Setup

Where: Settings → Sales → Lead Assignment.

You can choose how new leads get an owner when nobody is selected on create:

Manual (default) — no auto-routing. When someone creates a lead in the CRM without picking an assignee, it goes to the person who created it. Forms and other intake channels leave the lead unassigned unless you set another mode.
Round robin — new leads rotate across an assignment pool of team members. The system picks the available person who was assigned least recently so work stays even.
Specific user — every new lead (when unassigned) goes to one default person you choose.

Round-robin pool

Add sales agents to the pool from the same settings page.
Toggle Available off to pause someone (leave, holiday) without removing them.
Last assigned shows fairness so managers can see who is next in line.

What it applies to Auto-assignment runs when a lead is created without an assignee, including:

Manual create (when mode is round robin or specific user)
Public web forms
WhatsApp / conversation-flow lead capture
Inbox or call convert-to-lead (when no assignee was chosen)
CSV import rows with a blank assignee column

If a lead already has an assignee, settings are not applied.

Notifications When a lead is auto-assigned, the assignee gets the normal lead assigned notification (in-app and email when those are enabled under Settings → Communications). Follow-up tasks created for that person use task assigned notifications.

Tips

Start with round robin and only the people who should own new enquiries in the pool (admins/directors often stay out).
Keep Settings → Communications → lead_assigned and task_assigned turned on so agents see work arrive.
Related: Settings → Sales also holds Targets, Commission Plans, and Report thresholds in the same Sales settings area.