It would be easier to give you specific advice if you share the automation you are asking questions about.
To do that click on the three-dot menu at the top right of the automation editor, select “Edit in YAML”, copy the entire contents from the YAMl editor, then paste the contents to the thread. Be sure to add 3 backticks (```) before and after the code block so that it is formatted properly.
Under what circumstances do you want it to be “operating” that it is not currently operating in?