Free AI classifiers

An AI Classifier step reads a lead's details or an incoming message and answers a question about it, such as "Is this a sales or support message?" or "How urgent is this?". Your automation then follows a different path depending on the answer. Classifiers are free: they use no AI credits, including when you test them. This guide is for anyone building automations that need to sort or prioritize leads and messages.

Before you begin

• Trigger: classifiers work with triggers that involve a lead, such as Form Submitted, Lead Created or Message Received. If your trigger isn't lead-based, the classifier doesn't appear in the step library.
• Permission: you need editing permission to add and test steps.
• Know your question: decide what you want to find out and what should happen for each answer.

Where to find it

Open an automation in the editor (Automations → All Automations, then open the automation). Then either:

• Select Add classifier (marked Free) in the toolbar, or
• Select Add step and look under Conditions.

Choose a preset

Each preset is a ready-made classifier you can adjust:

Set up the classifier

Select the classifier on the canvas to open its settings.

1. Input fields: tick what the classifier should read. Choices include Lead source details, Company name, Lead source, Lead status, Inbound message text and your custom lead fields.
2. For each Answer:
   • Name: a short label, such as "Message type".
   • Answer type: Yes / No, Category or Score.
   • What should it assess?: the question in plain language.
   • For Category, list up to eight Categories, each with an ID (lowercase letters, numbers and underscores) and a description.
   • For Score, list the Score levels, lowest to highest.
   • Acceptance threshold: how confident the AI must be, from 0.51 to 1. The default is 0.8.
3. Select Add answer to ask up to four questions in one step.
4. Save the step and the automation.

Connect the two paths

Every classifier has two exits:

• Ready: every answer met its threshold. Continue your automation here.
• Needs review: at least one answer was uncertain, or the input was missing. Connect this to a safe fallback, such as creating a task for a person to check.

Later steps can use the classifier's answers as variables, under Classifier result. Score answers also give a 0–100 value.

Worked example: route sales and support messages

1. Create an automation with the Message Received trigger.
2. Select Add classifier and choose Email Classifier.
3. After Ready, add a Condition. In Field, choose the classifier's category answer from Classifier result, and check that it equals sales.
4. On the true path, add Assign Owner and Create Task for your sales team.
5. On the false path, add Add Tag "support" and Notify a Teammate.
6. Connect Needs review to Create Task so someone reads the message.
7. Test the classifier, then run a dry test of the whole automation before publishing.

Test the classifier

Testing checks the classifier on sample text. It's free, runs no later steps and changes no records.

1. Save the step and the automation.
2. If the automation is active, pause it first. Otherwise you'll see Save the step and automation, and pause the automation before testing.
3. Under Test classifier, type sample text into each input field, for example "Hi, can I get a price for 20 seats?".
4. Select Test classifier · Free.

What you should see

The result shows Ready or Needs review, a short reason, and each answer's value. For a score it also shows a lead score out of 100. The result is labelled 0 credits and has a test receipt number. The button changes to Test recorded. Change the sample or settings to test again.

If something goes wrong

FAQ

Do classifiers really cost nothing?

Yes. Classifier steps and their tests use no AI credits. Other AI steps in the same automation, such as AI calls or AI replies, may still use credits.

Does a classifier stop an AI reply that's already drafted?

No. A classifier only decides which path the automation takes. It doesn't cancel an existing AI draft reply.

Can I see classifier signals outside automations?

Yes. Lead and inbox conversation pages can show current signals and offer shortcuts to add a free classifier. The exact controls depend on your workspace.

Next step

Finish your automation in the editor, then check its first runs in Runs and troubleshooting.