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Create an automation

On the Automations page, select the + icon to create a new automation. You’ll be prompted to configure:

  • A trigger condition that causes the automation to execute.
  • One or more actions carried out by the automation.
  • Details about the automation, such as a name and description.

You can manage automations with the Prefect CLI, Terraform provider, or Prefect API.

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Create automations with the CLI

You can create automations from YAML or JSON files using the Prefect CLI:

# Create from a YAML file
prefect automation create --from-file automation.yaml
# or use the short form
prefect automation create -f automation.yaml

# Create from a JSON file  
prefect automation create --from-file automation.json

# Create from a JSON string
prefect automation create --from-json '{"name": "my-automation", "trigger": {...}, "actions": [...]}'
# or use the short form
prefect automation create -j '{"name": "my-automation", "trigger": {...}, "actions": [...]}'

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Single automation example

Here’s an example YAML file that creates an automation to cancel long-running flows:

name: Cancel Long Running Flows
description: Cancels flows running longer than 5 minutes
enabled: true
trigger:
  type: event
  posture: Reactive
  match_state_name: RUNNING
  match_state_duration_s: 300  # 5 minutes
actions:
  - type: cancel-flow-run

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Multiple automations example

You can also create multiple automations at once by using the automations: key. If any automation fails to create, the command will continue with the remaining automations and report both successes and failures:

automations:
  - name: Cancel Long Running Flows
    description: Cancels flows running longer than 30 minutes
    enabled: true
    trigger:
      type: event
      posture: Reactive
      expect:
        - prefect.flow-run.Running
      threshold: 1
      for_each:
        - prefect.resource.id
    actions:
      - type: cancel-flow-run
        
  - name: Notify on Flow Failure
    description: Send notification when flows fail
    enabled: true
    trigger:
      type: event
      posture: Reactive
      expect:
        - prefect.flow-run.Failed
      threshold: 1
    actions:
      - type: send-notification
        subject: "Flow Failed: {{ event.resource.name }}"
        body: "Flow run {{ event.resource.name }} has failed."

Or as a JSON array:

[
  {
    "name": "First Automation",
    "trigger": {...},
    "actions": [...]
  },
  {
    "name": "Second Automation", 
    "trigger": {...},
    "actions": [...]
  }
]

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Create automations with the Python SDK

You can create and access any automation with the Python SDK’s Automation class and its methods.

from prefect.automations import Automation
from prefect.events.schemas.automations import EventTrigger
from prefect.events.actions import CancelFlowRun

# creating an automation
automation = Automation(
    name="woodchonk",
    trigger=EventTrigger(
        expect={"animal.walked"},
        match={
            "genus": "Marmota",
            "species": "monax",
        },
        posture="Reactive",
        threshold=3,
    ),
    actions=[CancelFlowRun()],
).create()

# reading the automation
automation = Automation.read(id=automation.id)
# or by name
automation = Automation.read(name="woodchonk")