Who this is for: Recruiters who want to optimise a running sequence without disrupting recipients already in progress.
The core rule
Once a sequence is launched, two categories of edits exist — and they follow different rules:
Step content edits (subject lines, message bodies, task details) — always allowed, at any time, for any step
Structural edits (adding steps, removing steps, reordering steps) — only allowed beyond the point where recipients have reached
The underlying logic: content edits only affect recipients who haven't reached a step yet, so they're safe. Structural edits to steps that recipients are already in the middle of would corrupt their progression — so Recruiterflow locks those.
Structural edits: what's allowed and what's locked
What you CAN do
Add new steps beyond where recipients have reached. If recipients have progressed through Steps 1–3, you can add new steps at Step 4 or beyond. You can also add steps or conditions between Step 3 and any step further down, as long as no recipient has passed that point.
Change delays on any step — including steps recipients have already passed. Delay changes apply to recipients who have not yet had that delay elapse.
What you CANNOT do
Add, remove, or reorder steps in any route that at least one recipient has already reached. These step cards appear greyed out with a lock icon in the builder.
Add or remove branch conditions in a section of the sequence that recipients have already passed through. Deleting a branch condition after launch requires typing DELETE to confirm — and removes all steps in both the Yes and No branch paths.
Hovering over a locked step shows a tooltip: "Sequence cannot be edited because at least one recipient has already started the sequence."
Editing step content
Content edits are always available, regardless of how far along recipients are. Click any step card in the Sequence tab to open the editing panel.
What content edits affect: only recipients who have not yet reached that step when the edit is saved. Recipients who have already passed the step are unaffected — they received the previous version.
This means you can safely improve a Step 4 email body even if some recipients are on Step 4 right now — only those who haven't reached it yet will get the updated version. Recipients currently executing Step 4 will get the version that was live when their step was queued.
What you can edit per step type
Step Type | Editable fields |
Automated / Manual / Marketing Email | Subject line, email body, personalisation tokens, Send as Reply setting, template selection |
Social Connection Request | Connection note, personalisation tokens |
Social Message | Message body, personalisation tokens |
SMS | Message body, personalisation tokens |
Task | Task title, task type, description, priority, reminder settings |
Editing delays
Delays can be changed at any time on any step — including steps that recipients have already passed. Changes take effect for recipients whose delay for that step has not yet started counting.
Example: if Step 3 has a 5-day delay and you change it to 3 days, recipients who are currently in the Step 3 delay window (but haven't hit the 3-day mark yet) will send sooner. Recipients who are past Step 3 are not affected.