Order notifications keep your customers informed throughout the purchase and fulfillment process. In CartOS, all transactional emails—order confirmations, shipping updates, refund notices—are managed through the Automation Bolt.
How order notifications work
The Automation Bolt handles order notifications as automated workflows that trigger based on order events. When an order is placed, a workflow sends the confirmation email. When you fulfill an order, another workflow sends shipping details. This approach gives you complete control over the timing, content, and design of every notification.
If you haven't installed the Automation Bolt yet, go to Bolts in your admin and install it. Once active, you'll find it under Automation in your sidebar.
Default order workflows
The Automation Bolt comes with pre-built workflows for common order notifications:
- Order Confirmation – Sent immediately when a customer completes checkout
- Shipping Confirmation – Sent when an order is marked as fulfilled, includes tracking info
- Delivery Confirmation – Sent when tracking shows the package was delivered
- Refund Confirmation – Sent when you issue a full or partial refund
- Order Cancelled – Sent when an order is cancelled
These workflows are enabled by default. You can edit their content, adjust their triggers, or disable them if needed.
Editing notification content
To customize a notification, go to Automation › Workflows and open the workflow you want to edit. Click on the email action in the workflow to open the email editor.
The email editor lets you modify the subject line, preview text, and body content. Use the visual editor to adjust layout, colors, and typography to match your brand. You can also switch to code view to edit the underlying Liquid template directly.
Using Liquid variables
Order notification templates have access to Liquid variables that pull in dynamic content from each order. Common variables include:
{{ order.name }}– The order number (e.g., #1001){{ order.email }}– Customer's email address{{ order.total_price | money }}– Order total formatted as currency{{ order.shipping_address.first_name }}– Customer's first name{{ order.fulfillments.first.tracking_url }}– Tracking link for the shipment{{ shop.name }}– Your store name
Use these variables to personalize your emails and include relevant order details automatically.
Creating custom notifications
Beyond the default workflows, you can create custom notifications for specific scenarios. Go to Automation › Workflows and click Create Workflow.
Select an order trigger to start your workflow. Available triggers include:
- Order Created – Fires when a new order is placed
- Order Paid – Fires when payment is captured
- Order Fulfilled – Fires when items are marked as shipped
- Order Partially Fulfilled – Fires when some but not all items ship
- Order Delivered – Fires when tracking confirms delivery
- Order Cancelled – Fires when an order is cancelled
- Refund Created – Fires when a refund is issued
After selecting a trigger, add a Send Email action and compose your message. You can also add conditions to target specific orders—for example, only sending a notification for orders over a certain value or orders containing specific products.
Adding delays
Sometimes you want to wait before sending a notification. Use the Delay action in your workflow to pause for a specified time. This is useful for follow-up emails like asking for a review a week after delivery or sending care instructions a few days after purchase.
Notification timing
Order notifications are sent in real-time by default. When the trigger event occurs, the workflow executes immediately. If you've added delays, the workflow will wait accordingly.
Keep in mind that shipping and delivery confirmation emails depend on tracking data. If you fulfill an order without a tracking number, the shipping confirmation will still send but won't include a tracking link. Delivery confirmations require tracking to detect when the package arrives.
Testing notifications
Before going live with changes, test your notifications. In the email editor, click Send Test to send a preview to yourself. The test email uses sample order data so you can see how variables render.
You can also place a test order on your store and watch the workflow execute in real-time from the workflow's activity log.
Disabling notifications
To stop a notification from sending, open the workflow and toggle it off using the Active switch. Disabled workflows remain in your list so you can re-enable them later.
If you want to temporarily pause all order notifications—for example, during a migration—you can disable multiple workflows at once from the workflow list using bulk actions.