Select Contacts Action Block

What's in this article

• When to use
• How to set it up
• Best practices
• Tabs in this block
• Using Segments with the Select Contacts block

Summary

The Select Contacts block chooses who this automation should run for. Use rules to target the right people.

Important: This block selects from ALL contacts in your database and ADDS them to your automation's path. Use a Filter Block to match for a single contact.

When to use

• Recurring birthday campaigns that send X days before a contact's birthdate
• Run a one-time seasonal cmapaign to a segment (leads, members, families)
• Limit an automation to a test group before going live
• Target only contacts who match certain rules

How to set it up

1. Add rules for SMS/MMS and/or Email.
2. Optional: click Select Segment to reuse a saved segment.
3. Optional: limit to specific contacts for testing.
4. Save your rules as a segment if you plan to reuse them.

Best practices for businesses, programs, and classes

• Start with a small test group before selecting all contacts.
• Keep segments behavior-based when possible (recent visits, purchases).
• Use Throttle later in the flow to control frequency.

Tabs in this block

Editor

This is where you configure the block. After you change settings, save the block so the automation uses the updated configuration.

Stats

Stats populate after the block runs for at least one contact. For most blocks, Stats are mainly for quick troubleshooting (example: times triggered and last completed).

Task Log

The Task Log is the best place to troubleshoot a specific run. Each row is one task (usually one contact) that passed through this block.

• Time: when the task ran
• Run Duration: how long it took
• Contact: click the person icon to open the contact profile
• View Payload: click VIEW PAYLOAD to see all data passed through the automation for that task
• Task ID: helpful for internal debugging and support

Warnings & Errors

• Errors must be fixed before the automation can be enabled.
• Warnings do not always block enabling, but they usually mean something is missing or risky.
• If you see an error or warning banner, fix it in the Editor.

Using Segments with the Select Contacts block

Segments are saved “audiences” (saved filters) you can reuse across automations. In Select Contacts, a Segment is the fastest way to build a targeted list without rebuilding rules every time.

What happens when you select a Segment

When you click Select Segment, Patch uses that saved Segment to build the list at the time the automation runs. That means the list stays current as contact data changes (new tags, updated fields, opt-ins, etc.).

How to choose a Segment in this block

In the segment picker you can:

• Search by segment name

• Use the filter icon to narrow results

• Click the eye icon to preview the segment rules

• Click Select to apply it to the Select Contacts block

Segment vs. “Add Conditions”

You can target contacts two ways:

• Segment: best when you want the same audience reused across many automations (and kept consistent). Segments are centralized in Account Settings > Segments.

• Add Conditions: best for one-off targeting that’s specific to this automation.

If you use both, think of it like: Segment results + additional conditions (you’re narrowing the list further).

Important: this block selects from ALL contacts and ADDS them to your automation's path

Select Contacts always starts from your full contact database. It does not “inherit” a smaller list from earlier Select Contacts blocks.

Best practice: If you need multiple steps to run on the exact same group, use one Select Contacts block and branch after it - rather than adding another Select Contacts later.

When to “Save as Segment”

If you find yourself building the same rules again (like “SMS eligible” or “Active customers”), save it as a Segment so you can reuse it and keep logic consistent across automations.