# What is Activity Craft? Strava Automation Guide

> A simple explanation of Activity Craft for Strava users: what it is, how it works, and why it helps you automate activities intelligently and effortlessly.

**Author:** Diego G | **Published:** 2025-07-20

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## What does it do?

  With Activity Craft, you can create simple rules that automatically update your Strava activities. For example:

  - Mark your rides to work as "commute"
  - Add emojis to your activity titles
  - Assign your bike or shoes based on the activity type
  - Change the activity name based on distance or location

  ## How does it work?

  Activity Craft connects to your Strava account and watches for new activities. When you upload a workout, it automatically checks your custom rules and applies any matching changes—all within seconds of your activity appearing on Strava.

  ### Secure Connection

  Getting started is simple and secure. You'll connect your Strava account using OAuth—the same trusted method that official Strava partners use. This gives Activity Craft permission to read your activities and make the changes you want, but nothing more.

  ### Creating Rules

  This is where the magic happens. Rules are like smart filters that tell Activity Craft exactly when and how to update your activities. Every rule has two parts:

  **Conditions** (when should this rule activate?):
  - Activity type (cycling, running, swimming, etc.)
  - Distance ranges (e.g., between 5-15 km)
  - Time of day (morning, afternoon, evening)
  - Day of the week (weekdays, weekends, specific days)
  - Location (within a certain area or route)
  - Device used (GPS watch, phone, bike computer)

  **Actions** (what should happen?):
  - Mark as commute or workout
  - Change activity title or add emojis
  - Assign equipment (bikes, shoes, etc.)
  - Add or modify description
  - Add custom tags or notes

  The real power comes from mixing and matching conditions. Want to mark only your weekday morning bike rides that start from home as commutes? No problem—just combine those conditions into one rule.

  ### Instant Processing

  Here's where it gets exciting. The moment you finish a workout and it appears on Strava, Activity Craft springs into action:

  1. **Instant notification** - Strava tells Activity Craft about your new activity within seconds
  2. **Rule checking** - Activity Craft compares your activity against all your active rules
  3. **Smart matching** - It identifies which conditions are met
  4. **Automatic updates** - The corresponding actions are applied to your Strava activity

  All of this happens behind the scenes while you're probably still catching your breath!

  ## Who is it for?

  Activity Craft is built for every type of athlete who wants to keep their training log organized without the manual work:

  - **Runners:** Automatically track shoe mileage and tag long runs or interval sessions.
  - **Cyclists:** Manage your bike fleet (Road vs MTB) and tag indoor rides on Zwift.
  - **Commuters:** Keep your feed professional by auto-muting commutes or hiding maps.
  - **Triathletes:** Handle complex multi-sport logs with specific rules for Swim, Bike, and Run.

  And with our new **[Weather Automations](/blog/weather-automations)**, you can even tag activities based on temperature, rain, or wind!

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  ## Example in Action

  Let's walk through a real example to see how this works. Imagine you want to automatically mark your bike rides to work as commutes and add emojis to make them easier to spot.

  ### Setting up the Conditions

  First, you define when the rule should apply. For a commute rule, you might set these conditions:
  - Distance: Between 8-12 km
  - Time: Weekdays between 8:20-8:40 AM
  - Location: Starting near your home area

  
    ![Activity Craft rule conditions and actions interface](/blog/conditions.png)
  

  ### Defining the Actions

  Next, you specify what should happen when those conditions are met:
  - Mark the activity as "commute"
  - Add 🚴‍♂️ 💼 emojis to the activity title
  - Assign your commuter bike as equipment

  
    ![Activity Craft rule conditions and actions interface](/blog/actions.png)
  

  ### How it works in practice

  When you finish your morning ride to work and Strava processes it, Activity Craft will:

  1. Check the distance (10 km ✓)
  2. Verify it's a weekday (Tuesday ✓)
  3. Confirm the time (8:20-8:40 AM ✓)
  4. Validate the starting location (home area ✓)
  5. Apply the actions: mark as commute and rename from "Morning Ride" to "Morning Ride 🚴‍♂️ 💼"

  The best part? This happens automatically without any input from you. You simply upload your activity to Strava as usual, and Activity Craft handles the rest.