Automations

Open Automations, or choose Automations in the GovTribe AI sidebar, to manage your automations. The Automations tab on New Chat offers recent automations, setup suggestions and templates.

Automations let GovTribe AI run from a saved configuration instead of waiting for you to start every prompt manually. Use automations for recurring research, saved-search monitoring, government-record changes, pipeline review, pursuit follow-up, and other repeatable AI work. You can also choose whether GovTribe emails you when an automation run finishes.

Each automation has one or more start triggers. Every trigger is an independent OR condition: a schedule, record change, or workspace event can start the same saved prompt without waiting for the other triggers to happen.

Connected AI clients can also manage automations through GovTribe MCP. Use Create_Automation to create a new automation, Search_Automations to find an existing automation, and Update_Automation to change an automation.

Requirements

Automations require available credits, a project, and a prompt. If credits are not enabled or available for your account, GovTribe may send the account owner to Credits before a new automation can be created.

Projects are required because automations create ongoing work. Keeping them in a project makes the generated conversations easier to find later.

Start from the Automations tab

On New Chat, select Automations below the composer; Chat is selected by default. The left panel shows recent automations when available, or explains when automations run, what GovTribe AI does and how completion emails work.

Built for you shows personalized suggestions when available. Otherwise, Get started offers general starting points such as finding new opportunities or reviewing opportunities for company fit. Set up prepares an editable automation draft. Review its instructions, project, start triggers and email settings before creating it. A suggestion does not schedule or start an automation by itself.

Use the thumbs-up control to mark a personalized suggestion useful, or the dismiss control to hide it. This feedback does not change your saved automations. Personalized suggestions require Access GovTribe Data in Tune GovTribe AI; general starters remain available without personalized suggestions.

Start from chat opens a setup conversation for describing your own recurring task. The Templates panel offers four shortcuts; View all opens the full automation template library. Choosing a template starts its setup conversation. Your account's normal access and credit requirements still apply.

When credit access blocks setup, the suggestion panel shows Automations require credits to use. If credits have not been enabled, Enable credits links to your account's credit settings when available. If the availability check fails temporarily, choose Try again.

For suggestion refresh behavior, see How often do homepage suggestions change?. Once you create an automation, its saved schedules and event triggers determine when it runs; homepage suggestion refreshes do not control those runs.

Create an automation

From Automations, choose View templates, Create via chat, or Create manually from the Create via chat menu.

View templates opens a starter library for common capture, proposal, market intelligence, and pricing automations. Choosing a template starts a GovTribe AI setup conversation for that template. Create via chat opens GovTribe AI with a setup prompt that can inspect your saved searches, pipelines, pursuits, projects, recent AI work, and buyer or vendor activity before recommending high-value automations. Create manually opens the direct automation form.

If you are using GovTribe MCP, call Create_Automation with the automation name, prompt, a non-empty start_nodes list, and GovTribe AI project name. To change an existing automation, find its current version and start-node IDs with Search_Automations, then call Update_Automation with the expected version number and the fields or start-node operations you want to change.

The automation prompt composer is focused on the saved automation instruction. It is not the same as sending a normal conversation message.

Choose a reasoning level

Reasoning level is saved with each automation and applies whenever that automation runs, including Run now tests. Existing automations keep their saved level. New automations use Medium when you do not choose another level.

Higher reasoning can take longer and use more credits. Start with Medium for most automations. Choose None or Low for clearly mechanical or routine work, and raise the level only when the automation needs more judgment.

The automation setting is independent of your Tune Intelligence preference. Automated turns currently run on GPT-5.6 Terra, and the saved reasoning level governs the automation run and its tool work. If you open the generated conversation and send a follow-up message yourself, that ordinary turn uses your current Tune Intelligence and Response length preferences. See Manage conversations.

From GovTribe MCP, send reasoning_level as none, low, medium, or high. Create defaults to medium when the field is omitted. Update preserves the current value when the field is omitted.

Combine multiple start triggers

Configure the first Run when… row, then choose + Also run when… for each additional schedule or event. All rows run the same prompt, use the same project and skill, and follow the same completion email setting.

The automation starts when any one configured trigger fires. It does not wait for all triggers to match, and separate triggers can create separate runs. When you choose Run now on an automation with several triggers, use Run as if to select the start condition the test should simulate.

