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This guide covers Automation configuration in detail. For a quick walkthrough, see Create your first Automation.
Automations work best with projects. A project provides the Dev Container configuration, dependencies, and environment settings that your Automation runs against. We recommend setting up a project before creating Automations.

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Create an Automation

  1. Navigate to Automations in the left panel.
  2. Click New.
  3. Choose Start from scratch or select a pre-configured template.
Automations page

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Name and description

To set or change the name and description, open the ⋯ menu on the Automation and select Rename. A dialog opens where you can edit both fields.

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Trigger type

Click the trigger node and then Edit to open the trigger configuration dialog.

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Runs on

Each trigger includes a Runs on setting that determines where the Automation runs: See Manual triggers and Pull request triggers for scope configuration details per trigger type.

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Guardrails

Control execution limits to prevent Automations from running excessively:
  • Max concurrent actions: simultaneous runs
  • Max total actions: total allowed per run
Maximum values depend on your plan. See Plans and limits for per-plan caps and Guardrails for details.

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Run Automation as

The Run Automation as selector is at the bottom of the trigger configuration dialog.

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Steps

Steps execute in sequence within the same environment. Each step can access files, environment variables, and context from previous steps.

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Step types

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Example workflow

Guidance:
  • Use prompts for context-aware tasks that vary by repository.
  • Use commands for predictable, repeatable operations.
  • Combine both: commands for validation, prompts for intelligent changes.
Steps configuration

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Add parameters to manual runs

Use Go template syntax in a Prompt, Command, or pull request title, description, or branch to request a value when someone starts the Automation manually. For example, add {{ .Parameters.ticket_id }} to a prompt:
The same syntax works in a shell command:
Parameter names must start with a letter or underscore and contain only letters, numbers, and underscores. An Automation can reference up to 10 unique parameters. When a user clicks Run, Ona detects the referenced names and opens Run with options. Every value is required. See Run an Automation with parameters for the execution flow.
Run parameters are entered interactively for manual executions. Scheduled and pull request triggers cannot prompt for parameter values, so use fixed values or trigger context for those runs.
Do not use run parameters for credentials or other sensitive values. Configure service account secrets instead.

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Save and edit

Click Save to create the Automation. All settings can be modified after creation.
Pull request triggers require an event source: GitHub (for GitHub.com) or a webhook. See Pull request triggers for details.

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Enable and disable

Disable an Automation to stop it from running without deleting it. Disabled Automations keep their configuration, execution history, and triggers, but no new runs can start (manually or via triggers). To toggle an Automation:
  • From the list: open the three-dot menu on any Automation and select Disable or Enable.
  • From the details page: use the toggle switch next to the Automation name.
Disabled Automations appear with muted styling in the list and show a “Disabled” status label. Use the Enabled / Disabled filter in the status dropdown to find them.
Disabling is useful when you want to pause a scheduled or event-driven Automation temporarily, for example during a code freeze or while debugging a failing workflow, without losing its configuration.

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Next steps