Core Concepts

PushFire is a notification automation platform that lets you create visual communication workflows for your users. Instead of manually programming each notification, you define flows that run automatically based on user behavior.

Why use PushFire?

• Build complex communication strategies without extra code
• Experiment with different approaches without affecting your main app
• Scale to millions of users while keeping personalized messaging

1. Subscribers (Your Users)

A subscriber represents each user in your app within PushFire. When you register a user in your app, they also become a PushFire subscriber.

Subscriber information includes:

• Your app’s user ID (to link with PushFire)
• Basic info: name, email, phone
• Custom metadata: subscription plan, preferences, etc.
• Tags reflecting user behavior
• Devices where notifications can be delivered

Automatic states:

• New: Newly registered, ideal for welcome workflows
• Identified: Known user with full data
• Anonymous: Temporary user without full data

2. Tags

Tags are like sticky notes on your users to remember important information.

Types of tags:

Automatic (created by PushFire):

• New: Newly registered user
• IsAnonymous: User without full ID
• LastActive: Last activity timestamp

Custom (you create):

• Behavioral: completed_tutorial, made_first_purchase
• Demographic: subscription_premium, country_spain
• Activity: high_engagement, weekend_user

3. Segments

Segments are user groups that update automatically based on rules you define.

Example: Create a "Active Premium Users" segment with:

• Has tag subscription_premium
• Has tag last_active < 7 days

Users automatically enter/exit the segment as conditions change.

Available operators:

• Has/NotHas: Has or does not have a tag
• Equals/NotEquals: Exact match or difference
• GreaterThan/LessThan: Numeric comparisons

4. Workflows

A workflow is a visual diagram defining what messages to send and when.

Basic components:

• Start: Entry point of the workflow. Every workflow begins here.
• Wait: Pauses the workflow for a set duration (e.g., 24 hours) before moving to the next step.
• Condition: Evaluates user data or behavior and splits the workflow into multiple branches based on true/false or multiple conditions.
• PushNotification: Sends a push notification to the user’s devices.
• Join: Merges multiple workflow branches back into a single path. This is used after conditional splits to continue processing users in a unified flow.
• End: Terminates the workflow.

Simple workflow example:

[Start] → [Wait 1 hour] → [Send Welcome Push] → [End]

5. Devices

Devices are phones, tablets, or browsers where users receive notifications.

Key points:

• A user can have multiple devices (mobile + tablet + web)
• PushFire sends notifications to all active devices
• Inactive devices (e.g., app uninstalled) are detected automatically

Typical flow:

1. Register a user in your app and in PushFire
2. Assign tags based on key user actions
3. Segments update automatically based on new tags
4. Workflows execute for users who meet conditions
5. Notifications reach all user devices

Practical example:
For an ecommerce app welcoming new users:

1. User registers → Subscriber created with New tag
2. Segment "New Users" (users with New tag) is created
3. Workflow for "New Users" segment:
   • Wait 1 hour
   • Send welcome push
   • Wait 24 hours
   • Send email guide
4. Automatically executes for each new user

Workflow execution progress is tracked as:

• Pending: Queued
• InProgress: Currently running
• Waiting: Paused (e.g., Wait node)
• Completed: Successfully finished
• Failed: Error occurred
• Stopped: Manually halted

Now that you know the basics:

1. Integrate the API to register your first subscribers
2. Define tags relevant to your app
3. Create segments to group users strategically
4. Design workflows for welcome messages or notifications
5. Monitor and optimize based on results

Ready to get started? Check our integration guide to take your first steps with PushFire.