Events and contact attributes

Everything in Chatlane Automation runs on two kinds of customer data: events (things a customer did, when) and attributes (facts about the customer). Once this data is flowing, segments, broadcasts, and workflows can act on it.

Events

An event is a timestamped record of something a customer did — request_quote, place_order, approve_order, complaint. Each event can carry properties: extra details like the product, the order value, or the service requested.

{
  "name": "request_quote",
  "properties": { "service": "Certified Translation", "quote_value": 250 }
}

Events appear on the contact's profile under Activity, and power:

• Segment rules — "performed place_order at least 2 times in the last 90 days"
• Property filters — "performed request_quote where service equals Certified Translation"
• Workflow triggers — enroll a contact the moment they perform an event
• Goals and conversions — exit a workflow (and count a conversion, with a value) when the customer performs the goal event

Naming tip: use consistent snake_case names (request_quote, not "Requested a Quote!"). Segments and workflows match on the exact name.

Reserved system events

Chatlane records six events automatically — avoid these names for your own tracking:

• broadcast_sent — the contact was sent a broadcast (with broadcast_id, broadcast name, inbox_id, conversation_id properties). Powers "received a broadcast recently" segments and suppression rules.
• contact_created — a new contact appears (any source).
• message_received — the contact sends a message on any channel (with conversation_id, inbox_id, channel, message_id properties; notes, call logs and outbound messages do not count). Its timestamp powers "messaged us in the last N days" windows; use it as a goal event to stop follow-ups the moment a contact replies.
• conversation_created — a new conversation starts (with inbox_id, conversation_id, and subject properties). Conversations created by broadcasts or workflow sends are deliberately excluded.
• conversation_tagged — a tag is added to a conversation, by a teammate or an AI agent (with tag, inbox_id, conversation_id properties).
• entity_record_linked — a contact is linked to a custom entity record (with entity, record_id, external_id, role, and the record's attributes as attr_<name> properties, snapshotted at link time).

They behave like any other event: use them in segments, as workflow triggers (including the trigger's inbox filter), and with property filters.

Attributes

Attributes describe the customer: currency, locale, country, total_orders, total_spend, vip. They're typed — Chatlane infers whether each attribute is text, a number, a date, or true/false from the first value it sees, and segment rules adapt accordingly (numbers compare numerically, dates chronologically).

Attributes appear on the contact's profile and power segment rules like "total_spend is at least 1000" or "currency equals GBP".

Two attributes have special meaning in workflows:

• timezone (e.g. Europe/London) — used by workflow "wait until time window" steps so messages arrive during the customer's daytime
• Any numeric attribute can be updated by a workflow's Update attributes step, e.g. stamping stage = contacted

Three ways data gets in

1. The API (your systems)

Push data from your website, ordering system, or backend using two endpoints that mirror the identify/track pattern used by tools like Customer.io:

• POST /api/v1/contacts/identify — create/update a contact and sync attributes
• POST /api/v1/events — record an event (with an idempotency key so retries are safe)

See the API documentation for full request formats. If you're migrating from Customer.io, your existing identify/track calls map one-to-one.

2. Your AI agents (from conversations)

Give any AI agent the Record Event action (Agents → Actions) and it can stamp events on the contact while handling a conversation — for example recording request_quote when a customer asks for pricing, or complaint when they report a problem. The agent can include properties it learned from the conversation, like the service or product discussed.

Agents can also update attributes with the existing Update Contact action.

This is what makes Chatlane Automation unique: your inbound support conversations become automation triggers, with no integration work.

3. Workflows themselves

Workflow Update attributes steps write attributes as contacts move through an automation — useful for stamping lifecycle stages (stage = nurtured) that other segments and workflows can then react to.

Retention

Events are kept for 12 months by default and pruned automatically. Keep segment time-windows within your retention period — a "last 400 days" window can't see events that have been pruned.