Choose completion email settings

Automations can email you after a run finishes. Email is the built-in completion notification: it goes to the user who owns the automation and includes a link back to the generated automation conversation. A saved prompt can also explicitly send an attributed message to another owned GovTribe AI conversation, as described below; that is a conversation-tool action rather than a completion callback.

The text box can also include instructions about the email content, such as what to highlight, how to summarize the result, or what tone to use. For When something specific happens, the text box is required because it defines the condition GovTribe AI evaluates before emailing you.

From GovTribe MCP, use the flat on_completion_notify_user key with always, conditionally, or never. Use completion_notification_instructions for the condition and email-writing guidance. Do not send internal notification_node or notification_config keys from MCP. When using Update_Automation, omit both completion email fields to keep the current setting, include them to change it, or set on_completion_notify_user to never to turn completion emails off.

Monitor or message another conversation

Every automation run is a separate GovTribe AI conversation in the automation's project. A run does not execute inside the conversation where you created it, subscribe to another transcript, or automatically resume that conversation when it finishes.

When Full Conversation Recall is enabled, the saved prompt can read visible messages from a known owned conversation. Without recall, the run can inspect metadata and working status but cannot inspect that conversation's transcript. A reliable monitor keeps the monitored conversation ID separate from the delivery conversation ID, stores a last-observed message ID or timestamp, and sends nothing when the observed output is unchanged.

If the saved prompt explicitly sends a message to another owned conversation, GovTribe records Sent from another GovTribe AI thread on the delivered message and links back to the authorized source. Sending can start an idle destination or steer an active one. It is an explicit conversation update, not an automatic callback, join, or subscription.

Use schedules

Scheduled automations can run once at a future time, on a common recurring pattern, or on a custom recurrence.

Choose Exact when GovTribe should add no deliberate load-spreading delay. Exact does not guarantee wall-clock execution: GovTribe checks due schedules once per minute, and queue pickup, worker capacity, outages, and task duration can still delay a run.

Choose Approximate when a short forward-only load-spreading delay is acceptable. The automation may start at the selected time or shortly after. New schedules use Approximate by default, and you can change the timing policy while creating or editing an automation.

GovTribe MCP schedule triggers use the same policies through jitter_policy in trigger_config: standard is Approximate and remains the default, while none is Exact and stores the next run at the canonical occurrence without adding deliberate jitter.

Custom schedules use RRULE syntax. The selected timezone determines the local time for scheduled runs.

Use COUNT=1 for a one-time scheduled run. After the final occurrence is claimed, a schedule-only automation remains published but appears as Completed with No upcoming runs. If the automation also has an event trigger, it remains Active because that event can still start it; the completed schedule is omitted from the upcoming-run summary.

Changing a schedule's RRULE or timezone gives it a new starting point and rearms it. Editing the prompt, project, reasoning level, notification settings, or another unrelated field preserves a completed schedule and does not replay it. Pausing and resuming also do not replay a completed schedule.

Use event triggers

Event-triggered automations run after GovTribe records a supported government-record or workspace event.

GovTribe adds trigger and run context to the automation so the generated conversation can explain what started the run.

Set a saved-search trigger frequency

Every Saved search gets new results trigger requires its own Instant, Daily, or Weekly polling frequency. Instant triggers check every 15 minutes. Daily and Weekly triggers check on their corresponding cadence.

When you first select a saved search while creating an automation, GovTribe copies an existing Instant, Daily, or Weekly saved-search frequency. If no supported frequency is available, the builder starts with Daily. This is a one-time default that you can change before saving; it is not a continuing link between the two settings.

Later changes to the saved search's email frequency do not change the automation trigger, and turning saved-search email off does not disable the automation. The automation's completion email setting is also separate from both frequencies.

A new or retargeted saved-search trigger begins listening when you save it. A paused, broken, or otherwise inactive automation has no pending saved-search check. When the automation becomes active, GovTribe schedules the next check from that time using the trigger's frequency.

Resuming an automation also restarts listening from the resume time, so results from before that point are not replayed. Editing an active automation preserves saved-search progress when the target stays the same, then schedules the next check from the time you save the new version.

