Automations in Projects

With automations in projects, you can execute recurring steps automatically.

Example: When a task is created in a specific list, it can be automatically assigned to a person.

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How to use automations in projects

An automation always consists of exactly one trigger and any number of actions.

Setting up a new automation

1. Open your project
2. Go to Settings > Automations
3. Click Add
4. Select your trigger
5. Set one or more actions
6. Click Save (the automation is active immediately)

Choosing a trigger

The trigger is the event that must occur for the automation to start. Depending on the trigger, you may need to add conditions. Look for underlined fields in the window and click them to select the required values.

Defining actions

Choose which action(s) should be executed. Some actions require additional information. Use the underlined fields here as well to set the corresponding values.

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How to use manual automations

In addition to event-based triggers, you can also create automations with a manual trigger. This lets you start them deliberately by user action, instead of automatically when an event occurs.

When creating one, you select Manual as the trigger type, give it a custom name (for example, Start QA-Flow), and define one or more actions.

Running manual automations in a task

1. Open the task detail view
2. Click the manual automations button in the top right (finger/touch icon)
3. Select the desired automation from the dropdown menu

The automation runs in the background and you'll see a brief confirmation message.

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Project automations vs. task automations

Automations can be created for projects and for tasks. Depending on the trigger, you can select project or task actions.

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Budget automations

You can set up the budget automation "When project X has reached X units of budget ..." directly in your project:

1. Open your project
2. Open the Times tab
3. Switch to the Retainer tab
4. Click the bell icon to open the settings popup
5. Select the unit: Days, Hours, or Percent

If the automation is already set up, clicking the bell icon again opens the popup directly for editing.

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Automations in project templates

You can set up automations in project templates already. Then they'll automatically appear in the project when you create a new project with that template.

To add an automation to the project template:

1. Navigate to Settings (gear icon in the bottom left of the main menu) > Templates > Project Templates
2. Open the template
3. Click Add in the Automations section
4. Create the automation as described in the project

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Tips and troubleshooting

Disable automation instead of deleting it

You can simply disable automations instead of deleting them. This is helpful if, for example, you want to do a one-time cleanup and suppress all actions until then.

Automation is no longer running

Check if it has automatically disabled itself due to an error (for example, if a task list it uses was deleted):

• Show error details: Under Settings > Automations, you'll see a red exclamation mark for automations that have been automatically disabled; this shows the reason
• Reactivate: Fix the automation and then turn it back on

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FAQ

Can one automation trigger another automation?

No. It's technically prevented for one automation to trigger another automation with an action, to avoid recursive ping-pong effects. If you want to execute multiple actions with the same trigger, put all the actions in the same automation.

I have a due date trigger. When will this be triggered?

For automations with due date triggers (for example, "When task is due ..."), the actions are triggered when the date occurs in the morning (CEST). The time of the due date is irrelevant. For example, if a task is due at 6 PM, the automation will still be triggered in the morning of the due date.

For whom is time tracked when "When a new task is created via email, then start time tracking on the task"?

Time is tracked for the person who sent the email - provided that this person has an awork account. The time is tracked regardless of whether and which user is assigned to the task.

If I change an automation in a project template, will existing projects also be updated?

When you change or add automations in an existing template, awork will ask you if you want to apply these changes to all projects that were created with this template.

My automation doesn't seem to be running anymore. Why?

Check if the automation has automatically disabled itself due to an error (for example, if a task list it uses was deleted). Go to Settings > Automations. For disabled automations, you may see a red exclamation mark. If you hover over it with your mouse, you'll see the reason. Fix the automation and turn it back on.