Channels and test fire
How Automations reach you by Email or WhatsApp, what makes a channel unavailable, and how to send a real test.
Automations reach you by Email or WhatsApp. A dashboard metric alert can also appear on the dashboard itself. Before you can choose a channel, Nalar checks that it is ready to deliver to you, and it checks again before every run.
Where your contact details come from
Nalar sends to the Email address and WhatsApp number in your workspace profile. You can't type a different address or number into an Automation, and you can't change your contact details yourself.
If your email address or WhatsApp number is missing or wrong, contact the team at your company that manages member details, usually HR or Human Capital. They arrange the correction with the Nalar team.
When a channel is available
Email is available when your profile has a valid email address.
WhatsApp is available when all of these are true:
- your workspace's WhatsApp bot is connected
- your profile has a valid WhatsApp number
- WhatsApp access is turned on for you
- your workspace allows the bot to send direct messages
- you still have access to the Agent the Automation uses
A valid number isn't enough on its own. If the workspace bot isn't connected, WhatsApp is unavailable for everyone in the workspace.
When a channel isn't ready
An unavailable channel shows why and who can fix it.
| Reason | Who to contact |
|---|---|
| Your email or WhatsApp number is missing or invalid | Your company's HR or Human Capital team |
| The workspace WhatsApp bot isn't connected | Your Workspace Owner, Workspace Admin, or Nalar Support |
| Direct messages from the bot are turned off | Your company's IT team, who can review the setting with Nalar |
While an unavailable channel is still selected, you can't create, save, or test the Automation. Your other input is kept. If another channel is ready, deselect the unavailable one and continue.
If a channel stops working later
A channel can become unavailable after you create an Automation, for example if the WhatsApp bot disconnects. The Automation stays saved, and Nalar never switches to another channel on its own:
- If nothing can be delivered, the run is recorded as Blocked.
- If Email succeeds and WhatsApp doesn't, the run is recorded as Partially delivered.
If your workspace turns off direct messages from the bot, a One-time Automation blocked by that isn't marked complete and doesn't retry by itself when direct messages are turned back on. Edit it to a new future time. Recurring Automations and Signals continue from their next run, and the messages they missed aren't sent later.
Test fire
Test fire runs a saved Automation right now so you can see what it produces. It is a real run, not a preview: the Agent carries out the instruction and the result is sent to you on the Automation's channels.
Open the Automation
Open an Active Recurring or One-time Automation from your list.
Select Test fire
Select Test fire. Nalar asks you to confirm and reminds you that the result will be sent to your configured channels. Cancelling sends nothing.
Check the result in Run history
After you confirm, the test is queued. Queued doesn't mean delivered: open Run history and check the run's outcome and each channel's result.
A few rules:
- Test fire is only available for an Active, saved Recurring or One-time Automation. It isn't offered for paused or finished ones, or for Signals.
- You can run one test at a time per Automation.
- A test is labeled as a test in the run history. It doesn't change the next scheduled run and isn't added to the run count.
- Because you are the only recipient, a test never reaches anyone else.