Monitor a government record

Choose A government record changes, select a Record type, and then search for the exact Government record to monitor. A new or retargeted trigger begins listening when you save that change. Resuming the automation restarts listening from the resume time, so earlier activity is not replayed.

You can monitor one record from any of these families with each trigger:

• Federal Contract Award
• Federal Contract IDV
• Federal Contract Opportunity
• Federal Contract Vehicle Opportunity
• Federal Grant Opportunity
• Federal Grant Award
• Federal Forecast
• State/Local Contract Opportunity

This trigger is useful for watching an opportunity for amendment-driven deadline, description, or link changes; watching an award or IDV for modifications and lifecycle changes that affect recompete timing; or watching a grant opportunity or forecast as its details develop. GovTribe can group several newly recorded changes for the selected record into one automation run.

The trigger watches only the exact selected record. It does not automatically start when GovTribe adds a separate recompete, follow-on opportunity, related award, or other linked record. For broader follow-on discovery, add a saved-search or schedule trigger to the same automation. See Monitor pursued opportunities and follow-ons for a complete monitoring pattern.

Example automation templates

Use the template library when you want GovTribe AI to help shape the prompt, start triggers, and email behavior from a common starting point. Templates are still normal automations after setup; you can tailor the saved prompt, project, trigger scopes, and email condition before GovTribe creates anything.

Start with what you want to monitor and when you want to hear about it. The setup conversation helps you choose a project, write the instructions, and select when the automation runs. Share what you already know; GovTribe AI can ask for the remaining details before you review and create the automation.

Each run saves its findings as a conversation in the chosen project. The Email me setting controls whether you also receive a completion email. If you want a downloadable file, ask for it during setup. Reviews of pipelines and pursuits give recommendations; ask explicitly if you want the automation to change records.

The examples below use fictional search and pipeline names and illustrative criteria. Replace those names with your own and adjust the dates, amounts, and notification conditions to suit your work.

Saved-search opportunity triage

Use this template when a saved search finds more opportunities than your team can review manually. It compares new matches with your company's capabilities and qualifications, then explains which opportunities deserve attention and why.

To start, open Automations, choose View templates, and select this template.

• During setup: Choose the saved search and describe the work you can deliver, buyers you want to serve, and any geographic, contract-access, or eligibility limits. You can also set a minimum response time or contract value.
• Recommended trigger: Saved search gets new results, with the trigger's own Instant, Daily, or Weekly frequency.
• Email me: When something specific happens, such as a strong opportunity to pursue, a match worth finding a partner for, or a lead needing immediate follow-up.
• What you receive: A ranked list of new matches with reasons to pursue, partner, watch, or decline, plus missing information and a next action. You can review the full list in the run conversation even when no email is sent.

Example setup request:

Watch my Federal IT Support saved search for our help-desk team. Focus on work in Virginia and Maryland with at least 15 days to respond. Ask me about our contract vehicles and certifications before finalizing the setup. Email me only about strong matches we should pursue or find a partner for, with the reasons and next step.

Qualify new matches and prepare outline-ready bids

Use this template when you want a bid decision before spending time on proposal preparation. It reviews new opportunities against your requirements and prepares or recommends an outline only when the opportunity qualifies and the necessary solicitation documents are available.

To start, open Automations, choose View templates, and select this template.

• During setup: Choose the saved search and describe your capabilities, eligibility, delivery capacity, and bidding priorities. Decide which recommendations justify an outline and which documents must be available first. You can ask for an outline recommendation or a downloadable Annotated Proposal Outline.
• Recommended trigger: Saved search gets new results.
• Email me: When something specific happens, such as a recommendation to bid alone or with a partner, or a missing document that prevents preparing an outline.
• What you receive: A recommendation to bid, partner, pursue as a subcontractor, monitor, or decline, with the reasons. Qualified opportunities can also receive the requested outline. When information is missing, the report identifies what you need before proceeding.

Example setup request:

Review new matches in my Agency IT Services saved search for our help-desk team. Recommend whether we should bid, team with a partner, subcontract, monitor, or decline. Prepare a Word outline only when you recommend bidding alone or with a partner and the current solicitation and statement of work are available. Email me about those bid candidates or a missing document that prevents the outline.

Executive gate-review email

Use this template when leaders need a concise decision as a pursuit develops. It explains whether to bid, partner, subcontract, monitor, or decline, with the most important reasons, risks, and next action.

