Stage preflight checks
Gate a deal from moving into a stage until an automated check passes or a teammate confirms it by hand. A special kind of automation, and always synchronous.
Updated 2026-07-21
A stage preflight is a rule that runs while a deal is being moved into a stage, not after — it can stop the move from happening at all. It is built as an automation with the "Before stage change" trigger, so it lives on the same /automations page as every other rule, but it works differently from the rest: it runs synchronously, in the moment someone clicks a stage, and it can only use two step types.
The two step types
- Automatic check — a condition NeoKivo evaluates on its own, such as a required field being filled in or a document requirement being met. It passes or fails with no one touching anything.
- Manual confirmation — a plain checkbox with a label you write, such as "Pricing approved by finance." It carries no logic of its own; a person has to tick it.
Only the trigger "Before stage change" offers these two step types. Every other trigger uses the regular step list — notifications, channel posts, updating the deal, and so on — described in Automations.
Warn or require
| Enforcement | What it takes to proceed |
|---|---|
| Warn | Every manual confirmation must be ticked. A failed automatic check is shown but does not block — it is advisory. |
| Require | Every manual confirmation must be ticked, and every automatic check must have passed. Any unmet check blocks the move. |
When a stage move triggers one or more preflights, a dialog lists them all — checks with their pass/fail state, confirmations as checkboxes to tick. Under Require, the Move button stays disabled until everything clears; under Warn, it stays available throughout.
Archived deals, and fail-open by design
An archived deal never gets a preflight — moving its stage always proceeds with no checks or confirmations. Preflight is a courtesy gate for live work, not a lock on deals you have already set aside.
The same fail-open rule applies if the preflight check itself errors: NeoKivo lets the stage move through rather than blocking a deal because a courtesy check couldn't run.
Configuring one
- 1Open Automations and create a new rule.
- 2Choose the "Before stage change" trigger and pick which stage it gates.
- 3Add Automatic check and Manual confirmation steps as needed, in the order you want them evaluated.
- 4Set enforcement to Warn or Require.
- 5Publish. The gate applies to every attempt to move a deal into that stage from then on.
A stage preflight always runs inline with the move — it never enters the async queue the other automation triggers use, so it can't lag behind or run after the fact.
Spotted something out of date? Email hello@neokivo.com.