Choose the behavior that matches the signal you need:
- Use auto refresh when the page must reload on a schedule and you will read it yourself.
- Use If / Else when the automation should check a condition once, exactly when it reaches that step.
- Use Wait Until when the loaded page may change later and the automation should poll until it does or the timeout ends.
- Use Send Alert where reaching that step should create a desktop notification, play a sound, or POST a webhook.
These are separate steps in Tab Automation. A timer does not inspect content, If / Else does not keep watching, and an alert does not decide when a match occurred.
Auto refresh: reload between waits
Add Refresh Page, then turn on Repeat at the End block and choose its wait. The automation runs the steps, waits, and starts another cycle. The wait is not an exact clock schedule. This fits a dashboard or queue that simply needs a fresh page.
Optional Bypass cache changes the reload request. It does not add monitoring. If the graph contains only Refresh Page and Repeat, Tab Automation never checks what the page says.
Follow how to auto refresh a tab in Chrome for setup and limits.
If / Else: check the current state
Add If / Else when the next steps depend on the page’s current state. Use Pick on page to choose an element, or Whole page on a Page operand to use the document body.
The step evaluates the condition once when it reaches the step. A match follows Then; a non-match follows Else. A text comparison against a missing element is false. A condition that explicitly checks does not exist can still match.
If / Else does not remember earlier text and compare it with the current text. It also does not remain active waiting for a future update.
For example, after Refresh Page finishes, If / Else can check whether a queue count is greater than a value. Put the actions for that result in Then or Else.
Wait Until: poll for a later change
Add Wait / Delay, switch it to Until, and choose Appears, Disappears, Changes, or Matches when the signal may arrive after the page loads.
Wait Until checks the page repeatedly, with a 250-millisecond pause between checks, until the condition succeeds or its Fixed or Random range timeout expires. A timeout records a warning and continues to the next step.
Enable Pause when this wait succeeds when success should stop the automation at that point. The option does not pause on timeout.
Send Alert: notify at a chosen point
Send Alert fires when the automation reaches it. Put it in If Then or Else to notify for that branch. If you place it after Wait Until, it also runs after a timeout because timeout continues the graph.
Desktop notification, sound, and webhook are separate toggles on the step. Use Test on the output you want to check — that button tests only that output.
Repeat also offers Each cycle and When it stops alerts. Both are off until you enable them. Each moment picks its own destinations and has the same Test buttons.
If desktop Test is silent, follow the Chrome notifications troubleshooting flow. For Slack, Discord, or ntfy, follow send a Slack webhook when a Chrome page changes.
Common combinations
Reload and inspect it yourself
Use Refresh Page → Repeat. No condition or alert is needed.
Reload, check once, and notify on a match
Use Refresh Page → If / Else, then place Send Alert in the matching branch. Repeat controls when the next cycle begins.
Reload until text appears
Use Refresh Page → Wait Until with Pause when this wait succeeds enabled to stop reloading on a match. The reload until text appears guide is that recipe. Do not put Send Alert after Until if Pause when this wait succeeds is on — later steps do not run.
Wait for an in-page update
Use Wait Until with pause-on-success off, then If / Else to check the desired state again. Put Send Alert in Then. That second check prevents the alert from firing just because the wait timed out; it reports the state at the time of the check.
Check every page in a link list
Put If / Else and any branch-specific Send Alert inside For Each Link. The condition is evaluated separately when the automation reaches it on each URL.