To start, open Automations, choose View templates, and select this template.

• During setup: Choose the pipeline or pursuits to review. Describe the requirements that determine whether you can compete, such as contract access, eligibility, delivery capacity, past performance, staffing, pricing, and time to prepare a proposal.
• Recommended triggers: Pursuit created or updated, or Pursuit moves stages when a pursuit enters your qualification or review stage.
• Email me: When something specific happens. Suggested conditions include a recommendation to bid, partner, subcontract, or continue capture work, as well as a no-bid decision caused by a requirement leadership needs to know about.
• What you receive: A short decision brief suitable for leadership review. It focuses on the recommendation rather than drafting proposal documents.

Example setup request:

When a pursuit in our Civilian Agency IT pipeline enters Qualification, assess whether our help-desk team should bid, partner, subcontract, monitor, or decline. Flag mandatory qualifications we have not confirmed, fewer than 10 days to prepare, or delivery costs above the available budget. Email me recommendations worth leadership review, including a no-bid caused by a required qualification we lack.

Recurring capture monitor and pipeline report

Use this template for a regular report on a market, saved search, buyer, group of potential recompetes, or pipeline. It highlights what changed and what the team should do next, so you can prepare for a business-development meeting without repeating the same research.

To start, open Automations, choose View templates, and select this template.

• During setup: Choose what to review, how often to report, and who is responsible for follow-up. Give examples of changes that matter, such as an approaching deadline, a promising new match, or a pursuit with no recent updates. Choose a prior report for comparison or use the first run as the starting point.
• Recommended triggers: A weekly or daily schedule, Saved search gets new results, or Pipeline created or updated.
• Email me: On every run.
• What you receive: A report of new or changed opportunities, urgent actions, items to watch, pursuits needing attention, and missing information, with suggested actions and owners.

Example setup request:

Every Monday at 9 a.m. Eastern, report what changed in our Civilian Agency IT pipeline since the previous report. Use the first report as the starting point for future comparisons. Highlight promising new opportunities, deadlines in the next 14 days, and pursuits with no updates for three weeks. Email me the report with a next action and suggested owner for each item. Leave record changes for our team to approve.

Pipeline health review

Use this template to prepare for capture meetings or keep an active pipeline useful. It finds pursuits with outdated dates, missing information, unclear next actions, or stages that no longer match the work completed.

To start, open Automations, choose View templates, and select this template.

• During setup: Choose the pipeline, stages, or owners to review. Decide how many days without an update should draw attention and which information each pursuit should contain, such as an owner, estimated value, due date, linked opportunity, and next action.
• Recommended triggers: A weekly schedule, Pipeline created or updated, or Pursuit created or updated.
• Email me: On every run.
• What you receive: A list of pursuits needing attention, why each needs review, and recommended actions for the people responsible. Changes to stages or outcomes remain recommendations unless you ask for updates.

Example setup request:

Every Friday, review our Civilian Agency IT pipeline for active pursuits with no recorded updates in 21 days, dates that have passed, or a missing estimated value or next action. Email me a cleanup list with the issue, recommended action, and person responsible. Recommend any stage or outcome changes for us to approve.

Pursuit stage-change briefing

Use this template when entering or leaving a pursuit stage should prompt a review. It explains what changed, whether the pursuit meets your expectations for that stage, and what needs to happen next.

To start, open Automations, choose View templates, and select this template.

• During setup: Choose the pipeline and stage transition to watch. Describe what should be ready at that point, who is responsible, and which deadlines or missing documents need attention.
• Recommended trigger: Pursuit moves stages, with the relevant stage and direction selected.
• Email me: On every run.
• What you receive: A briefing on the transition, related opportunity or award, missing information, deadline risks, and next actions. The review itself does not change the pursuit's stage or fields.

Example setup request:

Whenever a pursuit in our Civilian Agency IT pipeline enters Proposal, brief me on what changed and what the proposal team needs next. Highlight a deadline within 10 days, missing solicitation documents, or work without an assigned owner. Email me the briefing after each run, with recommended actions for the team to review.

Recompete and follow-on monitoring

Use this template to look for potential follow-on work across a buyer, vendor, program, contract vehicle, or type of work. It helps you plan capture activity across several contracts, rather than watching just one award.

