> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.vollna.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create a setup

> Pair a filter with a proposal template and set the rules Auto-Bidding follows on every job.

A setup is one bidder. It watches a filter, writes a proposal from a template, and submits it under the rules below. Run several setups side by side, one per service, profile or client type.

Open **Auto-Bidding** and click **Create setup**. To change an existing one, open it and switch to the **Settings** tab.

## Basic information

Leave **Setup Name** as it is and Vollna names the setup after the filter you pick. Type your own name before the first save to keep it.

**Status** off pauses the setup. A paused setup skips the jobs it already had queued, and resuming does not bring them back.

## Job filter

The dropdown lists your active filters and the ones your team shared with you.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/acme-d4aec364/GAX1QEHP5Jdp2BRL/images/auto-bidding/setup-filter-template.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=GAX1QEHP5Jdp2BRL&q=85&s=2df6e9c2b257319768b3bd58f3890526" alt="Basic information, Job filter and Proposal Template cards" style={{ borderRadius: '0.5rem' }} width="1225" height="850" data-path="images/auto-bidding/setup-filter-template.png" />
</Frame>

Tick **Schedule jobs via API** to send jobs yourself instead of using a filter. See [Create a job](/docs/api-reference/auto-bidding/create-job).

## Proposal template

<Warning>
  Only templates created with an **Agency** profile appear here. A template built on an individual profile cannot be used for Auto-Bidding. Open the template and switch its profile to the agency, or create a new one.
</Warning>

### Test two templates against each other

Click **A/B test another template** to add a second row. Add up to five. Each job draws one template at random, weighted by the shares, so all templates see the same stream of jobs. Every share must be above 0%.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/acme-d4aec364/GAX1QEHP5Jdp2BRL/images/auto-bidding/setup-ab-rows.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=GAX1QEHP5Jdp2BRL&q=85&s=56edfdbaa48cc5ce953e3179585674c7" alt="Two weighted template rows with the winner settings" style={{ borderRadius: '0.5rem' }} width="1225" height="767" data-path="images/auto-bidding/setup-ab-rows.png" />
</Frame>

Turn on **Automatically select the winner** to route all future jobs to the better template once the test ends. Pick the metric, **Reply rate** or **View rate**, and when to decide: 10 to 500 proposals sent, or 3 to 60 days.

<Note>
  Changing which templates are in the test restarts it and resets the clock. Changing only the shares, the metric or the stop rule keeps the running test and its data.
</Note>

**Stop test** ends a test early and asks which template to keep. Results live on the [Analytics](/docs/auto-bidding/analytics) page.

## Bidding schedule

**24/7** bids whenever a job matches. **Run on custom schedule** opens a grid of days and hours.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/acme-d4aec364/GAX1QEHP5Jdp2BRL/images/auto-bidding/setup-schedule-grid.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=GAX1QEHP5Jdp2BRL&q=85&s=318f9955a4562a6da0b0c8097060bb4e" alt="Bidder Schedule dialog with the timezone selector and the weekly grid" style={{ borderRadius: '0.5rem' }} width="1384" height="745" data-path="images/auto-bidding/setup-schedule-grid.png" />
</Frame>

Vollna keeps finding jobs around the clock. **Catch up after off-hours** bids on jobs found outside your hours once your hours resume. Set the job age limit under **Bid only on jobs posted within the last**. A job older than that at the moment of submission is skipped. Jobs you approve or apply to by hand always go out, whatever their age.

Switching back to **24/7** turns catch-up off.

## Notifications

Turn on **Notifications** to get an alert in Slack or Telegram before each bid, with a window to review, edit or skip it. The window is the built-in delay plus whatever you add under **Additional Time Delay**.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/acme-d4aec364/GAX1QEHP5Jdp2BRL/images/auto-bidding/setup-notifications-approval.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=GAX1QEHP5Jdp2BRL&q=85&s=5b8b7ada0aecccc1f87ed161387d0959" alt="Notifications and Manual approval cards" style={{ borderRadius: '0.5rem' }} width="1225" height="849" data-path="images/auto-bidding/setup-notifications-approval.png" />
</Frame>

Each message carries the job, the budget, your bid and the cover letter preview, and updates as the job moves. A job waiting for you offers **Approve**, **Skip** and **Edit Proposal**. A skipped job offers **Schedule Again**, an AI-disqualified one **Process Anyway**. In Telegram you can also change the bid, the cover letter, the boost and the screening answers from the message.

