# Get draft posts created for you

> Set up Autopilot to keep your calendar filled from your clips, or a trend automation to draft daily posts, with every draft waiting for your approval.

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.conviapro.com/llms.txt).

Content Automations write draft posts in the background and drop them into your approval queue, so your calendar stays full without you writing every post. This guide is for workspace owners and managers in Convia Pro who already have a library of clips, or a set of trend feeds, and want a steady flow of drafts to review rather than a blank calendar to fill.

## How the two automation types differ

| Type | What it does | Where the content comes from |
|---|---|---|
| **Autopilot** | Keeps your calendar topped up on the days you choose | Clips you have already made |
| **Trend automation** | Drafts a post a day from the freshest trend | Your RSS feeds in **In Motion → Trend Monitor → Feed Manager** |

Start with Autopilot if you have a back catalog of clips. Add a trend automation if you also want timely posts about news in your field.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Nothing an automation creates publishes on its own. Autopilot posts always land as **Pending Approval**, even if your workspace has approval switched off. Trend automation posts land as **Pending Approval** or as drafts, depending on the automation's **Approval** setting. Nothing goes live until a person acts.

## Before you start

- **Content Automations is on your plan.** The page is for owners and managers and only appears if your plan includes it. Autopilot is included separately from trend automations. See [Plans and billing](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/plans-and-billing.md).
- **Your channels are connected** on **Social Channels** (under **Show** in the launcher). See [Connect social accounts](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/connect-social-accounts.md).
- **For Autopilot: you have clips, and your episodes have release dates.** Autopilot waits for a clip's episode to be out. An episode counts as out once its **Publish Date** has passed or, with no date, once its status is one you marked **Ready to publish** under **Settings → Workflow & Tasks**. Mark at least one status there.
- **For a trend automation: your feeds are set up** in **In Motion → Trend Monitor → Feed Manager**, which needs Trend Rider on your plan. See [Trend Discovery](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/trend-discovery.md).
- **You have AI credits.** An Autopilot fill costs about 5 credits per post, plus a base charge each time a channel is filled. A trend draft costs credits for the text, plus the image if you turn images on. See [AI credits](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/ai-credits.md).

## Stage 1: Create an Autopilot automation

1. Open the launcher, go to **In Motion → Content Automations** and click **New automation**.
2. Choose **Your clip library**, the Autopilot type, and give the automation a name.
3. Pick the connected accounts it posts to. For each one, choose the **days of the week** it posts on and how many posts **per day** (1 by default, up to 10). A day you leave out is never used, which is how you keep a release day or a weekend clear.
4. Set **Keep filled this far ahead** (14 days by default, 1 to 90) and **Wait before reusing a clip**.
5. Choose **Which clips go first**: **Breadth** (the default) rotates through your whole library, putting the episodes with the fewest recent or upcoming posts first. **Newest first** favors your latest clips.
6. Leave **Skip days that already have a post**, **Keep breathing room** and **Only clips from released episodes** on. Set **Days between clips from one episode** (3 by default).
7. Under **How each post ends**, choose what closes each caption: **Link to the full episode**, **Link to the podcast episode** and **Your own closing line**. Where your plan includes first comments, write a **First comment** once with links such as `{episode_url}`, and every post gets its own episode's links.
8. For an Instagram channel, set **Publish as**, **Also show in feed** and **Trial reel** for this automation. A Story channel only picks clips of 60 seconds or less.
9. Save the automation.

See [Clip Autopilot](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/autopilot.md) for every setting in detail.

## Stage 2: Run the first fill

Click **Run now** to queue a fill straight away instead of waiting for the nightly run. The work happens on the server, so you can close the tab.

The first fill only looks 7 days ahead. Once a fill has produced posts, Autopilot widens to your full **Keep filled this far ahead** horizon over the following nights. One fill adds at most 25 posts per channel, so a long horizon fills up over a few nights.

