Automation Execution

Automations are "When/Then" rules that execute actions automatically when specific events occur on a board. They eliminate repetitive manual operations like assigning items, changing statuses, sending notifications, or moving items between groups.

Each automation rule has three components:

1. Trigger — The event that starts the automation
2. Conditions — Optional filters that must all be true (AND logic)
3. Actions — One or more operations to execute when triggered

How Automations Work

Event occurs on board
    ↓
Trigger matches?  ──  No  →  Skip
    ↓ Yes
All conditions pass?  ──  No  →  Skip
    ↓ Yes
Execute all actions
    ↓
Log execution result

Automations are evaluated immediately when the triggering event occurs. Multiple automations can fire from the same event, and they are executed in order of creation (oldest first).

Triggers

Triggers define what event activates the automation. Each rule has exactly one trigger.

Trigger Type	Description	Optional Config
Item Created	Fires when a new item is created on the board	field — restrict to items in a specific group
Status Changed	Fires when a status column value changes	field — which status column; fromValue / toValue — specific transition
Value Changed	Fires when any column value changes	field — which column; fromValue / toValue — specific values
Item Moved	Fires when an item is moved to a different group	fromValue — source group; toValue — destination group

Trigger Configuration

You can narrow a trigger's scope using optional configuration fields:

• field — The specific column or field to watch. Without this, the trigger fires on any column change.
• fromValue — The value the field must change FROM to match. Without this, any old value matches.
• toValue — The value the field must change TO to match. Without this, any new value matches.

Example

To trigger only when an item's status changes to "Done":

{
  "type": "status_changed",
  "field": "status",
  "toValue": "Done"
}

Conditions

Conditions are optional filters that further restrict when the automation executes. All conditions must be true (AND logic) for the actions to fire.

Operator	Description	Example
equals	Exact match	Status equals "Critical"
not_equals	Inverse match	Priority not equals "Low"
contains	String or array contains	Tags contains "urgent"
is_empty	Field has no value set	Assignee is empty
is_not_empty	Field has any value set	Due date is not empty

Combining Conditions

Multiple conditions create an AND filter. For example, to trigger only when a critical item has no assignee:

{
  "conditions": [
    { "field": "priority", "operator": "equals", "value": "Critical" },
    { "field": "assignee", "operator": "is_empty" }
  ]
}

Actions

Actions define what happens when the trigger fires and conditions pass. Each rule must have at least one action, and multiple actions execute in sequence.

Action Type	Description	Config Fields
Set Value	Set a column value on the triggering item	field — target column; value — new value
Assign Person	Assign a specific user to the item	userId — the user to assign
Send Notification	Send an in-app notification	userId — recipient; message — notification text
Move to Group	Move the item to a different group	groupId — target group

Template Variables in Messages

Notification messages support template variables that are replaced at execution time:

Variable	Description
{item.name}	Name of the triggering item
{item.id}	ID of the triggering item
{board.name}	Name of the board
{group.name}	Name of the item's current group
{user.name}	Name of the user who triggered the event

Example message:

New critical item "{item.name}" needs attention on {board.name}!

Managing Automations

Creating a Rule

1. Open a board and navigate to Settings > Automations.
2. Click + Add Automation.
3. Enter a descriptive name (e.g., "Auto-assign bugs to QA").
4. Configure the trigger, conditions, and actions.
5. Click Save. The rule is enabled by default.

Enabling and Disabling

Rules can be toggled on/off without deleting them. When disabled, the automation engine skips the rule during evaluation. The rule's configuration is preserved for later re-enablement.

Use the toggle switch in the automations panel to enable or disable individual rules.

Manual Execution (Run Now)

The Run Now feature allows you to manually trigger an automation against all current items on the board. This is useful for:

• Testing — Verify a new rule works correctly before relying on it
• Bulk operations — Apply an automation retroactively to existing items
• One-off cleanup — Run a rule once without leaving it enabled

When Run Now executes, the automation processes each item on the board that matches the rule's conditions. The execution count and results are logged in the execution history.

warning

Run Now processes all items on the board. For boards with many items, this may take a moment to complete. The execution is asynchronous — the API returns immediately with the count of items processed.

Execution Log

Every automation execution is recorded in the execution log, providing an audit trail of all automated operations.

Execution Record Fields

Field	Description
Status	success, partial_failure, failure, or skipped
Rule Name	The automation rule that executed
Trigger Type	The event that activated the rule
Item	The item that triggered the execution
Actions Executed	Number of actions that ran successfully
Duration	Execution time in milliseconds
Executed At	Timestamp of the execution

Execution Statuses

• success — All conditions passed and all actions completed successfully
• partial_failure — Conditions passed but one or more actions failed (e.g., notification delivery error)
• failure — The execution failed entirely (e.g., referenced column deleted)
• skipped — Conditions did not pass — the automation was evaluated but did not fire

Viewing the Log

1. Open a board and navigate to Settings > Automations.
2. Click the Execution Log tab.
3. Filter by rule, status, or date range.
4. Click any execution entry to see the full detail including condition evaluations and action results.

info

Execution logs are retained for 30 days. For compliance and audit purposes, significant automation events (item moves, status changes) are also recorded in the item's activity timeline.

Common Automation Recipes

Auto-assign new items by group

When an item is created in the "QA" group, automatically assign it to the QA lead.

Trigger:  Item Created (field: QA group)
Actions:  Assign Person (userId: QA lead)
          Send Notification ("New QA item: {item.name}")

Notify on high-priority items

When any item's priority changes to "Critical", notify the department manager.

Trigger:    Value Changed (field: priority, toValue: Critical)
Actions:    Send Notification ("Critical item: {item.name} on {board.name}")

Move completed items to archive group

When an item's status changes to "Done", move it to the "Completed" group.

Trigger:    Status Changed (toValue: Done)
Actions:    Move to Group (groupId: Completed)

Permissions

Action	Required Role
View automation rules	Any board member
View execution log	Any board member
Create/edit automation rules	Board admin or workspace admin
Delete automation rules	Board admin or workspace admin
Run Now (manual execution)	Board admin or workspace admin

Related Features

• KPI Boards — KPI threshold breaches can be used as triggers
• Escalation Engine — Automatic escalation is a specialized automation
• Action Log — Actions created by automations are tracked in the log
• Template System — Automation rules are included when saving a board as a template