Started executing automations (in development) by EvanHahn · Pull Request #28120 · TryGhost/Ghost

EvanHahn · 2026-05-25T20:52:50Z

closes https://linear.app/ghost/issue/NY-1286
ref #28239
ref #28263
ref #28343
ref #28375
ref #28376

I recommend reviewing this commit-by-commit.

This change starts executing automations (only in development and test).

coderabbitai · 2026-05-25T20:52:56Z

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Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between d46b3ac and 183d864.

⛔ Files ignored due to path filters (1)

ghost/core/test/e2e-api/admin/__snapshots__/automations.test.js.snap is excluded by !**/*.snap

📒 Files selected for processing (12)

ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/automations-api.ts
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/automations-repository.ts
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/constants.ts
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/fake-database-automations-repository.ts
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/poll.ts
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/service.js
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/temporary-fake-database.ts
ghost/core/core/server/services/member-welcome-emails/service.js
ghost/core/core/server/services/members/members-api/repositories/member-repository.js
ghost/core/test/e2e-api/members/automations.test.js
ghost/core/test/unit/server/services/automations/automations-repository.test.ts
ghost/core/test/unit/server/services/automations/poll.test.ts

✅ Files skipped from review due to trivial changes (1)

ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/constants.ts

🚧 Files skipped from review as they are similar to previous changes (11)

ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/automations-api.ts
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/service.js
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/poll.ts
ghost/core/core/server/services/members/members-api/repositories/member-repository.js
ghost/core/core/server/services/member-welcome-emails/service.js
ghost/core/test/e2e-api/members/automations.test.js
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/temporary-fake-database.ts
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/automations-repository.ts
ghost/core/test/unit/server/services/automations/poll.test.ts
ghost/core/test/unit/server/services/automations/automations-repository.test.ts
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/fake-database-automations-repository.ts

Walkthrough

This PR implements an automation step polling and execution system: it defines step types and constants, extends the repository API for locking/transition operations, implements those operations in the fake-database repository (locking, finish+enqueue, retry, terminal), provides a poll runner that fetches/locks steps, executes wait and send_email steps with retries and terminal logic, refactors the member-welcome-emails service to send automation emails, wires automationsApi into the service, and adds unit and e2e tests covering these flows.

Possibly related PRs

TryGhost/Ghost#28200: Both PRs change ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/poll.ts’s poll function—one adds a NODE_ENV early-return guard while this PR rewrites/extends the polling logic to fetch/lock and execute automation steps.
TryGhost/Ghost#28170: Adds a skeleton poll implementation and wiring that this PR expands into a full fetch/lock/execute flow.
TryGhost/Ghost#27909: Also modifies automations polling and enqueue scheduling behavior related to this PR's poll/enqueue logic.

Suggested labels

preview

Suggested reviewers

troyciesco
kevinansfield

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 3.23% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely describes the main objective of the changeset—starting automation execution in development environments.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description is directly related to the changeset, explaining the purpose (executing automations in dev/test), referencing related issues, and noting the author recommends reviewing commit-by-commit.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

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nx-cloud · 2026-05-25T20:54:43Z

🤖 Nx Cloud AI Fix

Ensure the fix-ci command is configured to always run in your CI pipeline to get automatic fixes in future runs. For more information, please see https://nx.dev/ci/features/self-healing-ci

View your CI Pipeline Execution ↗ for commit 27059ea

Command	Status	Duration	Result
`nx run ghost:build:tsc`	❌ Failed	5s	View ↗
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`nx run ghost:test:ci:integration`	✅ Succeeded	1m 57s	View ↗
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`nx run ghost:test:ci:legacy`	✅ Succeeded	3m 3s	View ↗
`nx run-many -t test:unit -p ghost`	✅ Succeeded	31s	View ↗
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☁️ Nx Cloud last updated this comment at 2026-05-25 21:05:13 UTC

towards https://linear.app/ghost/issue/NY-1286 ref #28120 We can use `export foo` instead of `module.exports`. This change should have no user impact, but makes an upcoming change easier.

