Migrating legacy Automation workflows to Automation 2.0

You can move eligible legacy Automation workflows to Automation 2.0 with a one-click migration. Migration creates a new draft in Automation 2.0 and carries over the supported workflow setup so you do not have to rebuild it manually. The migrated workflow remains a draft until you select Review & Activate.

Which workflows can be migrated?

Legacy workflows with these statuses can be migrated:

• Active
• Paused
• Inactive

Draft workflows cannot be migrated. If appropriate, you can complete and activate the legacy draft before migrating it, or easily rebuild the workflow directly in Automation 2.0 with written instructions using the new generate from prompt option.

Activating a legacy draft can let contacts enter it. Review its setup carefully before activating it solely for migration, or pause or deactivate it right after activation.

Migrate a workflow

1. In Keela, open Automation to view your legacy workflows.
2. Find the workflow you want to migrate.
3. Hover over the workflow row and select Migrate.
4. Refer to the Migration status column to track the migration:

• When the migration is complete, the status changes to Migrated.
• If the migration is unsuccessful, the status changes to Can't migrate. Hover over the status pill to see why it failed. If the reason no longer applies (for example an older “multiple starting points” message), hover the row and select Try again — support for that pattern may already be live.

What happens after a successful migration?

When migration succeeds:

• An Automation 2.0 draft is created with the supported setup from your legacy workflow.
• The original legacy workflow is deactivated so both versions do not run at the same time.
• The Migration status changes to Migrated.

Next:

1. Select the button beside Migrated to open the draft in Automation 2.0.
2. Review the workflow draft carefully, including its trigger, steps, and settings.
3. Select Review & Activate when you are ready to activate the Automation 2.0 draft.

Let contacts already in a legacy workflow finish

When you migrate or deactivate a legacy workflow, contacts who are partway through it stop where they are. They don't move into the new Automation 2.0 workflow, and they don't start it over. To let those contacts finish the legacy journey, turn on Complete in-flight contacts. Keela then keeps moving the contacts already in the workflow through its remaining steps for up to 90 days, without adding anyone new.

You can use this on any inactive legacy workflow, including workflows you have migrated.

Turn on Complete in-flight contacts

1. In Keela, open Automation and select the inactive legacy workflow.
2. On the Overview tab, select Actions.
3. Select Complete in-flight contacts.
4. Review the message, then select Confirm.

What you'll see while it runs

• Next to the Inactive status, the workflow header shows Completing in-flight contacts until and a date 90 days from when you turned it on.
• Contacts move to their next step on Keela's regular background run, about every 5 minutes, so progress isn't instant.
• When every contact has finished, the header changes to In-flight contacts stopped on and the date they finished.

Good to know

• It isn't automatic. Migrating a workflow doesn't turn this on. Turn it on for each legacy workflow whose contacts you want to finish.
• It runs for up to 90 days. Contacts still in the workflow after 90 days stay where they are and aren't marked as completed. This mostly affects long waits, such as a 365-day delay.
• No new contacts are added. Only contacts who were already in the workflow keep moving.
• You can't edit the workflow's steps. Editing stays off while this is on, and it isn't turned back on after your contacts finish.
• Reactivating the workflow ends it early. If you reactivate the legacy workflow, Complete in-flight contacts stops.
• Delays and waits that ran out while the workflow was off move right away. If a contact's delay finished while the workflow was inactive, the next email can send right away. If a wait's time ran out, the contact takes the No path.
• Losing Automation access stops it. If your organization loses access to Automation, contacts stop moving immediately.
• Check for overlap with your Automation 2.0 workflow. A contact who finishes the legacy workflow could also enter its Automation 2.0 replacement. Before you turn this on, check your 2.0 workflow's triggers and entry settings so contacts don't get the same messages twice.

What is included in the migration?

A successful migration carries the supported setup from the legacy workflow into the new Automation 2.0 draft, including:

• Workflow steps and their configured selections
• Workflow settings

Migration coverage also includes common legacy patterns that previously prevented migration or did not carry over completely:

• Keela Forms starting triggers migrate correctly into Automation 2.0 form triggers.
• Legacy Add To-do stages map to Add To-do instead of blocking migration.
• Workflows with multiple starting triggers migrate into one Automation 2.0 workflow. Each legacy start becomes its own trigger under Any of these triggers, and all of them lead into the same shared steps. If a multi-start workflow still shows Can't migrate with an older “supports one starting point” reason, hover the row and select Try again.

Review every step before activation to confirm that the draft matches the behavior you expect.

What happens to your legacy workflow emails?

Legacy Automation emails were created within each workflow. Automation 2.0 uses emails managed in Email Marketing, allowing you to reuse and update them from one place. When a legacy workflow is successfully migrated:

• Each workflow email is added to Email Marketing as a draft.
• The draft is automatically enabled for automation.
• The email is connected to the corresponding Send Email step in the migrated workflow.

You can later open the email in Email Marketing to update it or reuse it in other Automation 2.0 workflows.

When a workflow cannot be migrated

If migration is unsuccessful, the Migration status column displays Can't migrate. Hover over the status pill to see the reason. After you fix the issue — or if the reason is outdated — hover the row and select Try again or Migrate again.

Reasons a workflow may fail to migrate

Below are common reasons a workflow may not migrate and what you can do next.

1. The workflow uses a classic segment

Classic/legacy segments cannot be migrated to Automation 2.0.

What to do:

1. Rebuild the segment using Segments V2.
2. Update the legacy workflow to use the new segment.
3. Return to the workflow list and select Migrate again.

2. A starting trigger isn’t available in Automation 2.0

Some legacy starting triggers can’t be carried over yet, including starting triggers that have their own filter conditions. A workflow with several starting triggers can migrate as long as every one of them is supported.

What to do:

• Continue running the workflow in legacy Automation for now.
• Or, rebuild it in Automation 2.0 using the generate from prompt option. Describe what you want the workflow to do, then add any extra triggers on the canvas and use filter steps for the conditions you need.

3. The workflow applies tags through an Add Fields action

Migration can fail if a legacy Add Fields action also applies tags. In Automation 2.0, tags are managed through a separate Add or remove tags action, not through Update contact field.

What to do:

1. Open the legacy workflow and find the Add Fields action that applies tags.
2. Remove the tag changes from that action, keeping any other field updates you still need.
3. Add a separate tag action before or after the Add fields action in the legacy workflow. Configure it to add or remove the same tags so the workflow keeps its intended behavior.
4. Reactivate the workflow, then return to the workflow list and select Try again to Migrate.

4. The workflow is a draft

Legacy draft workflows cannot be migrated.

What to do:

• If the workflow is ready to run, activate it and then migrate it.
• Or, rebuild it in Automation 2.0 using the generate from prompt option.

Activating a legacy draft can let contacts enter it. If you activate it only to make it eligible for migration, review its setup first and pause or deactivate it immediately after activation.

Important things to know

• Active, paused, and inactive legacy workflows can be migrated. Draft workflows cannot.
• Legacy workflows with multiple starting triggers migrate into one Automation 2.0 draft, with each start as its own trigger.
• Migration creates an Automation 2.0 draft; it does not activate the new workflow.
• A successful migration deactivates the original legacy workflow so both versions do not run at the same time.
• Contacts partway through a legacy workflow stop when you migrate it, but you can let them finish for up to 90 days with Complete in-flight contacts.
• Migrated emails become Email Marketing drafts enabled for automation.
• Review the migrated draft before selecting Review & Activate.

If migration still fails after you resolve the flagged issue and try again, contact Keela Support.