What a trail is
A trail watches a folder. Every file or lead that arrives there is cleaned and checked automatically, then pushed to your CRM or held for your approval.
By Operelio team · Updated November 1, 2026
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What a trail does
A trail takes the files and leads that arrive in its folder. Each one is cleaned and checked, then pushed to HubSpot, Salesforce or Pipedrive, or held for your approval.
A trail is for a source, not one spreadsheet. The next file from that source can name a column differently, like Mail address for Email: the trail finds it and says so on the run, and after a real run it remembers the name for the next file. A new source with different columns, such as a second web form, waits until you check its mapping in Map sources, which keeps one column mapping for each place leads come from.
Each file gets its own run. The trail keeps a record of every run: what each stage did, what reached your CRM, and anything that stopped it. A single lead, such as one form fill sent to the folder's webhook or email address, goes through on its own and shows on the Leads tab instead of as a run.
You build a trail in a sandbox and test it on a real file before it goes live. New trails start switched off.
What a run goes through
Each run goes through these stages in order. The formatter and the push are on every trail that goes live. The others are optional.
| Stage | What it does | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Map sources | Renames each source's columns to the ones the trail expects, with one column mapping for each place leads come from. | Free |
| Cleaning steps | Up to 8 steps from Clean Headers, Deduplicate, Find & Replace, Filter & Extract, Column Manager and Remove suppressed contacts. | One job for all of them |
| Company Active Check | Scores each company's website and drops rows below the score you set. | One job |
| Verify emails | Checks every address. Quick clean uses no verify credits and leaves out the addresses it proved can't receive mail, and throwaway ones. A full check uses credits and leaves out the rows under the send-readiness bar you set. Rows with no address follow its Send rows with no email address switch, whatever the bar. | One job |
| Scorecard | Gives each row a score from 1 to 5 from rules you approve. By default 4 and 5 go on to the push, 3 waits for a yes or no, and 1 and 2 stay in Operelio. | Free |
| CRM Formatter | Maps your columns onto the CRM's fields with a saved mapping. | One job |
| Safety checks | Hold the push when something looks wrong, like most of the rows dropping out before the push, or values your CRM would refuse. | Free |
| Bridgeant | Reads a summary of the run against rules you write, and can hold the push. It never pushes anything itself. | One Bridgeant message when it reads your own words. None for switches and failsafes alone |
| Push | Creates and updates records in your CRM, or waits for your approval first. Its Who gets each lead tab picks each record's owner. | Free |
A run uses up to four jobs, one for each job stage on the trail. They count toward your monthly jobs, the same as running the tools yourself. A single lead uses no job until your plan's single leads for the month are used (1,000 on Starter). Past that, each 10, or part of 10, uses one job.
Sandbox and live
The canvas has two tabs. You make changes on Sandbox. Live is the version that runs, and it stays as it is until you put the sandbox live.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Test run | Picked in the run bar, beside Run. Runs the trail for real on a test file. It uses jobs, holds verify credits when the trail has a full email check, and never pushes to your CRM. |
| Dry run | Picked in the run bar, beside Run. Free. Shows what the cleaning steps would do to a file. Nothing is checked or pushed. |
| Run | Runs the sandbox trail on the file in the run bar, as a test run or a dry run, whichever is picked. After a run it reads Run again. |
| Put it live | Makes the sandbox the live trail, as a new version. Every run records the version it used. |
| Switch on | Starts the live trail on the files that arrive. |
| Switch off | Stops the trail from picking up new files. A push already waiting for you stays waiting. |
Who can build and run trails
Only an admin can create a trail, change it, switch it on or pause it.
Anyone in the workspace can approve or discard a push that is waiting. By default, only admins can start a test run, change a stopped run or put its fix on the trail. On Pro and above, to let everyone do these, set Fixing a stopped trail run to Everyone in the workspace, under Team in Settings, in Permissions.
Plans
Every plan can build and test trails. Switching one on starts at Starter.
| Free | Starter | Pro | Agency | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trails you can build | 1 | 5 | 20 | 50 shared across your workspaces |
| Trails switched on | No | 2 at a time | 10 at a time | 25 at a time, shared across your workspaces |
| Watched folders (per workspace) | No | 25 | 75 | 200 |
| Single leads a month without a job | No | 1,000 | 5,000 | 20,000 shared across your workspaces |
Frequently asked questions
Does anything reach my CRM without me?
It depends on the trail. A trail you start from scratch waits for your approval before every push, unless your workspace's trail settings default to pushing clean runs. Four templates push clean runs automatically. On any trail, a run the safety checks or Bridgeant flag waits for you. A single lead the Scorecard gives a 3 waits on the Leads tab for a yes or no, and in a trail's first 7 days live every single lead waits there.
Where can the files and leads come from?
From the folder the trail watches. Email files or enquiries to the folder's address, post leads from your website form, Typeform or its webhook, or add a file yourself or through the API. An email with no file becomes one lead. A trail does not watch Google Drive, Dropbox or an FTP server.
Can I change a trail after it is live?
Yes. Change it on Sandbox, test it, then put it live as the next version. Runs already recorded keep the version they ran.
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