towards https://linear.app/ghost/issue/NY-1286 ref #28120 **I recommend [reviewing this with whitespace changes disabled](https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/pull/28263/changes?w=1).** When a member signs up, we should trigger an automation run and possibly insert a new row. Nothing happens yet when these rows are inserted. That will be done in a future change. This is development-only; triggering is a no-op in production. I tested this by: - Adding automated tests. - Verified that the old member welcome email is still sent on member signup. - Creating this temporary endpoint and verifying that the results looked expected after member signup: ```js router.get('/automations/database-dump', (_req, res) => { const db = getTemporaryFakeAutomationsDatabase(); res.json({ automation_runs: db.prepare('SELECT * FROM automation_runs').all(), automation_run_steps: db.prepare('SELECT * FROM automation_run_steps').all() }); }); ```

towards https://linear.app/ghost/issue/NY-1286 ref #28120 This change should have no impact on functionality. We have [a lint rule that limits the length of `index.js` files][0]. In [an upcoming change][1], the automations service will cross that limit. This patch moves it into a separate file. Doing so also makes it a little easier to test. [0]: https://github.com/TryGhost/eslint-plugin-ghost/blob/22d154a8e3807e4e30219fb8449e7aa9b90a110b/lib/config/node.js#L32-L37 [1]: #28120

towards https://linear.app/ghost/issue/NY-1286 ref #28120 This change should have no impact on functionality. We have [a lint rule that limits the length of `index.js` files][0]. In [an upcoming change][1], the automations service will cross that limit. This patch moves it into a separate file. Doing so also makes it a little easier to test. [0]: https://github.com/TryGhost/eslint-plugin-ghost/blob/22d154a8e3807e4e30219fb8449e7aa9b90a110b/lib/config/node.js#L32-L37 [1]: #28120 (cherry picked from commit 2eb8a65)

towards https://linear.app/ghost/issue/NY-1286 ref #28120 To run an automation, we will: 1. Fetch (and lock) up to 100 steps. 2. If no steps are found, enqueue another poll for later, and stop. 3. Run all the steps. 4. Possibly enqueue another poll for later. This patch implements the first of those procedures. (If you want to see more fully how it will be used, see [this PR][0].) [0]: #28120

towards https://linear.app/ghost/issue/NY-1286 ref #28120 This is a test-only change that just makes things a little easier to read. I think it's useful on its own, but it'll also be useful for [an upcoming change](#28120).

towards https://linear.app/ghost/issue/NY-1286 ref #28120 To run an automation, we will: 1. Fetch (and lock) up to 100 steps. 2. If no steps are found, enqueue another poll for later, and stop. 3. Run all the steps. 4. Possibly enqueue another poll for later. This patch implements the first of those procedures. (If you want to see more fully how it will be used, see [this PR][0].) [0]: #28120

towards https://linear.app/ghost/issue/NY-1286 ref #28120 *I recommend reviewing this with whitespace changes disabled.* **What:** We want to trigger automations after members are inserted. **Why:** If we don't do this, automations could run before the member exists in the database.

towards https://linear.app/ghost/issue/NY-1286 ref #28120 *I recommend reviewing this with whitespace changes disabled.* **What:** We want to trigger automations after members are inserted. **Why:** If we don't do this, automations could run before the member exists in the database. (cherry picked from commit e04da95)

…8376) towards https://linear.app/ghost/issue/NY-1286 ref #28120 *I recommend [reviewing this with whitespace changes disabled][0].* **What:** We want to trigger automations after members are inserted. **Why:** If we don't do this, automations could run before the member exists in the database. [0]: https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/pull/28376/changes?w=1

ref #28120 (comment)

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR starts executing member welcome-email automations by implementing a polling/execution loop (dev + test environments only), including step locking/retries, and wiring the poller into the automations service. It also extends the fake automations database/schema to include sender fields and adds unit/e2e coverage for step execution.

Changes:

