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Sequences

Sequences are how Mokapen lets you write to many people without looking like spam: a series of emails over time for each enrolled person, with waits between steps and rules to stop when they reply, open, or click. This is not a workflow that fires on every CRM event: you enroll an audience (or anyone who matches the filter), and Mokapen runs the steps at a controlled pace.

The convenience is here: one filter, one email flow, a sender pool that rotates mailboxes and keeps the same From for each contact. No burst of a thousand sends at launch, no copying into Gmail by hand, no spreadsheet of “who I already wrote to”.

Sequences are on the Premium Large plan (a separate limit from workflows). Open them from the user menu → Sequences: list, editor, enrollments, and log.

Overview

A sequence combines:

• Definition — title, Owner, Collaborators, Active/Inactive, trigger Contact enrolled with audience filter, launch, sender pool, and exit rules.
• Steps — the same editor as workflows: typically Send Email and Delay in order. The sequence engine runs only these two; leave the rest to workflows.
• Enrollments — one row per contact: status, current step, next run, exit reason.
• Activity log — enrolled, email sent, waiting, exited, errors. Kept until you delete the sequence.

When you activate the sequence, Mokapen enrolls everyone who matches the filter at that moment and keeps adding anyone who enters the filter. Sends are paced: daytime window (roughly 9–18), a daily cap per mailbox, a few contacts per minute at launch.

Core concepts

• Enrollment — the link between one contact and one sequence. Only one per contact per sequence: after completion or exit they are not re-enrolled automatically.
• Status — Queued, In progress, Completed, Exited (cancel, reply/open/click/bounce per the rules, or error).
• Audience filter — contact conditions on the trigger (same UI as automation filters).
• Sender pool (SMTP) — one or more connected mailboxes. Mokapen rotates sends and keeps the same From for a contact across every step. With an empty pool, you set From on each Send Email step.
• Owner — who “owns” the sequence (permissions, collaborators). Sends go from the pool mailboxes (or from the step From if the pool is empty), not from a magic owner address.
• Variables — enrolled contact fields (name, email, custom) in subject and body, as in automations.

Sequences vs workflows

Use workflows for reactive CRM logic (form submitted → task, deal won → email). Use sequences for nurture, onboarding, and multi-touch outreach with a send cap.

Role in the CRM

• Lead nurture — filtered segment (e.g. Newsletter tag) → 3 emails over 2 weeks. Contacts stay in the address book.
• Onboarding — new customers in the filter → welcome, tip, reminder, without chasing them by hand.
• Reactivation — last activity is old → a short series, then a human follow-up if they do not reply.
• Outbound — audience from Find Leads or an import: several mailboxes in the pool, same From per contact, stop on reply.

Opens, clicks, and replies on sequence emails feed exit rules and stay in the mailbox, like the rest of Mokapen tracking.

Use cases

A sequence is a thread of emails over time, on the same audience. It is not a workflow “when X happens, do Y”: it is nurture and outbound, with a mailbox pool and a daily cap.

• Multi-touch outbound — You have a list in the address book (role, country, no open deal) and you want 4–5 emails over two weeks, not a blast. Audience filter on those contacts, pool with two or three sales mailboxes so you do not burn a single From, 40 sends per day per mailbox across the whole org (two sequences on the same inbox share the cap). Steps: email 1 → wait 3 days → email 2 → … Exit when the contact replies, so someone who already said “no” does not get email 4. Start at 3 contacts per minute at launch. This is not the place for “every new deal posts to Slack”: that is a workflow.
• Onboarding people on a trial — New trials land in the filter on their own (Trial tag or plan) while the sequence is Active: periodic sync enrols them, you do not add them by hand. Day 0 welcome, day 2 three things to do, day 7 upgrade. One “hello@” mailbox in the pool is enough; sticky From: the same trial always hears hello@, it does not rotate onto sales@. If a trial converts to paid, the exit rule (tag / plan changed) pulls them out before the day-7 offer.
• Follow-up after a demo, one person at a time — Not everyone who took the call should enter a global filter: some are already in a deal, some are not. A short sequence (thanks + recap + “next step”), manual enrollment of the contact after the call, without widening the audience. The filter can stay tight or empty: you are using the sequence as a personal cadence, not as a market engine.
• Few sends, reputation to protect — Gmail and traditional providers do not like 500 cold emails from day one. Cap 40/day per mailbox (that is the default; the configurable maximum is 500, but 40 is the cautious value), daytime window ~9–18, 3 per minute at launch. If a mailbox pauses on a bounce, take it out of the pool and put it back when you know why (dead address, provider block). Raising the cap “because sales is in a hurry” is the fastest way to land hello@ in spam.

