Automation Rules

Automation rules let you define conditions and actions that execute automatically when triggered. Build powerful workflows that save time and ensure consistency across your organization.

Prerequisites

Before creating automation rules, ensure you have:

• Admin or Member role in your organization
• At least one project with tasks
• Understanding of your workflow requirements
• Optional: Integration access for external tool automation

Create your first rule

Start with a simple automation rule:

1. Navigate to Settings → Automations
2. Click Create Rule
3. Name your rule (e.g., "Auto-assign urgent tasks")
4. Define your trigger, conditions, and actions
5. Click Save & Enable

Rule components

Every automation rule consists of three parts:

Triggers

Triggers define when your rule executes:

Conditions

Conditions filter which tasks the rule affects:

Property conditions:

• Priority equals High
• Assignee is unassigned
• Project is Marketing or Sales
• Due date is within 3 days
• Custom field matches specific values

Logical operators:

• AND - All conditions must be true
• OR - Any condition can be true
• NOT - Condition must be false

Example condition:

IF Priority is High
AND Assignee is empty
AND Project is Customer Support
THEN execute actions

Actions

Actions define what happens when conditions are met:

Common automation patterns

Auto-assign by project

Automatically assign tasks to team members based on project:

Trigger: Task Created Conditions:

• Project is "Website Development"

Actions:

• Assign to @developer-team (round-robin)
• Set priority to Medium
• Add comment: "Auto-assigned to development team"

Escalate overdue tasks

Flag tasks that pass their due date:

Trigger: Due Date Passed Conditions:

• Status is not Done
• Priority is not High

Actions:

• Change priority to High
• Send notification to assignee and project manager
• Add "OVERDUE" label
• Post comment with escalation notice

Welcome new task workflow

Create onboarding checklist for new client projects:

Trigger: Project Created Conditions:

• Project type is "Client Onboarding"

Actions:

• Create task "Kickoff meeting" (due in 2 days)
• Create task "Requirements gathering" (due in 1 week)
• Create task "Project plan review" (due in 2 weeks)
• Notify @project-manager

Status-based notifications

Alert teams when work is ready for review:

Trigger: Status Changed Conditions:

• New status is "Ready for Review"
• Project is in "Product Team" category

Actions:

• Assign to @reviewers (round-robin)
• Send Slack notification to #reviews channel
• Set due date to tomorrow
• Add "needs-review" label

Advanced rule features

Multiple actions

Chain multiple actions in sequence:

1. Update task priority
2. Assign to team member
3. Send notification
4. Create follow-up task
5. Update custom field

Actions execute in order, allowing complex workflows.

Conditional branching

Create if-then-else logic within rules:

IF Priority is High
 THEN assign to @senior-developer
ELSE IF Priority is Medium
 THEN assign to @developer-team
ELSE
 THEN assign to @junior-developer

Time delays

Add delays between trigger and action:

• Wait 1 hour before sending reminder
• Delay 1 day before escalating
• Schedule action for next business day

Rule chaining

One rule can trigger another:

1. Rule 1: Task created → Add "new" label
2. Rule 2: Label added "new" → Assign to triage team
3. Rule 3: Triage complete → Remove "new" label, assign specialist

Assignment strategies

Round-robin assignment

Distribute work evenly across team members:

1. Create rule with "Assign task" action
2. Select "Round-robin distribution"
3. Add team members to rotation
4. Enable "Skip unavailable members"

Tasks automatically assign to the next available team member.

Workload-based assignment

Assign based on current workload:

• Least busy - Assigns to member with fewest active tasks
• Balanced - Considers task priority and due dates
• Skill-based - Matches task type to member expertise

Availability-aware assignment

Respect team member status:

• Skip members marked "Out of office"
• Consider working hours and time zones
• Honor task capacity limits per member

Schedule-based automation

Daily digest

Send summary of tasks at specific times:

Trigger: Daily at 9:00 AM Conditions:

• Tasks due today
• Assigned to current user

Actions:

• Send email digest with task list
• Post to Slack with daily priorities

Weekly reports

Generate recurring status reports:

Trigger: Weekly on Monday at 10:00 AM Conditions:

• Project is active
• Tasks completed last week > 0

Actions:

• Create report task with metrics
• Assign to project manager
• Send notification to stakeholders

Recurring task creation

Automatically create routine tasks:

Trigger: First day of each month Actions:

• Create "Monthly report" task
• Set due date to last day of month
• Assign to @team-lead
• Apply "recurring" label

Integration automation

Slack notifications

Send rich notifications to Slack channels:

Trigger: Status Changed to "Completed" Actions:

• Post to Slack channel #wins
• Include task title, assignee, completion time
• Add celebration emoji

Email forwarding

Process emails into tasks automatically:

Trigger: Email received at tasks@yourorg.verk.com Actions:

• Create task with email subject as title
• Add email body to description
• Extract attachments
• Assign based on recipient or keywords

