> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.getmobly.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.getmobly.com/help-center/integrations/marketing-automation/sync-modes.md).

# Sync modes

Each Marketing Automation integration has a **Sync mode** setting that controls when Mobly pushes leads to your MA tool. You'll see it on the **Connect** tab once the integration is connected.

Three modes — **Automatic** (the default for primary integrations), **Manual**, and **Secondary** (for secondary integrations) — plus a **Disable** state that pauses everything.

## Automatic

**What it does:** New leads sync to your MA tool as soon as they're enriched. Most leads land in your MA tool within minutes of being captured.

**When to use it:** Default for almost everyone. You want leads in your MA tool as fast as possible so they enter nurturing flows quickly.

**Where Frozen leads go when you switch to Automatic:** If the integration was previously in Manual mode and had Frozen leads waiting, switching to Automatic flushes them all to your MA tool. They'll move from **Reconciliation → Pre-Sync** to **Cleared** (or to **Failed** if anything's wrong with the data).

## Manual

**What it does:** New leads are captured and enriched in Mobly normally, but they don't sync to your MA tool until you push them manually. They're held in **Reconciliation → Pre-Sync** with a status of **Frozen**.

**When to use it:**

* **Mid-event review.** You want to QA leads in Mobly before they hit your MA tool (clean up qualifiers, re-enrich, fix typos) instead of pushing raw scans.
* **MA tool maintenance.** Your MA tool is undergoing a migration, schema change, or maintenance window and you need to hold sync without losing leads.
* **End-of-event batch.** You prefer pushing a complete event's leads as a single batch rather than a steady trickle into nurturing.

**How leads get out of Frozen:** Two paths.

1. **Sync the whole event manually** — go to **Integrations → \[your MA tool] → Reconciliation**, choose **Event view**, and click the global retry button at the top to push every Pre-Sync lead for the selected event
2. **Switch back to Automatic** — flushes everything immediately and resumes real-time sync going forward

## Secondary

**What it does:** The integration is connected as a secondary source alongside your primary MA tool or CRM. Mobly doesn't push leads on a Secondary connection today — the mode is a foundation for future capabilities.

**How you get into Secondary:** unlike Automatic and Manual (which you toggle after connecting), Secondary is chosen at connection time by clicking **Connect as Secondary** rather than **Connect as Primary**. See [Connecting a secondary MA integration](/help-center/integrations/marketing-automation/connecting.md#connecting-a-secondary-ma-integration).

**When to use it:** Your team uses more than one MA tool internally and you want both connected to Mobly. Today the mode is mostly plumbing for the [Accounts](/help-center/the-hub/accounts/working-with-accounts.md) feature, which can map to a secondary integration alongside the primary. More Secondary capabilities are on the roadmap.

## Disabled

The **Disable** button on the Connect tab pauses syncing entirely. The connection and all your mappings are preserved — the integration just stops moving data.

**When to use it:**

* Long-term pause without losing your configuration (MA tool is being decommissioned, you're switching tools, etc.)
* Temporary stop when even Manual mode would let too much through

**Difference from Disconnect:** Disable keeps the connection and mappings intact, ready to resume. **Disconnect** removes the connection entirely (mappings are kept in case you reconnect, but you'll need to re-authenticate).

## How to change the Sync mode

Switching in or out of Secondary isn't a toggle — Secondary is set by how you connect the integration in the first place (Connect as Primary vs Connect as Secondary). To move a Secondary integration to Primary or vice versa, disconnect and reconnect it with the other intent.

For Automatic ↔ Manual:

1. Go to **Integrations → \[your MA tool] → Connect**
2. Find the **Sync mode** section
3. Click **Automatic** or **Manual**
4. Switching to Manual prompts for confirmation — this is intentional, since it changes the default behavior of the integration

## Related articles

* [Connecting a Marketing Automation tool](/help-center/integrations/marketing-automation/connecting.md)
* [Reconciliation](/help-center/integrations/marketing-automation/reconciliation.md) — where Frozen and Failed leads live
* [Fix sync errors](/help-center/integrations/marketing-automation.md#per-vendor-docs) — per-vendor troubleshooting if your synced leads end up in **Failed** instead of **Cleared**