each automation in the list shows an enable toggle, its name, and a summary of its event, condition count, and action count.
When — the trigger
The "Trigger" select picks the Discord event that starts the automation. Required. Events are phrased "A member…":
| Event | Fires when a member… |
|---|---|
| Sends a message | Posts a message. |
| Edits a message | Edits a message. |
| Deletes a message | Deletes a message. |
| Adds a reaction | Reacts to a message. |
| Gains a role | Receives a role. |
| Loses a role | Has a role removed. |
| Joins a voice channel | Connects to a voice channel. |
| Leaves a voice channel | Disconnects from a voice channel. |
| Creates a thread | Creates a thread. |
| Clicks a button | Clicks a button. |
| Joins the server | Joins the server. |
If — conditions
Conditions are optional — with none, the automation runs every time the event happens. When you add more than one, a Match ALL / Match ANY control appears and the rows are joined by "And" / "Or". Which condition types are available depends on the chosen event (message conditions only appear for message events, reaction conditions for reaction events, and so on).
| Condition | Configure with |
|---|---|
| It happened in one of these channels or categories | Channel/category picker — up to 25. |
| The member has any/all of these roles | Role picker — up to 25. |
| The member does not have any/all of these roles | Role picker — up to 25. |
| The member is one of these members | Member IDs — up to 25. |
| The message contains / is exactly / does not contain one of these words or sentences | Phrases — up to 40, 200 characters each. |
| The message has an audio / image / text / video attachment | Attachment type. |
| The message is a reply / is not a reply | No configuration. |
| The member reacted with one or more of these reactions | Emojis — up to 20. |
| The message has one or more of these reactions | Emojis — up to 20. |
| The member gained / lost one of these roles | Role picker — up to 25. |
Do — actions
Add at least one action under DO THIS. Actions run in order and can be reordered; additional actions chain with a "Then do this" joiner. Which actions are available depends on the event (thread actions need a thread, message actions need a message).
| Action | Notes |
|---|---|
| Send a message | Pick a channel and compose the message. |
| Give these roles to the member | Retry-safe. |
| Take these roles from the member | Retry-safe. |
| Create a thread from the message | Optional thread name. |
| Reply to the message | Compose the reply. |
| Repost the whole message in another channel | Forwards the content and attachments to the channel you pick. |
| Pin the message | Retry-safe. |
| Delete the message | — |
| React on the message with these emojis | Retry-safe. |
| Remove the reaction from the message | — |
| Add these members to the thread | Retry-safe. |
| Send a message in the thread | Compose the message. |
Message-composing actions (Send a message, Reply to the message, Send a message in the thread) support message text up to 2,000 characters, an optional Embed, and optional Link buttons — up to 10, each requiring a URL. Build embeds the same way as elsewhere in the webapp — see Embeds.
Retry on failure
The "Retry on failure" toggle: "If an action fails because of a temporary Discord error, it is retried automatically for up to 24 hours." It's only available when every action in the automation is retry-safe — role changes, pins, reactions, and thread invites. Add any other action and the toggle is disabled.
Examples
Welcome role on join. When: Joins the server. Do: Give these roles to the member → your member role. Every action is retry-safe, so turn on "Retry on failure" and a temporary Discord error won't cost anyone their role.
Auto-thread support posts. When: Sends a message. If: It happened in one of these channels or categories → your support channel. Do: Create a thread from the message (name it something like "Support"), then Reply to the message letting the member know the team will follow up in the thread.
Repost media to a showcase channel. When: Sends a message. If (Match ALL): It happened in one of these channels or categories → your art channel, and The message has an image attachment. Do: Repost the whole message in another channel → your showcase channel, then React on the message with these emojis → a star.
How it works in Discord
The agent evaluates the automation whenever its event fires: if the conditions match (or there are none), the actions run in order. Reposted messages carry the original content and attachments into the target channel.
For Joins the server, automations run at the very start of the join sequence — before blacklist screening, verification, auto roles, and the welcome message — so a join automation fires even for members who are later screened out.
With "Retry on failure" enabled, an action that hits a temporary Discord error is retried automatically for up to 24 hours instead of being dropped.
Saving your changes
This page uses a batched save — edits stay local until you select Save in the bar that appears at the bottom of the page, and leaving with unsaved changes shows a warning. One extra rule: an open inline editor must be saved or cancelled before you can save the page.
Automations, Triggers, or Smart Triggers?
Three systems respond to activity automatically — pick by what should start the response:
- Automations (this page) react to events — joins, reactions, role changes, voice, threads, buttons — not just message text.
- Triggers match keywords and patterns in messages and respond with replies or moderation actions.
- Smart Triggers let the AI judge each message against a plain-language prompt — no exact keywords needed.
Best practices
- Add a channel condition to message automations early — an unscoped "Sends a message" automation runs on every message in the server.
- Prefer Match ALL when combining a channel condition with a content condition, so both must hold.
- Enable "Retry on failure" whenever your actions allow it — role grants and reactions survive Discord hiccups instead of silently failing.
- Use the enable toggle to pause an automation you're iterating on instead of deleting it.
Troubleshooting
An automation isn't firing?
- Check its enable toggle, and that your latest edits were saved via the page Save bar.
- With multiple conditions, check the Match ALL / Match ANY setting — under Match ALL, every condition must hold.
- The condition and action sets depend on the event — confirm the automation is listening to the event you expect.
Can't turn on "Retry on failure"?
- The toggle is only available when every action is retry-safe (role changes, pins, reactions, and thread invites). Remove or split out other actions.
Can't save the page?
- Save or cancel the open automation editor first — the page can't be saved while an editor is open.
A role action does nothing?
- If you've customized the agent's permissions, confirm it can manage roles, and that its role sits above the roles it grants or removes in the server's role hierarchy.
Related features
- Triggers - Keyword-matching responses and moderation actions
- Smart Triggers - AI-judged message responses from a plain-language prompt
- Embeds - Build the embeds your message actions send