Access and permissions

Plan — Premium Large; sequences have their own limit, separate from workflows.

Who creates — same as workflows: only the organization Owner starts a new sequence; Owner/Collaborators and admins edit existing ones (Roles guide).

Who sends — you need connected SMTP accounts (yours, shared with you, or organization-wide) in Integrations. Put them in the pool, or — if the pool is empty — pick From on each Send Email step. If the mailbox is not connected, the step fails.

List page

Under Sequences → My sequences: title, Owner, Collaborators, Active/Inactive, last update. Bulk actions like workflows. Open a row for the card and the editor.

Audience and trigger

Every sequence uses the Contact enrolled trigger. Enrollment is driven by the audience filter (condition grid like “contact created”).

When contacts are enrolled

• On activation — every filter match (skipped if already enrolled).
• While the sequence is Active — about every 15 minutes Mokapen re-syncs the filter and enrolls new matches.
• Manual enrollment — from the sequence card, one contact or an audience re-run.

Anyone already completed or exited is not re-enrolled automatically.

Launch and pace

In the trigger configuration (same panel as the filter):

• When to start — immediately on activation, or a date/time with timezone. The engine waits until then.
• Contacts per minute at launch — default 3 (max 20). A safety value for SMTP: 3 per minute is the on-screen recommendation.

On top of that, Mokapen sends in a daytime window (roughly 9–18) and respects the sender pool caps. Delays between steps do not flood the queue: the enrollment resumes when due, on the next cycle.

Sender pool (SMTP)

This is what changed versus “one sequence = the Owner’s mailbox”. In the trigger you find Sender pool (SMTP): pick one or more connected mailboxes (yours, shared with you, or organization-wide).

What Mokapen does:

• Rotates — the next send goes to the pool mailbox that has sent the least today, under the daily cap.
• Same From per contact — once a mailbox is assigned to a person, every later step leaves from there. The contact always sees the same sender, not three random addresses.
• Empty pool — no rotator: you set From on each Send Email step, like a workflow.

Daily send limit per mailbox — default 40, max 500. It is shared across all sequences in the organization: if two sequences use the same mailbox, the 40 (or the value you set) applies to both. Gmail often allows 100–500 sends per day: 40 is the cautious on-screen default.

Paused mailboxes — if a send in this sequence bounces, that mailbox is paused in this sequence. Other pool senders keep going. To resume: remove the address from the pool, save, then add it again.

On the sequence card you see the pool, the per-mailbox limit, and (if any) paused mailboxes. On the Send Email step, if the pool is set, you no longer pick From by hand: the pool assigns it.

Flow editor

Same editor as workflow automations. Typical linear path:

1. Send Email — From from the pool (or chosen on the step), to the contact email, subject/body with variables.
2. Delay — wait before the next step.
3. Repeat.

Avoid branches, loops, and CRM actions unless you accept that the sequence engine will not run them.

Steps and actions

Send Email — recipient = enrolled contact; tracking on. Variables from Contact enrolled. With a pool set, Mokapen tells you that From is assigned by the pool (same mailbox for that contact on every step).

Delay — pauses the enrollment until it is due; then the next step on the next cycle.

Other actions in the editor are not executed by the sequence engine — use a workflow if you need tasks, deals, or field updates.

How the engine works

About every 15 minutes Mokapen:

1. For each Active sequence — re-syncs the audience and enrolls new matches.
2. If it is in the daytime window and mailboxes are available under the cap — picks due enrollments (In progress first, then Queued in order).
3. Runs the step (send or delay), updates the enrollment, writes the log. With a pool: picks or confirms the sticky From and counts the send on that mailbox (org-wide).

If every mailbox in the pool has hit today’s limit, or is paused, sends wait until the next day. The automation queue must be running in the environment (same as workflows).

