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Workflow Branching & Email Open Actions

Create powerful conditional workflow paths using Branch nodes. You can now branch your workflows based on filter conditions or whether an email was opened by the recipient.

Branch Nodes

Branch nodes enable "if/then/else" style logic in your automations. They evaluate the result of the previous node and route the workflow down different paths.

How Branch Nodes Work

1. Place a filter node or send email node before the branch
2. Add a Branch node after it
3. Configure the branch condition
4. Connect different workflow paths to the "true" and "false" outputs

Branching After Filters

When a branch follows a Filter node (e.g., Lead Filter, Appointment Filter), you can branch based on whether the filter condition passed or failed:

• Yes - Go to the "true" branch if the filter condition passed
• No - Go to the "true" branch if the filter condition failed

Branching After Send Email (Email Open Tracking)

When a branch follows a Send Email node, you can branch based on whether the recipient opened the email:

• Yes - Email was opened - Go to the "true" branch if the email was opened
• No - Email was not opened - Go to the "true" branch if the email was NOT opened

This allows you to create follow-up sequences that respond to recipient engagement.

Why We Don’t Support Email Click-Based Branching

You may notice that Branch nodes do not support conditions based on email link clicks. This is intentional.

Email click tracking is fundamentally unreliable due to technical limitations across modern email clients, especially on mobile devices. Many popular clients—including Apple Mail, Gmail, and Outlook—use link prefetching, security scanning, and proxy services that can trigger false clicks without any real user interaction.

Additionally, privacy-focused features and corporate security tools often rewrite or pre-scan links, making it impossible to accurately determine whether a human actually clicked a link or whether the click was generated automatically by the email client or a security system.

Because of these limitations, branching workflows based on email clicks can lead to incorrect automation paths, poor user experience, and unintended actions. To ensure workflow reliability and predictable outcomes, click-based branching is not supported.

Instead, we recommend using:

• Email open tracking (with appropriate delays)
• Landing page visits or form submissions
• Tag changes or CRM-based engagement signals
• Explicit user actions tracked within your application

Sources:

• Apple Mail Privacy Protection – Apple Developer Documentation https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=jd9wcyov
• Gmail Link Scanning & Security Checks – Google Workspace Updates https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2020/12/gmail-link-protection.html
• Why Email Click Tracking Is Broken – Litmus https://www.litmus.com/blog/why-email-click-tracking-is-not-100-percent-accurate/

Exit Step Nodes

Use Exit Step nodes to terminate workflow execution on branch paths that should not continue further. Exit Step nodes require no configuration and simply mark the workflow as completed when reached.

Example Use Cases

Follow-up Based on Email Opens

1. Add a Send Email node with your initial message
2. Add a Delay node (e.g., wait 3 days)
3. Add a Branch node set to "Yes - Email was opened"
4. On the "true" path: Send a follow-up email thanking them for reading
5. On the "false" path: Send a reminder email with a different subject line

VIP vs Standard Treatment

1. Add a Lead Filter that checks if the lead has the "VIP" tag
2. Add a Branch node set to "Yes"
3. On the "true" path: Add premium follow-up actions
4. On the "false" path: Add standard follow-up or an Exit Step

Tips for Using Branches

• Always place a filter or send email node before a branch node
• For email open tracking, add a delay before the branch to give recipients time to open the email
• Use deterministic signals (filters, tags, events) over inferred engagement where possible
• Test both paths of your branch to ensure they work as expected