Every night after that, Autopilot compares your calendar to the days you picked and fills only the gap. It counts every post already scheduled on that channel, including ones you made by hand, so scheduling a week yourself means Autopilot correctly does nothing.

## Stage 3: Review the drafts on a regular rhythm

Autopilot drafts wait in the **Approval Queue** until someone approves them. Pick a regular time, such as once a week, to clear them.

1. Click **Approvals** at the bottom of the sidebar to open the Approval Queue. Automation posts show **Automation** as their author.
2. Read each caption, then click **Approve** or **Return**. To raise a concern instead, open the post and choose **Flag / Report problem** under **More actions**. An approved post with a scheduled date moves to **Scheduled**.
3. Clear overdue items first. Approving a post whose time has passed asks you to pick a new time or choose **Approve and publish now**.

See [Approval and review](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/approval-and-review.md).

## Stage 4: Add a trend automation (optional)

1. Click **New automation** and choose **Fresh trends**, the trend automation type.
2. Under **Trend feeds**, pick the RSS feeds it watches, and choose the **Target channel**.
3. Add **Prompt guidance (optional)** and **Tone (optional)** to steer the writing.
4. Choose the **Substance mode**. **Synthetic** writes a new post from the trend itself. **Corpus-grounded** drafts only when the trend matches your own episodes, and skips a trend that matches none.
5. Optionally turn on an image for each draft (an infographic, quote card or graphic), and set **Max posts per day** to keep spending predictable.
6. Under **Approval**, keep **Always send to approval queue** (the default), or choose **Use workspace default** to leave posts as drafts when your workspace does not require approval.

Once a day, the automation takes the freshest trend from those feeds and drafts a post in your brand voice. See [Content Automations](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/content-automations.md).

## Stage 5: Check what your automations did

Every automation post is tagged with the automation that made it:

- **On the post:** a badge in the **Posts** list opens the automation, and the **Automation** filter shows everything one automation drafted.
- **On the calendar:** filter the **Calendar** by automation.
- **On the automation:** click **Details** on its card to see its configuration, recent runs, every post it created and how they performed.
- **In analytics:** **Analytics → By Automation** compares automations over any date range.

When a fill comes up short, the run history says why by name.

## What a good result looks like

- Every posting day you chose has a draft waiting in the approval queue, a week or more ahead.
- Clips rotate across episodes, and no two clips from one episode land on neighboring days on a platform.
- Release days and other days you kept clear stay clear.
- You clear the approval queue on a set rhythm, and nothing reaches a channel unread.

## Common pitfalls

- **"waiting for episodes to release" in the run history.** Every clip belongs to an episode that is not out yet. Set publish dates, or wait for the release.
- **"no status marked Ready to publish".** Your episodes have no Publish Date and no status is marked **Ready to publish**. Fix it under **Settings → Workflow & Tasks**.
- **A short fill.** Autopilot stops when your AI credits, scheduled post queue or monthly posts run out, and the run history names which.
- **Days that look crowded after a campaign.** A campaign or a bulk clip schedule can land on a day Autopilot already filled. With **Keep breathing room** on, the next fill moves Autopilot and bulk clip posts to the next day with room. To do it now, click **Declutter** on the **Calendar** and choose **Keep breathing room**. Posts you scheduled yourself and campaign posts never move.
- **No first comment on TikTok or YouTube.** Those platforms do not allow scheduled first comments, and the editor names any of your channels affected.
- **Two Autopilot automations on one platform.** They share one set of rules there: the higher per-day count, all of their posting days and the longer gap.

## Related

- [Clip Autopilot](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/autopilot.md): every Autopilot setting and how fills work.
- [Content Automations](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/content-automations.md): trend automations in detail.
- [Approval and review](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/approval-and-review.md): working through the approval queue.
- [Calendar and scheduling](https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/calendar-and-scheduling.md): Declutter, Spread out and the calendar filters.

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Source: https://docs.conviapro.com/docs/automate-your-drafts · Section: Guides · Last updated: 2026-10-03