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How to Build a Workflow Automation Scenario with Make

Follow these steps in order to build your first scenario in Make.

  1. Create an account and explore the scenario canvas

    Sign up with an email on Make's website and you'll see an empty canvas where scenarios are built. You build an automation flow by placing modules from different apps on this canvas and connecting them with lines.

  2. Add a trigger module

    Click the + button on the canvas and choose the app and event (such as a new form response arriving) that should start the automation, as your trigger module. The trigger module decides exactly when the scenario runs.

  3. Connect action modules with lines

    Add the actions that should happen after the trigger β€” sending a Slack message or adding a row to a spreadsheet, for example β€” as modules, and connect them in order with lines. Adding a filter or conditional branch lets the next module run only under specific conditions.

  4. Test and run the scenario

    Use the 'Run once' button to test that the scenario behaves as intended, and once it's working correctly, turn on a schedule so it runs automatically on a regular basis.

  5. Understand how it differs from step-list automation tools

    Where some automation tools lay steps out top to bottom in a simple list, Make gives you a visual canvas where you can freely arrange and connect modules, which makes complex branching and repeating tasks much easier to follow at a glance.

  6. Check your operations usage

    Both free and paid plans come with a monthly limit on how many operations (executed steps) you can run, so it's worth checking your usage on the dashboard regularly.

When you need to connect several apps in complex ways

Automations with a lot of conditional branching or several apps running side by side are much easier to manage on a visual canvas than in a simple top-to-bottom list, since you can see the entire flow and how each piece connects at a glance.

No coding required

Everything is built by dragging and connecting modules with your mouse rather than writing code, so you don't need any programming background to build a working automation scenario.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to know how to code to use Make?

No β€” since scenarios are built by dragging and connecting modules visually rather than writing code, no programming knowledge is required.

How do I find out why a scenario suddenly stopped running?

The History tab in the scenario editor shows a log of every run along with any error messages, making it easy to pinpoint exactly which module caused the problem.