Link to this headingWhat's New?

We're excited to introduce two powerful features that give you complete control over how your automations execute: Custom Execution Order and Stop Automations.

With these new capabilities, you can now:

• Control the exact order in which your automations run using a simple drag & drop interface
• Stop processing after specific automations to prevent conflicts and create priority-based rules
• Build sophisticated workflows that adapt to different types of activities

These features work together to transform Activity Craft from a simple automation tool into a powerful rule engine that executes exactly the way you want.

Link to this headingWhy Does This Matter?

Before these features, all your automations would execute in the order they were created, and there was no way to prevent subsequent rules from running. This led to several challenges:

The Problems We Solved

Conflicting Actions: Multiple automations might try to assign different equipment or apply different naming patterns to the same activity.

No Priority System: You couldn't say "if this rule matches, don't apply any others" — useful for handling commutes differently from training rides.

Unpredictable Results: As you added more automations, it became harder to understand which rules would apply and in what order.

Manual Workarounds: You had to carefully craft conditions to prevent overlaps, making rules complex and hard to maintain.

Now, with custom ordering and stop flags, you have full control over your automation flow.

Link to this headingCustom Execution Order

The execution order feature lets you control exactly when each automation runs by simply dragging it to the position you want.

Link to this headingHow It Works

Every automation now has an execution order number (1, 2, 3...). Activity Craft processes your automations in ascending order, from lowest to highest number.

Key Points:

• Global automations always run first - These apply to all activities and execute before any conditional rules
• Drag & drop interface - Simply grab the handle and move automations up or down
• Visual feedback - See the order number displayed right on each automation
• Automatic renumbering - The system maintains consecutive numbers when you add or remove automations

Link to this headingStop Automations

The stop feature lets you halt all further automation processing once a specific rule matches and executes.

Link to this headingHow It Works

When you enable "Stop Automations" on a conditional automation, you're telling Activity Craft:

"If this automation matches an activity, execute it and all previous matching automations, but DON'T execute any automations that come after this one."

Important Rules:

• ✅ Only for conditional automations - Global automations always execute and can't have stop enabled
• ✅ The automation with stop IS executed - It runs along with all previous matching automations
• ✅ Must match to trigger - If the automation doesn't match the activity, processing continues normally
• ✅ Order matters - Only automations with higher order numbers are skipped

Link to this headingVisual Indicators

Activity Craft makes it clear when stop is enabled:

• In automation lists: A "🛑 Automations stops here" badge appears
• In automation overview: A dedicated stop step shows at the bottom with explanation
• In playground results: Test your rules and see exactly when stopping occurs

Link to this headingTest Before You Go Live

Before applying these new automation flows to real activities, use the Playground feature to test them:

1. Go to the Playground section
2. Enter sample activity data that matches your scenarios
3. See exactly which automations would match
4. Verify when stops would occur
5. Check the final combined actions

The playground shows you:

• ✅ Which automations matched
• 🛑 Which automation triggered a stop (if any)
• ❌ Which automations were skipped
• 📋 The final combined actions that would be applied

This lets you build confidence in your automation flow before it affects real activities.

Link to this headingExisting Automations

What happens to my current automations?

All your existing automations have been automatically assigned execution order numbers based on their creation date. Older automations have lower numbers and execute first.

You can now:

• Reorder them using drag & drop
• Add stop flags to prevent conflicts
• Test the new flow in the Playground

Your automations continue to work exactly as before until you decide to reorder them or add stops.

Link to this headingGet Started Today

These features are live now and ready to use. Here's how to get started:

1. Review your current automations - Look for potential conflicts or overlaps
2. Decide on your strategy - What order makes sense for your workflow?
3. Reorder using drag & drop - Move automations into the right sequence
4. Add stop flags - Prevent conflicts by stopping after key rules
5. Test in Playground - Verify everything works as expected
6. Upload an activity - Watch your new automation flow in action!

These features give you unprecedented control over how Activity Craft processes your activities. Whether you're handling complex scenarios or just want to prevent equipment conflicts, custom order and stop automations have you covered.

Happy automating! 🚀