> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.clarky.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Sequences
> Multi-touch outbound campaigns drafted per contact by AI, then approved one-by-one before sending
## What is a Sequence?
A Sequence is a multi-step outbound campaign that reaches a list of contacts across email, SMS, and voice. Clarky drafts every message for every contact using your goal and the contact's profile, then you review and approve each one before anything sends.
Sequences live under **CRM > Sequences** and pair with **Lists** for selecting recipients.
**Sequences is currently invite only.** While we finalize the rollout, the
Sequences tab is hidden for most workspaces. If you'd like early access on a
Standard, Pro, or Enterprise plan, contact
[support@clarky.ai](mailto:support@clarky.ai). Once generally available it
will be included with Standard or higher — see
[Plans & Billing](/features/settings/plans).
## How a Sequence Works
Open **CRM > Lists**, build a list of contacts (or pick an existing one), then click **Generate Sequences**. You can also start a sequence from a single contact's detail page.
Define the goal ("Book a 15-minute intro call", "Re-engage", etc.), pick a tone, and lay out the steps — each step is a touch on email, SMS, or voice scheduled some number of days after the start.
Click **Generate drafts**. Clarky drafts each message for each contact in your list — so a 5-step sequence with 50 contacts produces 250 personalized drafts.
Walk the queue of contacts and approve, edit, or skip each draft per step. The sequence won't start sending until you approve the contacts you want included.
Configure the sender (your name and from-email), pick a start time, and launch. From that moment the cron schedules and sends each step on its assigned day in the contact's local timezone.
## Compose
The compose page is where you describe the sequence and lay out the steps.
### Goal
A short paragraph telling Clarky what the sequence is meant to accomplish. The clearer the goal, the more on-target each draft will be. Built-in starter prompts for common goals:
* **Book a meeting** — short hook + clear ask for time
* **Start a reply** — single specific question, no meeting ask
* **Re-engage** — fresh angle for a contact who went quiet
* **Renew** — customer-success toned renewal conversation
### Tone
Pick how the message should sound: **formal**, **warm**, **direct**, or **playful**. Drafts adopt the tone you choose.
### Steps (the timeline)
Each step is one touch on a specific channel, sent N days after the start. The middle column shows the timeline; click a step to open its details on the right:
* **Channel** — Email, Text, or Call
* **Name** — internal label (e.g. "Nice to meet you", "Quick call", "Breakup")
* **Send on day** — 0 means start day; 3 means three days after start
* **Send window** — local-time hours when this step is allowed to send
* **AI instructions** — extra guidance for this specific step (e.g. "Lead with a recent product announcement, ≤90 words")
Add or remove steps with the **Add step** button. Three steps spaced over a week is a good starting cadence; five over two weeks for a longer nurture.
### Save as template
Once you've shaped a sequence, save it as a template so the next launch is one click. Templates capture the goal, tone, and step blueprints — see [My Templates](#my-templates) below.
## Review
When you click **Generate drafts**, Clarky writes each step for each contact and routes you to the review screen.
### Stepper + queue
The review screen has step tabs across the top (Step 1, Step 2, …) and a queue of contacts on the left. You can:
* Click a step tab to switch to that step (your selected contact stays the same)
* Click a contact in the queue to switch to that contact's draft
* Edit the day this step fires inline (next to the contact name) without going back to compose
### Approve / Skip / Edit
For each draft you can:
* **Approve** — locks the draft for this contact + step. Approved steps will send when the sequence launches.
* **Skip step** — skips just this contact for just this step. Other steps for the same contact still send.
* **Edit** — open the draft for in-place editing of subject, body, etc. Save before approving.
* **Customize with AI** *(coming soon)* — ask the model to rewrite the draft based on a short instruction.
The progress bar at the top shows total approved / total drafts.
## Launch
The launch screen confirms what's about to ship.
### Sender
* **From name** — overrides the bot's default outbound name for this sequence
* **From email** — local-part only (e.g. `tyler`); the domain is locked to your verified sending domain so deliverability stays intact
### When should it start?
* **Start now** — first messages queue immediately within each contact's send window
* **Schedule** — pick a specific date and time for the first touch
### Send rules
* **Respect each contact's timezone** — interpret send windows in the contact's local time, not yours
* **Only send during business hours (9a–5p)** — pause overnight sends and resume in the morning
* **Skip weekends** — Saturday/Sunday sends roll to Monday
Click **Launch sequence** and the cron takes over from there.
