Basic concepts
This page provides an overview of the key elements of Unity Automation.
Read time 4 minutesLast updated 22 days ago
Unity Automation is a tool that helps you to create, trigger, and monitor RT3D pipelines using services and technology made by Unity and key third parties. You can achieve all of this from our web app but also extend that functionality using our web API. Below are basic concepts that will help you better understand how Automation works.
Apps

Actions
Apps contain actions that integrate with the tool or service they represent. These actions are executed in pipeline steps. For example, the Asset Manager app has an action that enables you to upload files to an asset in Asset Manager. You can combine actions from different apps in your pipeline. You can configure an action's behavior using its input parameters, which can reference data within your pipeline. When an action completes, it provides output parameters which can be referenced by subsequent steps in the pipeline. For example, you can configure Pixyz to ingest a specific asset for transformation and then reference the transformed output file. Actions are versioned to ensure updates from app creators don’t break your pipelines. For example, if an action is updated to have a new required input parameter, your pipeline will continue to use the older version to function as expected. Some actions require compute resources and can be configured to use a hardware profile that's appropriate for your pipeline. For small assets, choose a profile with low memory capacity. For larger assets, select one with higher memory capacity.Events
Apps also contain events that integrate with the tool or service they represent. Automation triggers a pipeline when an event is detected. You can filter events to trigger only in specific scenarios. Events contain output parameters related to what occurred in the event and you can trigger a pipeline using this information. For example, the Asset Manager app has an event for when a new asset is created. You can configure it to trigger only for a specific project and use the event details about the asset creation to run a pipeline.Pipelines

- Optimize 3D assets for VR
- Create a build from a version control repository and deploy it to test
Pipeline parameters
When a pipeline is triggered, it may require certain parameters to be passed to it. Pipeline parameters enable your pipelines to be more flexible, dynamic, and reusable. If you have a pipeline that converts 3D models to a specific format like.glb
Steps
Pipelines consist of steps. A step typically runs an action from an app and specifies how and when to run it. Steps can also be used to run other pipelines or suspend the pipeline until resumed by a user.Action input parameters
When you select an action for a pipeline step, you must provide its required input parameters for successful execution. For example, when using Pixyz to transform an asset, you must specify the asset's file location so that Pixyz can import it. Parameters can be static values, dynamic values that reference other parameters, or a combination of both.Step dependencies
You can configure a step to run after certain other steps within the same pipeline have completed their execution. This flexibility enables pipelines to be structured as Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs). You can configure pipelines to have sequential steps, parallel steps, and groups of steps.Hardware resources
If an action requires hardware resources, then it will provide a set of hardware profiles for various use cases. A hardware profile specifies limits for the following resources:- CPU type and number of cores
- GPU type and number of cores
- Amount of memory
Automations
An automation automatically triggers one of your pipelines either on a schedule or when a certain event occurs under the right conditions. You can toggle automations on or off, if you do not want them to automatically run. Only members with the Automation Developer role can create automations. To create an automation:- Choose a trigger type.
- Select a pipeline to trigger.
- Provide the required pipeline parameters.