---
key: set-automation-guardrails
title: Set automation guardrails
audience: staff
section: automation
routes: ["/lifecycle-automation/settings"]
permissions: ["lifecycle_automation.manage"]
features: ["lifecycle_automation.core"]
since: 0.0.1
updated: 0.0.1
status: published
summary: Set the rules every automation obeys before it messages a customer, including allowed channels, quiet hours, business hours, do-not-contact, text opt-in and anti-spam spacing.
keywords: [quiet hours, do not contact, opt-in, unsubscribe, allowed channels, anti-spam, automation settings, stop texts at night]
related: [turn-an-automation-on-or-off, review-an-automation-approval, read-automation-analytics]
---

In the sidebar, open **Settings**, then choose **Guardrails** under **Automation**. The page address is `/lifecycle-automation/settings`. The page heading reads **Lifecycle automation settings**. Everything under **Policy guardrails** is checked before any automation sends a message, creates a task or asks for approval, whichever automation it is.

## Before you start

- Your role needs permission to manage automation. Without it the page says the settings are unavailable.
- The notice at the top of **Policy guardrails** says whose settings you are looking at. **Showing your organization's settings.** applies to every branch. Pick a branch in the top bar to change only that branch; anything you leave alone there follows the organization.
- Changes are not saved until you press **Save policy**. **Discard** throws away unsaved edits.

## Steps

1. Set **Timezone**. Quiet hours and business hours are measured in it. Leave it blank to use the organization's own.
2. Under **Allowed channels**, press each channel you want automations to use, such as **Email** and **SMS**. A channel that is not pressed is never used, even if an automation asks for it.
3. Switch on the protections that suit you: **Respect do-not-contact** (skip accounts marked do not contact), **Respect email unsubscribe**, **Require verified targets** (only send to checked addresses and numbers) and **Require SMS opt-in**. Set **SMS consent mode** to **Jurisdiction based** or **Explicit opt-in** to match how you collect consent.
4. Under **Quiet hours**, add the hours when nothing should go out and choose whether a message is held until morning (**Defer**) or dropped (**Block**). **Business hours** works the same way and also offers **Allow**.
5. Under **Anti-spam action**, choose what happens when a customer would get messages too close together, and set **Minimum interval seconds**.
6. Use **Channel policies** if one channel needs stricter rules than the rest; each row sets that channel's own enabled, verified-target, opt-in and do-not-contact behaviour.
7. Press **Save policy**.

## What you see

- **Scoped policy matrix** lets you add rows that apply a rule only to one area, event or channel. Most organizations leave it empty.
- **Enterprise policy locking** only matters for organizations run under an enterprise; its switches are set from the enterprise hub, and the notice at the top of **Policy guardrails** lists any fields locked from above.
- **Platform settings** on the right links to the other pages automations depend on: **Lifecycle statuses**, **Message templates**, **Email accounts** and **Phone numbers**. **Contact method policy** is linked next to the verification switch.
- **Subsystem diagnostics** is a health readout for Nova staff.

## If something looks different

- **Save policy** stays off: nothing has changed yet, or a field is locked by enterprise policy.
- A message is not going out and you cannot see why: check **Quiet hours** with **Block**, a channel missing from **Allowed channels**, or **Require verified targets** with an unverified phone number. The **Trust** card in [[read-automation-analytics]] counts these blocks.
- Reminders are landing in the approval queue instead of sending: see [[review-an-automation-approval]].
- The **Email accounts** or **Phone numbers** link sends you to the dashboard instead: open **Settings** and choose **Email Accounts** or **Phone Lines** under **Communications**.

[[route:/lifecycle-automation/settings|Open Guardrails]]