## Lists
Lists are reusable groups of contacts that you target with a sequence. Create them under **CRM > Lists**:
* **Static lists** — manually pick contacts, or bulk-add from a CSV import or a filtered People view
* **Member count** — visible on the list index so you know the size before you launch
* **Archive** — hide old lists from the picker without deleting them
Launch a sequence from a list with one click — every active member gets enrolled.
## Suppressions
Compliance is handled automatically. The **Suppressions** page (under CRM) shows every email/phone that's opted out, and the cron skips them everywhere.
Three sources fill the suppression list:
* **Unsubscribe link** — every outbound sequence email includes a one-click unsubscribe footer (RFC 8058 List-Unsubscribe header included)
* **STOP / UNSUBSCRIBE replies on SMS** — the Twilio STOP keyword is honored automatically
* **Manual entries** — paste an email or phone in the manual-add row
Suppressions can be scoped to a specific channel (email-only, SMS-only) or applied to all channels.
## Trigger From Your Backend (API)
If your team operates from another system — a custom CRM, a marketing automation tool, your own form handler — you can start a sequence for a single contact via a public API call. This is the fastest way to wire **form-submitted-now-call-them-back** automations.
In one request, Clarky will:
* **Upsert the contact** (matched by primary email, falling back to phone). Notes from the request are appended to the contact's record so they survive across calls.
* **Generate a bespoke sequence** from one of your saved templates — emails are written for that specific recipient, in their language, referencing real context from the notes you sent.
* **Optionally launch immediately** — with `auto_approve: true`, the first step (call or email) fires within seconds of generation completing, no human review required. Use this for trusted automation pipelines.
* **Notify your admins** when `auto_approve: false` — the sequence is generated, parked in the review queue, and an email goes out to your workspace admins with a link to approve.
Templates encode which channels are allowed (email, voice, SMS), so you don't pick channels in the request — choose a template that uses the channels you want.
Use this for **inbound lead automation**: a prospect submits your contact form, your backend POSTs to `/api/v1/sequences/start` with the lead's details and a few notes ("Spanish speaker, asked about enterprise pricing"), and Clarky calls them within \~60 seconds in their native language.
See the full reference at [API Reference > Sequences](/api-reference/sequences).
## My Templates
Reusable recipes that save you time on the next launch. Templates capture the goal, tone, allowed channels, and step blueprints.
* Save any sequence as a template from the compose page
* Templates show up under **CRM > Sequences > My Templates** and inside the "Start a sequence" picker
* The picker also includes built-in starter templates (Founder-led outbound, Event handoff, Renewal runway, etc.) — those don't appear in My Templates because they're stock recipes
## Send Windows & Timezones
Sequence sends respect a few layers of guard rails:
* **Email** — never gated by quiet hours; sends during the per-step send window
* **SMS** — TCPA-compliant 8 AM – 9 PM local time
* **Voice** — Mon–Fri 9 AM – 6 PM local time (typical professional hours)
"Local time" is the contact's timezone. New contacts inherit the workspace timezone by default; you can override per contact from the contact detail page.
## Stop on Reply
When **Stop on reply** is enabled (default), an inbound reply from the contact halts the sequence for that enrollment so you don't keep emailing someone who's already responding. Replies thread back into the original conversation in the Inbox.
## Frequently Asked
The contact's enrollment shows a red badge with the reason. Click **Retry for this contact** to re-run just that contact's drafts, or **Regenerate all** to restart the whole batch.
Yes — the day editor is available on every step card from the review page (and the sequence detail page after launch). Pulling a step earlier is allowed even on running sequences. Editing message content requires pausing the enrollment first.
Yes. Each step card has a **Send now** button that pulls the schedule forward and tells the cron to send on the next tick. The 4-hour per-contact throttle is bypassed for manual sends.
No. Outbound sequence emails set proper `In-Reply-To` and `References` headers so replies thread into the same conversation. The Inbox uses Message-ID, References, and a sender-fallback to match replies to the right thread.
Yes — open the sequence detail page and click **Cancel sequence**. Every pending step is skipped immediately. The sequence record stays around for the audit trail.
## Next Steps
Back to the CRM hub
See every sequence send in the unified activity feed
Currently invite only — Standard or higher when GA
How outbound email works behind the scenes