> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.hiredata.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Automation steps overview

> Every step you can add to a HireData automation, what kind of step it is, and what it does in a run.

An automation is a start node followed by steps. An event that matches the start node begins a run. The run works through the steps in order, and a step that acts on a connected app leaves a task.

To start one, click **New Automation** in the top bar and pick a template, or open the **All** tab and choose **Blank Automation** to start from scratch. Every automation opens in the builder, where the **Start** node and each **+** lead to the drawers these pages describe. Use the table below to pick a step from the **Next step** drawer.

| Step                                                             | Kind          | What it does in a run                                                                                             |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Setup](/reference/automations/steps/setup) (the **Start** node) | Start         | Names the app, object, and trigger whose event begins a run                                                       |
| [Add](/reference/automations/steps/add)                          | Task category | Creates a record in a connected app, such as a note, task, or job application in your ATS, or a Google Sheets row |
| [Delay](/reference/automations/steps/delay)                      | Step          | Pauses the run for a preset such as 5 minutes or 1 day, or until a chosen weekday                                 |
| [Filter](/reference/automations/steps/filter)                    | Step          | Continues when its conditions pass and cancels the run when they do not                                           |
| [Find](/reference/automations/steps/find)                        | Task category | Looks up a record in a connected app, or finds an email address or a company domain                               |
| [Loop](/reference/automations/steps/loop)                        | Step          | Retrieves records from a connected app and runs the steps inside it once per record                               |
| [Message](/reference/automations/steps/message)                  | Task category | Sends an email, a WhatsApp message, a survey, or an HTTP request                                                  |
| [Prompt](/reference/automations/steps/prompt)                    | Task          | Asks an AI model to do something and returns the output fields you define                                         |
| [Split](/reference/automations/steps/split)                      | Step          | Runs its branches side by side, each branch starting with its own Filter                                          |
| [Update](/reference/automations/steps/update)                    | Task category | Changes a record that already exists in a connected app                                                           |

<Info>
  Add, Find, Message, and Update appear in the picker only when a connected app offers a task in that category. The [task catalogue](/reference/automations/task-catalogue) lists those tasks per app.
</Info>


## Related topics

- [Automations](/automations/automations.md)
- [Delay](/reference/automations/steps/delay.md)
- [Setup](/reference/automations/steps/setup.md)
- [Add](/reference/automations/steps/add.md)
- [Runs: read automation timelines and step details](/settings/logs/runs.md)