To start, open Automations, choose View templates, and select this template.

• During setup: Choose the market or saved search and the period to review, such as contracts ending in the next 6–18 months. Describe the work your company can deliver and the developments that would change your bidding plans.
• Recommended triggers: A weekly schedule or Saved search gets new results.
• Email me: When something specific happens, such as a likely follow-on notice, new information about the incumbent, or a timing change that requires action.
• What you receive: A list of potential follow-ons with supporting sources, timing, incumbent information, open questions, and recommended next steps. A contract's approaching end date alone does not establish that it will be recompeted.

Example setup request:

Every Monday, look for follow-on work related to NASA IT-support contracts ending in the next 12 months. Email me when a related forecast or solicitation appears, or a confirmed timing change affects when our help-desk team should begin capture work. Explain the supporting evidence and next action. Keep contracts with only an approaching end date in the report for later review.

Specific award recompete watch

Use this template when you already know the award or contract you want to follow. It checks that contract and related notices, forecasts, modifications, buyer activity, and incumbent information for developments that affect your next move.

To start, open Automations, choose View templates, and select this template.

• During setup: Identify the award, IDV, vehicle, contract number, or GovTribe record link. Explain whether you hope to prime, subcontract, or partner, and when you expect the work to be renewed or recompeted.
• Recommended trigger: A weekly schedule for nearer-term work or a monthly schedule for a more distant renewal. You can also add a record-change trigger, but it watches only the selected record; see Monitor a government record.
• Email me: When something specific happens, such as a likely follow-on notice, changed contract timing, or other development that affects your capture plans.
• What you receive: A focused update on the contract, the evidence connecting any related notices to the work, facts still needing confirmation, and a recommended next action.

Example setup request:

Watch the award linked to my Help Desk Renewal pursuit each Monday. Email me if a related follow-on notice appears, the end date changes, or a modification changes the likely bidding schedule. Show the source and why it matters for our next capture action. Help me confirm the exact award before saving the automation.

Buyer or agency market pulse

Use this template to keep up with how a buyer purchases your kind of work. It compares past buying patterns with current opportunities and explains what changes mean for your business-development plans.

To start, open Automations, choose View templates, and select this template.

• During setup: Choose the agency, office, or program and the kind of work to follow. You can narrow the review by category, vehicle, geography, or saved search. Explain which buying changes matter to your company.
• Recommended triggers: A weekly schedule or Saved search gets new results.
• Email me: On every run.
• What you receive: A short market report on current demand, contract vehicles, set-asides, typical values, and supplier concentration, with suggested actions for business development.

Example setup request:

Every Monday, show how NASA is buying help-desk services. Compare recent opportunities with its past awards. Highlight changes in contract vehicles, set-asides, typical contract values, and how much work goes to a few suppliers. Explain where our team should investigate next and email me the report after every run.

Partner, incumbent, and competitor watch

Use this template to find vendors worth researching or approaching in your target market. It uses prior awards and current opportunities to explain who may be an incumbent, bidder, competitor, or potential partner.

To start, open Automations, choose View templates, and select this template.

• During setup: Choose the market or saved search. Describe your preferred role, gaps a partner could fill, contract access or eligibility constraints, and vendors you want to include or exclude.
• Recommended triggers: A weekly schedule or Saved search gets new results.
• Email me: When something specific happens, such as finding a potential partner for a capability gap or evidence of a competitor advantage that deserves attention.
• What you receive: A vendor list with likely roles, supporting awards or relationships, reasons to investigate, and facts still needing confirmation. A vendor's appearance in a record alone is not proof it will bid.

Example setup request:

For new matches in my Federal IT Support saved search, identify incumbents, likely competitors, and partners for our help-desk team. We want to prime and need a partner for cybersecurity work. Use prior awards to explain each vendor's relevance. Email me when a partner could fill that gap or a competitor has contract-vehicle access we lack. Explain what still needs confirmation.

Solicitation compliance triage

Use this template when a solicitation, amendment, Q&A, or pursuit change could affect your proposal. It brings the response requirements and risks together so your team can act on the current documents.

To start, open Automations, choose View templates, and select this template.