## Manual approval

Turn on **Manual approval** to hold every job until you approve it. Turn on **Notifications** as well, otherwise nothing tells you a job is waiting.

**If no action taken** sets how long a job waits, from 15 minutes to 8 hours. **Then** decides what happens after: **Auto-approve and bid** or **Skip job**. Approve or skip from Slack, from Telegram or from the [jobs list](/docs/auto-bidding/jobs).

## Limits & timing

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/acme-d4aec364/GAX1QEHP5Jdp2BRL/images/auto-bidding/setup-limits.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=GAX1QEHP5Jdp2BRL&q=85&s=7c421d693cb66dd5018a421d8318940b" alt="Limits and timing card with the daily limit and delay sliders" style={{ borderRadius: '0.5rem' }} width="1225" height="542" data-path="images/auto-bidding/setup-limits.png" />
</Frame>

**Daily Proposal Limit** caps the setup at 1 to 50 proposals a day. The count resets at midnight in the setup timezone.

**Additional Time Delay** waits 1 to 60 minutes longer before submitting, on top of the built-in delay. Use it to widen the review window.

**Do not apply if another bidder already applied** keeps this setup off jobs another setup of yours already bid on.

## AI job qualifier

The qualifier reads each job and decides whether it fits before a connect is spent. See [AI Job Qualifier](/docs/filters/ai-job-qualifier) for writing the prompt.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/acme-d4aec364/GAX1QEHP5Jdp2BRL/images/auto-bidding/setup-qualifier.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=GAX1QEHP5Jdp2BRL&q=85&s=bf03382b567b9d8391f85b82fc6f06ae" alt="AI job qualifier card with the source control and the prompt" style={{ borderRadius: '0.5rem' }} width="1225" height="745" data-path="images/auto-bidding/setup-qualifier.png" />
</Frame>

A disqualified job is skipped and shows **AI Disqualified** with the reason in the jobs list. **Process anyway** bids on it regardless.

## Proposal boosting

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/acme-d4aec364/GAX1QEHP5Jdp2BRL/images/auto-bidding/setup-boosting.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=GAX1QEHP5Jdp2BRL&q=85&s=7e339eaf63099421989e0fa3540e6ab1" alt="Proposal boosting card with the fixed bid and daily budget fields" style={{ borderRadius: '0.5rem' }} width="1225" height="275" data-path="images/auto-bidding/setup-boosting.png" />
</Frame>

**Fixed Bid** is the number of connects added to each proposal, 1 to 999. **Daily Boosting Budget** caps the spend per day, 1 to 500, and resets at midnight in the setup timezone. Upwork refunds the connects when another freelancer outbids you.

## Invite teammates to chat

When a client replies, Vollna adds the teammates you name to the Upwork conversation, so they can answer without access to the bidding profile.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/acme-d4aec364/GAX1QEHP5Jdp2BRL/images/auto-bidding/setup-room-invites.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=GAX1QEHP5Jdp2BRL&q=85&s=3cb2bb4261a65d3ccb7bd2eb616067be" alt="Invite teammates to chat card with two people and their roles" style={{ borderRadius: '0.5rem' }} width="1225" height="430" data-path="images/auto-bidding/setup-room-invites.png" />
</Frame>

**Use general settings** follows the team-wide list from **Settings** in the Auto-Bidding header. **Custom people list** picks people for this setup only. **Room admin** can add and remove other participants, **Room member** cannot.

## Validation messages

| Message                                                                        | Fix                                               |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------- |
| Please select a proposal template                                              | Pick a template built on an Agency profile        |
| Please select at least one time slot for custom schedule                       | Select hours in the grid, or switch to **24/7**   |
| Every template needs a share above 0%                                          | Raise every A/B share above zero                  |
| Qualification prompt must be shorter than … characters                         | Trim the prompt to the length the counter shows   |
| Telegram Chat ID must be a number                                              | Paste only the number `/myid` returned            |
| Select at least one teammate to invite, or disable room invites for this setup | Add a person, or switch to **Off for this setup** |