Implemented automations step polling/execution with locking, retry, and terminal status handling.
Extended the fake automations repository + temporary schema to support fetching/locking/running steps (including sender metadata).
Added unit + e2e tests (and updated snapshots) validating step locking, progression, and email sending.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 12 out of 12 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/poll.ts	Implements the poll loop that fetches/locks steps, executes them, retries/fails, and schedules the next poll.
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/fake-database-automations-repository.ts	Adds step locking/fetching and step lifecycle operations (finish/terminal/retry) to the fake repository.
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/automations-repository.ts	Introduces step-to-run and terminal-status types + repository methods for polling/execution.
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/constants.ts	Defines shared constants for locking, attempt limits, batching, and retry delays.
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/automations-api.ts	Exposes new repository operations (fetch/lock/finish/terminal/retry) via the automations API layer.
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/service.js	Wires `poll()` into the service by injecting `automationsApi` + `memberWelcomeEmailService`.
ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/temporary-fake-database.ts	Updates fake automations schema + seed data to include sender fields for email actions.
ghost/core/core/server/services/member-welcome-emails/service.js	Refactors sending to allow automation-driven email sends (including sender fields + design setting lookup).
ghost/core/test/unit/server/services/automations/poll.test.ts	Adds unit coverage for poll behavior (env gating, batching, retrying, terminal statuses, scheduling).
ghost/core/test/unit/server/services/automations/automations-repository.test.ts	Adds unit tests for step locking and lifecycle operations in the repository.
ghost/core/test/e2e-api/members/automations.test.js	Adds e2e test to run the full free-member automation and assert resulting outgoing emails.
ghost/core/test/e2e-api/admin/snapshots/automations.test.js.snap	Updates snapshots to reflect sender fields coming from automation action revisions.

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EvanHahn force-pushed the ny-1286-north-star branch 3 times, most recently from f349d29 to 595810d Compare May 28, 2026 19:23

EvanHahn mentioned this pull request May 28, 2026

Switched to ES Modules for automations API exports #28239

Merged

EvanHahn mentioned this pull request May 30, 2026

Started inserting automation run when member signs up #28263

Merged

EvanHahn mentioned this pull request Jun 3, 2026

Moved automations service to separate file #28343

Merged

EvanHahn mentioned this pull request Jun 3, 2026

Added "fetch and lock steps", a necessary operation for automations #28348

Closed

EvanHahn changed the title ~~[DO NOT MERGE] Updated automation execution to use new polling logic~~ Started executing automations (in development) Jun 4, 2026

EvanHahn mentioned this pull request Jun 4, 2026

Added a variable for readability in automation repository test #28375

Merged

EvanHahn mentioned this pull request Jun 4, 2026

Started waiting for member insertion before triggering automation #28376

Merged

EvanHahn force-pushed the ny-1286-north-star branch from cbc2db3 to 8b0cf45 Compare June 5, 2026 17:23

EvanHahn force-pushed the ny-1286-north-star branch from 8b0cf45 to b7f0a05 Compare June 5, 2026 20:18

EvanHahn marked this pull request as ready for review June 5, 2026 20:21

EvanHahn force-pushed the ny-1286-north-star branch from b7f0a05 to d46b3ac Compare June 5, 2026 20:25

EvanHahn requested a review from troyciesco June 5, 2026 20:56

EvanHahn added 6 commits June 7, 2026 13:37

Poll: fetch and lock steps, enqueue a next poll if necessary

9445d04

Enqueue another poll if the batch is full

34202a1

Actually do something when polling

75ffafe

Mention that we want to poll even if automations feature is off

9f19fc7

Set email data in test automations

5a674ab

Add E2E test

183d864

EvanHahn force-pushed the ny-1286-north-star branch from d46b3ac to 183d864 Compare June 7, 2026 18:37

troyciesco requested changes Jun 8, 2026

View reviewed changes

EvanHahn added 4 commits June 8, 2026 13:34

Merge branch 'main' into ny-1286-north-star

6428be0

Tweak spec title

c503e85

ref #28120 (comment)

Use consistent "now" when inserting a run step

cedfb60

ref #28120 (comment)

Mark an argument ReadonlyDeep, not just Readonly

7d2ea7b

EvanHahn requested review from Copilot and troyciesco June 8, 2026 18:41

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of EvanHahn June 8, 2026 18:41 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Jun 8, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/poll.ts

Comment thread ghost/core/core/server/services/automations/poll.ts

EvanHahn added the ok to merge for me You can merge this on my behalf if you want. label Jun 8, 2026

troyciesco approved these changes Jun 8, 2026

View reviewed changes

EvanHahn merged commit 6555a34 into main Jun 8, 2026
56 checks passed

EvanHahn deleted the ny-1286-north-star branch June 8, 2026 19:14

coderabbitai Bot mentioned this pull request Jun 18, 2026

Added a few more E2E tests for automations #28697

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Started executing automations (in development)#28120

Started executing automations (in development)#28120
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EvanHahn commented May 25, 2026 •

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