Exit rules

In the sequence parameters (default: exit on reply, not on open/click unless you enable them):

• Reply — reply to a sequence email → Exited.
• Open (optional) — estimate from a tracking pixel.
• Click (optional) — click on a link.
• Bounce — send error → the contact exits and the mailbox used is paused in this sequence.
• Manual — Cancel on the card.

Email tracking

Same as automations: opens and clicks for exit rules and the mailbox. Replies go through the standard reply flow. Use a clear CTA if you exit on click.

Enrollments and logs

Sequence status does not use workflow logs (those purge after 28 days).

• Sequence card — latest enrollments: contact, date, status, Cancel if still queued or in progress. Pool, per-mailbox limit, paused mailboxes.
• View log — all enrollments + Activity log (enrolled, sent, waiting, exited, error).

Data stays until the sequence is deleted.

Common issues

• No enrollments — Sequence active? Does the filter match anyone? Archived contacts?
• Stuck in queue — Future launch? Outside the 9–18 window? Per-mailbox cap reached (across all org sequences)? Every mailbox paused? Automation queue off?
• Email does not send — empty pool and no step From; mailbox not connected; empty recipient; broken variables. Message in the activity log.
• Same contact, different senders — only if you removed the sticky mailbox from the pool (or it is paused) and Mokapen can no longer use it: then the send waits, it does not pick a random other From.
• Mailbox paused after a bounce — remove it from the pool and add it again to resume. A contact who exited on bounce is not re-enrolled on their own.
• Early exit — check the rules (reply / open / click) and tracking.
• New contacts not added — sync is about every 15 minutes; they must match the filter; already enrolled/completed/exited stay out.

Recommended process

• Connect SMTP mailboxes and put them in the pool before writing the emails.
• Define audience and exit rules before the copy.
• Build as Inactive; test with a manual enrollment of a test contact.
• Activate; for 48 hours watch enrollments, logs, and paused mailboxes.
• Start at 40 sends/day per mailbox and 3 per minute; raise only if SMTP and reputation hold.
• Deactivate before changing filters in a drastic way.

Practical examples

1. Cold outreach — 4 emails in 14 days

In the address book tag prospects “Outbound” and keep out anyone who already has an open deal (sequence filter: tag + no deal). Connect two SMTP mailboxes and put them in the pool before you write a line of copy. Sequence Inactive: Email 1 → wait 3 days → Email 2 → 4 days → Email 3 → 5 days → Email 4. Exit on reply. 40/day per mailbox. Manually enrol a test contact, read all four emails in your inbox (and spam). Only then Active. For 48 hours watch enrollments and logs: if a mailbox pauses, do not “fix it” by raising the cap — take it out, understand the bounce, put it back.

2. Trial nurture that feeds itself

Filter: plan or tag Trial. Pool: one hello@ mailbox. Welcome immediately, then 2 days (how to use the product), 5 days (upgrade offer). Exit when the plan is no longer Trial. Activate: new trials enrolled by sync (about every 15 minutes) come in on their own. Do not clone the sequence every Monday for “this week’s trials” — the filter has to stay true over time.

3. One contact, after the call, without widening the audience

The “Post-demo” sequence can have a very tight filter or none that matches on its own. After the call you open the contact and enrol them by hand. They get the recap and the “next step”; people you did not enrol do not get those emails. Useful when sales decides case by case, not when you want every “demo done” in automatically (that is again a filter on a tag or on appointment date, if you use it that way).

FAQ

Q: Can the same contact be enrolled twice?

A: No — one enrollment per contact per sequence.

Q: Do sequence logs disappear after 28 days?

A: No. Workflow logs purge at 28 days; sequence enrollments and activity logs stay until deletion.

Q: Are new contacts in the filter added?

A: Yes, while the sequence is Active, about every 15 minutes.

Q: Which address do emails leave from?

A: From the sender pool mailboxes, rotated and sticky per contact. If the pool is empty, from the From you set on each Send Email step.

Q: Is the 40/day limit per sequence?

A: No: it is per mailbox, across the whole organization. Two sequences on the same mailbox share the cap.

Q: A mailbox is “paused”: what do I do?

A: There was a bounce in this sequence. Remove the address from the pool and add it again to resume. Also check why it bounced (dead address, provider block…).

Q: Where do I see a contact’s history?

A: In View log on the sequence.