When to use custom automations
Template automations cover the six most common SEO workflows out of the box. Use a custom automation when you need something more specific:
- A recurring report that pulls GSC + AI visibility data and summarizes trends
- A keyword hygiene job that adds tracked prompts or flags stale articles
- A multi-step content workflow that doesn’t map to a single specialist agent
- A scheduled check that posts to Slack when setup health blockers appear
Custom automations give you the same scheduling, notifications, and activity logging as templates — but you write the instructions and choose which tools the automation may call.
Create a custom automation
From the Automations page
- Go to Automations → New automation
- Choose Custom
- Fill in:
- Name — descriptive label
- Instructions — what the automation should do each run (be specific)
- Allowed tools — check the tools it may call (grouped by category)
- Schedule — cron preset or manual-only
- Notifications — optional email/Slack on completion
- Save and enable
From Agent chat
Ask Sight AI Agent to create one for you:
Every Monday, list keywords with no article, pick the top 5 by search volume,
and generate articles for them. Schedule it weekly.
createCustomAction tool to propose name, instructions, tools, and schedule. Review and confirm before it saves.
Automations run with auto-confirm — state-changing tools execute without a second approval prompt. Only grant tools your instructions actually need, especially mutating ones (generate article, sync, add keywords, send outreach).
| Category | Examples | Typical use |
|---|
| Awareness & setup | getSiteSituation, getAccountHealth, list_sites | Health checks, setup audits |
| Search analytics | get_search_overview, get_search_queries, get_search_pages | GSC reporting |
| AI visibility | get_ai_visibility_summary, listTrackedPrompts | AI mention tracking |
| Opportunities | list_opportunities, get_opportunities_readiness | Queue inspection before acting |
| Content & articles | generate_article, update_article, sync_article | Content creation and CMS sync |
| Keywords | list_keywords, add_keywords, get_keywords_summary | Keyword pool management |
| Autopilot & planner | manage_planner, schedule_article, setAutopilot | Planner and Autopilot control |
| Indexing | submit_sitemap_gsc, submit_article_indexnow | Indexing submissions |
| SEO report & agents | getSeoReport, runSeoAudit, run_agent | Audits and on-demand agent runs |
| Inbox | list_inbox, reply_to_message | Outreach inbox (Advanced) |
| Research | Web research tools | Deep dives for custom reports |
| Memory | remember, forgetMemory | Persist facts for future runs |
Execution limits
Custom automations run on Claude Opus with these guardrails:
| Limit | Value |
|---|
| Max tool steps per run | 15 |
| Auto-confirm | On (no human approval during scheduled runs) |
| Credit gate | Blocked at 0 AI credits |
createCustomAction | Not available in scheduled runs (prevents automations from spawning automations) |
Example custom automations
Weekly SEO digest
Instructions:
Pull search overview and AI visibility summary for this site. Compare to last week.
List the top 5 queries gaining impressions and top 3 AI prompts where we're not mentioned.
Write a concise bullet summary suitable for a team standup.
get_search_overview, get_ai_visibility_summary, get_search_queries, listTrackedPrompts
Schedule: Weekly — Monday at 9 AM UTC
Keyword gap filler
Instructions:
List keywords with status no_article. Sort by priority. Generate articles for up to 2
keywords that don't already have a draft in progress. Do not exceed 2 articles per run.
get_keywords_summary, list_keywords, get_article_limits, generate_article, get_article
Schedule: Every weekday at 9 AM UTC
Post-publish sync check
Instructions:
List articles in ready status that haven't synced to CMS in the last 7 days.
For each, check sync status and attempt sync if CMS is connected. Summarize results.
list_articles, get_cms_status, get_article_sync_status, sync_article
Schedule: Daily at 6 PM UTC
Instructions that work well
Good custom automation instructions are:
- Specific — “Generate up to 2 articles” not “generate some articles”
- Bounded — include max counts, score thresholds, or date ranges
- Conditional — “Skip if CMS is not connected” or “Only act on opportunities above score 65”
- Output-oriented — “Write a 5-bullet summary of actions taken” helps the activity log
Site memory (facts the agent remembers about your site) is injected automatically into every run, so you don’t need to repeat brand voice or competitor names in every automation.
Custom vs. template: decision guide
| Need | Use |
|---|
| Clear Content Gap articles on a schedule | Search Opportunity template |
| Refresh rising pages | Article Boost template |
| Weekly Lighthouse report | Site Performance template |
| Cross-domain report combining GSC + AI + keywords | Custom |
| One-off multi-step workflow you’ll iterate in chat first | Custom (start manual-only, add schedule later) |
API and MCP
Custom automations created in the UI are stored per site and are not yet exposed on the v1 REST or MCP API. Programmatic agent control today uses the legacy agent config endpoints:
GET/PUT /api/v1/sites/{siteId}/agents/{agentKey}POST /api/v1/sites/{siteId}/agents/{agentKey}/run
See Agents API reference and MCP setup for programmatic access to template agent keys.
Next steps
