First Look at Tesla's New Automations Feature: Apple Shortcuts Functionality for Your Tesla

For years, owners have used third-party APIs or Home Assistant integrations to get specific behaviors from their vehicles. Tesla already adds automated features such as Cabin Overheat Protection, which enables the vehicle’s climate when it’s parked and reaches higher temperatures, and is now introducing a way for users to build their own automations.

The new Automations app is a logic engine that lets users define behaviors using the simple, easily understandable “If This, Then That” logic.

Below is a quick overview of how the feature works and some of the events and actions that will be available.

Automations

According to a sketch from a source familiar with the software in China, the interface uses a grid layout where each automation appears as a card that can be enabled or disabled.

Tesla provides several default automations to demonstrate possibilities, while users can explore a wide collection of events and actions to create custom automations.

When creating a new automation, Tesla organizes triggers and actions into categories. Selecting a category reveals the available triggers and actions. Categories include seat heating/cooling, doors/windows, charging HVAC, media, and more.

The Conditions (Triggers)

The app can start an automation based on many vehicle states and environmental factors.

Vehicle triggers include gear changes, specific speed thresholds, seat-occupancy sensor status, and seat-belt status, among others. Environmental triggers include time of day, outdoor light level, cabin temperature, outdoor temperature, and Air Quality Index (AQI), among many others.

User-selected voice commands are also available as triggers. This is notable because China uses a region-specific smart assistant, North America integrates Grok, and Europe and other parts of the Indo-Pacific region are expected to have access to Grok in the future. The voice trigger allows users to create custom voice commands that cause the vehicle to perform specific actions.

The Actions

When a trigger condition is met, the vehicle can run hardware and software commands. Actions can include adjusting the temperature or HVAC settings, changing interior lighting (likely the dome lights and potentially ambient lighting), modifying driving dynamics on the fly, or providing feedback via user-customizable text-to-speech. For example, the vehicle could greet you with a custom message whenever you sit down.

Create Features We've Wanted for Years

These capabilities are straightforward but meaningful for power users or anyone interested in automating their car.

For example, instead of manually toggling Bioweapon Defence Mode after checking the AQI, you could set a rule such as If Outdoor AQI > 150, Then Enable Bioweapon Defence Mode.

Similarly, the vehicle’s speed state could adjust driving dynamics automatically. If you’re traveling quickly on a highway, you might automatically shift to Sport or Plaid mode and include a voice note reminding you that you’re entering Plaid Space.

One demo shows a voice note that audibly announces “Gear Shifted” when the driver moves from Park to Drive or Reverse, which can help users unfamiliar with Tesla’s UI or older drivers who are forgetful.

Guardrails & Limitations

Tesla is not allowing unrestricted scripts. A safety limitation is already in place: Automations cannot be triggered or executed while Autopilot or FSD is active.

The restriction prevents user-created sequences from affecting driving dynamics in dangerous situations, such as switching from comfort to sport during a high-speed highway overtake.

Tesla is also limiting the available triggers and actions to a list it considers safe; not every vehicle option will be exposed.

Less Feature Requests, More Tasker APIs

Historically, Tesla’s software development has operated like Apple: “We know what you want better than you do.” If you wanted the car to turn on the heated seats automatically at a specific exterior temperature, you had to wait for Tesla to deliver a feature update that added that exact behavior. The same applies to enabling Bioweapon Defense Mode. Now Tesla is giving users the ability to create such behaviors themselves instead of expanding menus with many preset options.

With the Automations app, Tesla is effectively democratizing small, quality-of-life features. It addresses the Long Tail of user requests—the niche desires that aren’t common enough for a global fleet update but matter to individual owners.

If a parent wants Chill mode engaged automatically whenever the rear seats are occupied and buckled, they can now create that additional safety feature with a few taps on the screen.

This feature is releasing in China soon and is expected to become available in other regions in a later software update.