GitHub integration

Sync code issues with tasks:

Trigger: GitHub issue created Actions:

• Create matching task in "Development" project
• Link to GitHub issue
• Assign to repository maintainer
• Set priority based on issue labels

Calendar sync

Coordinate with external calendars:

Trigger: Task with due date created Actions:

• Create Google Calendar event
• Invite assignee
• Set reminder 1 day before
• Update event when due date changes

Rule management

Enable/disable rules

Toggle rules without deleting them:

1. Navigate to Settings → Automations
2. Find your rule
3. Click the toggle switch
4. Disabled rules stop executing immediately

Test rules

Verify rules work correctly before deploying:

1. Edit your rule
2. Click Test Rule
3. Select a sample task
4. Review which actions would execute
5. Adjust conditions if needed

Rule history

Track automation execution:

• View which tasks were affected
• See when rules triggered
• Review action outcomes
• Debug failed executions

Access history from Settings → Automations → Rule History

Performance monitoring

Monitor rule efficiency:

• Execution count - How often rule triggers
• Success rate - Percentage of successful executions
• Average duration - Time to complete actions
• Error rate - Failed executions requiring attention

Troubleshooting

Rule not triggering

Check these common issues:

1. Rule is disabled - Verify toggle is on
2. Conditions too restrictive - Simplify conditions for testing
3. Trigger doesn't match - Review trigger configuration
4. Permission issues - Ensure you have access to affected projects
5. Project filters - Check if rule applies to correct projects

Actions not executing

Possible causes:

• Insufficient permissions - Rule needs access to perform action
• Integration disconnected - Reconnect external services
• Invalid field values - Check that field updates use valid options
• Rate limits - Some actions have frequency limits
• Circular dependency - Rule creates loop with another rule

Duplicate executions

Prevent rules from running multiple times:

1. Add condition "Rule has not run on this task"
2. Use execution time filters (max once per hour)
3. Check for overlapping rule triggers
4. Review rule conditions for specificity

Performance issues

If rules slow down your workspace:

• Limit broad triggers (all tasks updated)
• Disable unused rules
• Combine similar rules
• Use project-specific rules instead of organization-wide
• Schedule heavy operations during off-hours

Best practices

Start simple

Begin with basic rules and add complexity gradually:

1. Create single-condition, single-action rules first
2. Test thoroughly before adding more conditions
3. Document rule purpose in description
4. Use clear, descriptive rule names

Use descriptive naming

Name rules by their purpose:

• "Assign urgent customer support tickets"
• "Send weekly project status to stakeholders"
• "Rule 1"
• "Test automation"

Document rule logic

Add descriptions explaining:

• Why the rule exists
• What it does
• When it should trigger
• Who to contact for issues

Review regularly

Audit rules quarterly:

• Remove unused rules
• Update conditions for workflow changes
• Optimize slow-performing rules
• Consolidate similar rules

Test before deploying

Always test rules in a safe environment:

1. Create test project
2. Enable rule for test project only
3. Create sample tasks to trigger rule
4. Verify actions execute correctly
5. Roll out to production projects

Monitor execution

Watch new rules closely:

• Check daily for first week
• Review rule history for errors
• Monitor team feedback
• Adjust based on performance data

Avoid over-automation

Don't automate everything:

• Keep critical decisions manual
• Preserve flexibility for exceptions
• Allow team input on important changes
• Balance automation with human judgment

Common use cases

Customer support triage

Automatically categorize and assign support tickets:

Trigger: Task created in "Support" project Conditions:

• Description contains "urgent" or "critical"

Actions:

• Set priority to High
• Add "urgent-support" label
• Assign to on-call support rep
• Send notification to support manager
• Create escalation task if not resolved in 4 hours

Content approval workflow

Streamline content review process:

Trigger: Status changed to "Ready for Review" Conditions:

• Project is "Content Marketing"

Actions:

• Assign to @content-reviewer (round-robin)
• Set due date to 2 days from now
• Send email to reviewer with task details
• Post to #content-review Slack channel
• Add "pending-approval" label

Bug tracking automation

Manage bug reports efficiently:

Trigger: Label added "bug" Conditions:

• Project is "Product Development"

Actions:

• Move to "Bug Tracking" project
• Set priority based on severity custom field
• Assign to @engineering-lead
• Create linked task for QA verification
• Update status to "Needs Investigation"

Sales pipeline automation

Track deals through sales process:

Trigger: Custom field "Deal Stage" changed Conditions:

• New value is "Closed Won"
• Project is "Sales Pipeline"

Actions:

• Create onboarding project for new customer
• Assign account manager
• Send welcome email to customer
• Update CRM via webhook
• Post celebration to #sales Slack channel
• Generate invoice task for finance team

Related documentation

• Visual Flow Builder
• Integration Flows
• Creating AI Agents
• Webhooks
• API Reference