Groundbase

Sequences (previously called Cadences) are multi-step automated outreach over time. You build the sequence once (e.g. day 0: text → day 3: email → day 7: task) and then enroll contacts. Groundbase fires each step on schedule per contact, personalized with merge tags.

Find them at Settings → Automations → Sequences.

When to use a Sequence vs a Workflow

Use a Workflow for "when contact.created → apply tag lead." Use a Sequence for "7-touch cold outbound program."

Starter templates (fastest way in)

Click Sequence templates on the Automations page to seed a sequence from one of six starters:

Each template opens the editor pre-populated — tweak the message bodies, save.

Anatomy of a Sequence

Every Sequence has four parts:

  1. Trigger — how contacts get enrolled. Two options:

    • Enroll by hand — you (or the API) explicitly enroll contacts one at a time or in bulk
    • Auto-enroll when… — fires on an entity event. Supported events:
      • contact.created / contact.updated / contact.tag_added
      • deal.created / deal.stage_changed / deal.won / deal.lost
    • For contact.tag_added, you also pick which tag the trigger watches.

  2. Exit when… (optional) — auto-stop the sequence for a contact when one of these happens:

    • They reply (inbound SMS or email)
    • They book a meeting
    • A deal with them is won
    • A deal with them is lost
    • They unsubscribe (email)

    Default = keep firing every step no matter what. Most outreach sequences should turn on at least They reply — re-emailing someone who already wrote back is the #1 footgun.

  3. Sending window (optional) — restrict steps to specific days + hours in the contact's timezone (e.g. Mon-Fri 9am-5pm). Steps scheduled outside the window get pushed to the next allowed slot. Use this so a Day 3 email doesn't land at 2 AM Saturday.

  4. Steps — ordered list. Each step has:

    • Type — send_sms, send_email, create_task, apply_tag, remove_tag, create_note, update_field
    • Config — fields per type (SMS body / email subject + body / task title / tag picker / note body / field+value)
    • Delay — days + hours to wait BEFORE this step fires, relative to the previous step (or to enrollment for step 1). 0d 0h on step 1 means "fire within ~60s of enrollment."

Merge tags in any string field: {{first_name}}, {{last_name}}, {{full_name}}, {{email}}, {{phone}}, {{company_name}}. Custom-field tags too — see Email integration for {{cf.<field_key>}}.

Building a Sequence

Settings → Automations → + New automation → Sequence. Name it, set the trigger + exit conditions + sending window, add steps. Reorder with ↑/↓ buttons. Save.

Enrolling contacts

Three ways:

  1. Manual from a contact's detail page — More menu → Enroll in sequence → pick the sequence.
  2. Auto-enroll — if the sequence trigger is entity_event (e.g. Contact tag added: new-lead), every matching event auto-enrolls. Idempotent: re-firing the same event doesn't enroll twice.
  3. Programmatic — your AI assistant via Groundbase MCP, or any script with an API key, can enroll any contact via the API.

When you enroll, step 1 schedules according to its delay (immediate if 0d 0h). The per-minute server cron picks up each enrollment when its next_step_at arrives, runs the step, records to history, and schedules the next one.

Re-enrolling a stopped contact

If you stop an enrollment (manually or via an exit condition), the sequence's previous run history is preserved. Re-enrolling that same contact later resets them to step 0 and runs the whole sequence again — no UNIQUE constraint blocking. Use case: someone went quiet after step 3, came back six months later, and you want to put them back through the full 5-touch program.

Watching enrollments + stopping mid-flight

A sequence's Enrollments tab shows every contact currently (or previously) in: their current step, status (active / paused / completed / stopped), next-fire time, and stopped reason.

Each active enrollment has a Stop button. Stopping removes the contact without affecting any other enrollments.

Editing a Sequence with in-flight enrollments

If you save step changes while enrollments are active, they reset to step 0 (preserving partial state would silently change what they're scheduled to receive). The editor warns you when this would happen.

Triggers + exit conditions — the auto-enroll flow

A typical auto-enroll setup:

  1. Create a tag new-lead.
  2. Create a sequence with trigger = Contact tag added → tag new-lead, exit = They reply + A deal with them is won.
  3. Add steps: Day 0 welcome SMS → Day 2 email → Day 5 task.
  4. Save + activate.
  5. Tag any contact with new-lead. Within ~60s, step 1 fires.
  6. If they reply at any point → sequence stops, status = stopped, reason = reply_received.
  7. If a deal with them moves to a Won-flagged stage → sequence stops, reason = deal_won.

Limits

Cost