Run a rule on historical conversations

Manual Run lets you apply an automation rule to existing conversations — not just future events. Use it for one-off backfills (tag every existing returns conversation), clean-up sweeps (close ancient Done conversations), or bulk re-application after the rule logic changes.

The flow is two-step on purpose: Simulate first, then Execute. Automation actions can be irreversible, and you want a chance to review the matches before pulling the trigger.

Before you start

• A working automation rule, ideally one you’ve already built and tested on a few live events
• A clear answer to “what happens if this runs against the wrong conversations?” — if any action is destructive (sending messages, closing cases, firing webhooks), be especially careful

Steps

1. Open the rule. Go to Settings → Automation Rules, find the rule, and open it.

2. Click Manual run. The button is in the rule’s toolbar.

3. Pick a scope. Choose which conversations to evaluate against:

   
   “All conversations from the last N days”
   “Conversations matching this filter” (e.g., status = active AND last_message_at < 14 days ago)
   “Specific conversation IDs” (paste a list)

Pick the smallest scope that covers what you mean to backfill. Wider scopes mean more matches and more risk if the rule is wrong.

4. Simulate. Click Simulate. Atender evaluates the rule’s trigger and conditions against every conversation in scope. No actions run. Result: a list of matches with the branch each would hit.

5. Review the matches. Spot-check a handful of matched conversations. Confirm they’re the kind of thing you actually want the rule to act on. If anything looks off, return to the rule and tighten conditions, then simulate again.

6. Execute. Once satisfied, click Execute. The rule’s actions run against every match in the simulated list.

7. Watch the run. Manual Executions logs every action with success/failure. Filter by the rule and watch the run progress.

Verify it worked

After the run completes, sample a few of the matched conversations and confirm the action’s effect:

• Tag added → tag is visible on the conversation
• Status changed → status reflects the new value
• Message sent → outbound message is in the timeline (and has the expected X-Email-Template header for Email Studio templates)
• Webhook fired → check the downstream system received the payload

Notes

• Manual Run respects the rule’s Throttling settings. If the rule is throttled “1 per contact per week” and you backfill against contacts who already had recent activity, those will be skipped.
• Manual Run ignores the rule’s Schedule restriction — it runs whenever you click Execute, regardless of business hours. The schedule restriction only governs event-triggered runs.
• Long backfills run asynchronously. You can leave the page; the run continues in the background. Manual Executions logs the final result.

Troubleshooting

• Symptom: Simulate shows zero matches. Fix: Conditions too narrow, scope too small, or trigger type doesn’t apply to the historical data (e.g., a Schedule trigger has no historical analogue — it’s evaluated only at run time).

• Symptom: Execute fires actions on more conversations than Simulate showed. Fix: This shouldn’t happen. If it does, contact support with the rule ID and run timestamp.

See also

• Simulate a rule before enabling
• Debug a rule using execution history