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What is the difference between a rule and a process?

A practical, plain-language guide to the shortest route, the right screen, and what to know before continuing.

From guide to action

Open automated processes

This opens the relevant work screen. You may be asked to sign in; no change is saved automatically.

Automated processes

A rule reacts to one defined trigger and action. A process follows a complete business outcome over time, records each run, and can pause before a customer-facing effect. Use processes for recurring work such as a weekly summary or a follow-up after a document is paid.

First step: open Automations → Processes (/admin/automations?view=processes), choose one process, read its requirement and last meaningful run, then enable it only when the required module is available. Customer email processes remain off until their sender and stop window are ready.

When a process is off, it does not claim new work. An empty history means it has not completed a meaningful run yet; it does not prove success.

You can simply ask Up

Up answers using this guide, suggests the next step, and leads to the relevant screen.