The Add to a sequence and Remove from a sequence actions — putting someone on a day-by-day follow-up programme, taking them off, and every case where the action is skipped.
The customer who asked about prices did not decide on the spot, and you want to send a reminder three days later, a reference a week later and a final offer after ten days. That day-by-day follow-up programme is called a . Sequence actions put the person onto one or take them off it. This article covers two actions: and .
sequence
Add to a sequence
Remove from a sequence
💡 What a sequence is, how its steps are built and what the Stop the sequence when the person writes setting does are covered in Sequence. This article deals with the actions' behaviour inside a flow.
In this article you will find:
Add to a sequence
What happens when the person does not enter
Remove from a sequence
A sequence change triggers global rules
A concrete example: the customer who asked about prices and vanished
Limits and known issues
Common mistakes
Add to a sequence
The Add to a sequence action puts the person at the start of a follow-up programme.
In the action step, press Add action.
Choose Add to a sequence as the kind.
Pick the sequence from the list that opens. The list shows your account's sequences by name; until you pick one, the box reads Pick a sequence.
When the person is added, the time of the sequence's first step is calculated and recorded. The time comes from the "how many minutes later" value on the sequence's first step. If the first step is 0 minutes, the message goes out on the next sweep; if it is 1440 minutes, a day later.
If the person is already running in that sequence, the action does not restart the programme. This is deliberate: when the same flow triggers twice, the customer does not receive the same follow-up messages a second time.
Sequences are built under Automations › Sequences, and that is where they are switched on and off.
What happens when the person does not enter
The action passes without doing anything in three cases, and the flow continues without stopping:
The sequence is switched off. Nobody is added to a sequence that is off in the Automations › Sequences list. This is the most common reason: the sequence was built but never switched on.
The sequence has no steps. There is nothing to send, so no record is opened.
The chosen sequence does not belong to this account. Another account's sequence cannot be chosen, but a deleted sequence may still be selected in an old flow.
None of these stops the flow or raises an error. So if the people you thought you added are not showing up in the programme, check first whether the sequence is on.
⚠️ Note: Sequence steps are subject to the 24-hour messaging window too. If the person has not written in the last 24 hours, the sequence message is not sent. This is a restriction on Meta's side; the details are in The 24-hour messaging window.
Remove from a sequence
The Remove from a sequence action takes the person off the programme. Pending steps are not sent.
Choose Remove from a sequence as the kind.
Pick the sequence from the list.
If the person is not in that sequence, the action passes quietly.
The action's real job is stopping the follow-up programme once it has become unnecessary. Sending "are you still thinking about it?" after the customer has bought does harm. The typical places are:
When a sale completes (right next to the conversion step).
When the customer says "not interested".
When the person is moved to a different sequence: take them off the old one first, then add them to the new one.
The sequence's own Stop the sequence when the person writes setting is another exit, and it is on by default: the sequence stops as soon as the person writes anything. If you have turned that setting off, you have to manage the exit with your own flows.
A sequence change triggers global rules
When a person enters or leaves a sequence, global rules are notified. Under Automations › Rules you can bind rules to the Entered a sequence and Left a sequence events, and the rule's Sequence (filter) box lets it listen to one specific sequence.
That is how you build chains: adding a tag when someone enters a sequence, or assigning the chat to an agent when they leave it. Before you set one up, check the list for a rule bound to that sequence; otherwise the person may receive a message you did not expect.
A concrete example: the customer who asked about prices and vanished
An architecture practice follows up people who ask for a project quote and then go quiet:
The flow sends the price list and waits with Wait for reply.
If the person answers, the flow carries the conversation on.
If they do not answer and the No answer branch runs, an Action step steps in:
Add tag: following-up
Add to a sequence: "Post-quote follow-up" (a three-step sequence)
When the customer later signs a contract, the team adds the agreed tag from the inbox. A global rule catches that tag and takes the person off the programme with a Remove from a sequence action.
The practice sets this up once and never revisits it for each new customer.
Limits and known issues
If no sequence is picked, the pre-publish check raises "An action is incomplete".
Add to a sequence and Remove from a sequence share one plan feature. If your plan does not cover sequences, the session stops at this step and a "Plan lock" line is written to the log.
Nobody is added to a sequence that is switched off, and no error is raised.
If the person is already running in the sequence, the programme does not restart.
A sequence holds at most 20 steps, and a step can be set at most 525,600 minutes (one year) later.
If a sequence is switched off while it is running, the live records stop and the reason is written as "Sequence switched off".
Sequence messages are subject to the 24-hour window.
Common mistakes
Forgetting to switch the sequence on. Nobody is added to a sequence that is off; the action passes quietly.
Trying to add someone twice in the same flow. If the person is already in the sequence the programme does not restart; a duplicate add achieves nothing.
Not setting up the post-sale removal. The customer keeps receiving follow-up messages after buying.
Leaving the old sequence on during a switch. Remove the person from the old sequence before adding them to the new one, or they get messages from both programmes.
Turning off "Stop the sequence when the person writes" without building an exit. With the setting off, you have to manage the exit in your flows.
Expecting a sequence step to go out instantly. Step times arrive with a sweep; even with the first step at 0 minutes, delivery is not immediate.
If a sequence action is not working, see My action isn't working or contact our Support team.