• During setup: Choose the saved search, pursuits, or proposal-stage transition to watch. Identify the documents you expect to have, such as the solicitation, amendments, Q&A, forms, and submission instructions, and the changes that should prompt an email.
• Recommended triggers: Saved search gets new results, Pursuit created or updated, or Pursuit moves stages when a pursuit enters your proposal or review stage.
• Email me: When something specific happens, such as a changed deadline, missing required form, amendment affecting the response, or an action due today.
• What you receive: A review of deadlines, submission rules, evaluation factors, required content, amendments, and risks, with source references. Missing documents are listed so you know which findings remain incomplete. You can separately request a compliance workbook or outline if you need one.

Example setup request:

When a pursuit in our Civilian Agency IT pipeline enters Proposal, review the latest solicitation and amendments. Give me a checklist of deadlines, required documents, submission rules, and evaluation factors, with page or section references. Email me if a deadline changes, a required form is missing, or a response is due within five business days. List any source documents you could not review.

Pricing evidence pulse / pressure alert

Use this template when new pricing evidence could change your proposed price, staffing plan, or expected margin. It compares relevant evidence with your current assumptions and explains which differences deserve attention.

To start, open Automations, choose View templates, and select this template.

• During setup: Choose the opportunity, pursuit, labor categories, vendor, agency, or market to follow. Share your current rates or pricing workbook if available, plus relevant roles, locations, and work requirements. Agree on the differences that should trigger an email, such as a lower comparable awarded rate or wages above your planned base salaries.
• Recommended triggers: A weekly schedule, Pursuit created or updated, or Pipeline created or updated.
• Email me: When something specific happens, such as new comparable pricing or evidence that changes your expected costs or competitive position.
• What you receive: A report of the evidence, how closely it matches your work, and what it means for your price or staffing plan. The report distinguishes employee wages, GSA ceiling rates, and awarded prices. Ask during setup if you also want a downloadable pricing model.

Example setup request:

Every Wednesday, review pricing evidence for help-desk work in northern Virginia. Use the proposed rates and base salaries in the pricing workbook I select during setup. Email me if a comparable awarded rate is at least 10% below our proposed rate, or local wage evidence exceeds the base salaries in our plan. Explain differences in work, location, and rate basis before recommending a change.

Manage automation runs

Automation list and detail views can show the automation status, trigger summary, project, next run while active, last run, run history, and current notification setting. Generated conversations can be opened from their run history when available.

Automations are edited by the person who owns them, and each saved change creates a new version. GovTribe saves your edit against the version you opened. If the automation changed in the meantime — for example, you saved an edit in another browser tab, or a connected AI client updated it for you — your edit is not applied. GovTribe warns you that the automation changed and asks you to reload it, so you can review the current setup before making the change again. GovTribe also asks you to reload and try again if another save for that automation is still finishing. An automation you have deleted can no longer be updated.

Connected AI clients follow the same rule, which is why they look an automation up before changing it. A change applies only the settings and triggers included in the request and leaves the rest of the automation as it was. See Update automation MCP tool for the exact fields.

Automation status shows whether an automation is active, paused, broken, scheduled to run soon, complete, failed, or otherwise unable to run. A published schedule-only automation appears as Completed with No upcoming runs after all of its finite schedules finish. If an automation is missing a project or marked broken, review it before expecting configured triggers to start new runs.

Related articles

• Create a conversation: Start the project conversations that automations can work alongside.
• Choose a skill: Choose the right skill for an automation prompt.
• Create automation MCP tool: Create automations through GovTribe MCP.
• Update automation MCP tool: Change existing automations through GovTribe MCP.
• Search automations MCP tool: Find automations and recent runs before updating them.
• Automation data type: Review fields returned for automation records.
• Reasoning level attribute: Review the stable values accepted by automation APIs and MCP tools.
• Monitor pursued opportunities and follow-ons: Combine exact-record changes with saved searches and schedules for broader follow-on discovery.
• Manage connected tools: Connect official tools, control chat tool selection, and request a custom connector.
• GovCon workflows with GovTribe AI: Use detailed workflow guidance and copyable prompt examples.
• Tune GovTribe AI: Manage global Intelligence and Response length preferences, memories, conversation recall, GovTribe data access, and custom instructions.
• Saved searches: Create saved searches that can trigger automations.