Automate the routine steps

This recipe is for a team that keeps doing the same small steps by hand. Four automations do those steps for you, each started from a preset.

You need:

• a Support list;
• a Support archive list to move finished tasks into;
• the on-call person as a workspace member.

Turn on the Assignee feature in Support so tasks show who the first automation assigned; a new list starts without it (Turn features on or off).

Automations need permissions

Creating automations needs the Automations permissions, which the Admin set gives (Permissions and access).

Four automations for Support

Automation	When	Then
New tasks to the on-call person	A task is created in Support	Set the assignee to the on-call person
Nudge before the deadline	1 day before a task's due date, at 09:00	Notify the assignee
Escalate what is late	1 day after a task's due date, if it is still open	Set priority to Urgent
Clear finished work	A task in Support reaches the Done stage	Move it to Support archive

Setup from four presets

Every automation starts the same way (Presets):

1. Click your name at the bottom of the sidebar and choose Workspace settings; with several workspaces, pick the one with Support in the submenu. The workspace settings open.

2. Click Automations. The list of automations opens.

3. Click New. The New automation page shows presets in groups.

4. Click the preset named in Preset changes per automation. The editor opens with it filled in.

5. Under Where, set Apply in to List and pick Support.

6. Make that automation's other changes from Preset changes per automation.

7. Replace the name in Name with the one from the table, and click Save. "Automation saved" appears, and the automation is in the list with its switch on.

   Save names a missing value?

   Something the preset leaves open is still empty, and the message names it. Fill it in.

Preset changes per automation

Every trigger, condition and action is in Automation triggers, conditions and actions.

Automation	Preset	Changes
New tasks to the on-call person	Auto-assign	Then: turn off Assign to the creator and pick the on-call person. Turn on Only if and add Assignee is empty, so a task assigned at creation keeps its assignee
Nudge before the deadline	Due reminder	The trigger fires 3 days before the due date at 09:00: change it to 1 day
Escalate what is late	Urgent when overdue	No changes beyond Where
Clear finished work	Move when done	Pick Support archive as the list to move to

Date rules: finished and late tasks

Date rules skip finished tasks: tasks in the Done stage are never reminded or escalated. Urgent when overdue raises each task once, from 09:00 on the day after its due date. Tasks whose due date was two or more days before you save the automation are never raised.

Day to day: run log and on-call changes

Once a week, click Run log on the Automations page and look for Failed runs (Run log). A failed run shows its error next to it.

When the on-call person changes, edit the first automation's Set assignee, or switch it off with Active while nobody is on call (Edit, pause, copy or delete).

Missed runs and fixes

• A run shows Skipped. The log names the reason, such as "A condition didn't hold"; see Run log statuses.
• No run at all. The rule is off: turn on Active.
• A due-date rule logged nothing. No open task in Support was due on the right day.
• Nothing happened after a bulk edit. Skip during bulk operations is on; turn it off in Options.
• The automation switched itself off. It failed 10 times in a row, or its list was deleted: fix it, press Re-enable (Limits).
• New tasks stay unassigned. The on-call person left the workspace: pick a new one in Set assignee (Edit).

Variations: nudges, subtasks, routing, comments

Goal	Preset	What it does
Ask for missing details	Description nudge	Comments on new tasks that arrive without a description
Close subtasks with the parent	Complete subtasks on done	Completes a task's subtasks one level down when the task reaches Done; deeper subtasks keep their status
Route by tag	Route by tag	Moves a task to a chosen list when a chosen tag is added
Answer comments fast	Comment ping	Notifies a task's assignee when someone comments on it