Skip to content

Workflow Automation

Automation reduces manual work by triggering actions when records change status, fields update, or time conditions are met.

Who this is for

Admin Analyst End User

Prerequisites

Automation components

Every automation rule has three parts:

Component Purpose Examples
Trigger When the rule runs Status changed, field updated, scheduled time
Condition Filter for relevance Value > 100k, category = "Strategic"
Action What the rule does Change status, send notification, update field

Available triggers

  • Status changed — fires when a record enters or exits a status
  • Field updated — fires when a specified field is modified
  • Record created — fires on creation
  • Approval completed — fires when all stages finish
  • Scheduled — fires at a recurring time or date
  • Webhook received — fires on external event

Available actions

  • Update status
  • Update field value
  • Send email notification
  • Send in-app notification
  • Send Slack or Microsoft Teams message
  • Create a task or reminder
  • Invoke external webhook
  • Run a formula recalculation

Condition examples

Use case Condition
High-value initiatives budget gt 100000
Strategic category category eq "Strategic"
Overdue milestones milestone_date lt today()
Finance group owner.group contains "Finance"

Step-by-step: create an automation rule

  1. Go to Admin > Configuration > Workflows.
  2. Select a workflow and click Automation.
  3. Click Add Rule.
  4. Choose a Trigger from the list.
  5. Define Conditions using the visual builder or expression editor.
  6. Select one or more Actions.
  7. Enter a Rule Name and set Active to Enabled.
  8. Click Save and Test with a sample record.
  9. Click Publish to activate.

Test before publish

Always test automation rules on a sample record. Actions such as status changes and webhooks execute immediately and cannot be undone in bulk.

Conditions

Conditions use a simple expression language.

Operator Meaning Example
eq Equal to status eq "active"
ne Not equal priority ne "low"
gt Greater than budget gt 100000
contains Contains text title contains "Q3"
in In list category in ["A","B"]

You can combine conditions with and and or.

Automation log

The automation log shows execution history for every rule:

Column Description
Timestamp When the rule ran
Rule name The automation rule
Record Affected record ID
Result Success, skipped, or failed
Details Error message or action summary

Permissions required

Role Permission Scope
Super Admin Create, edit, delete automation rules Organization
Tenant Admin Create, edit, delete automation rules Organization
Content Admin Edit rule names and conditions Organization
Analyst View active rules on own records Own records
Viewer View active rules Assigned records

Limits and guardrails

Limit Maximum 100 active automation rules per tenant.

Limit Each rule can have up to 10 conditions and 5 actions.

Limit Scheduled triggers have a minimum interval of 15 minutes.

Limit Webhook actions timeout after 30 seconds.

Troubleshooting

Issue: automation rule did not run

Cause: The rule is disabled, conditions evaluated to false, or the rule is still queued. Resolution: Check the Automation Log for the rule status. Verify the record matches all conditions. Note that rules may take up to 60 seconds to execute.

Issue: automation created duplicate notifications

Cause: Multiple rules share the same trigger and lack mutual exclusion conditions. Resolution: Add a unique condition to each rule, such as checking a flag field that the first rule sets.

Issue: webhook action returns an error

Cause: The endpoint is unavailable, the payload is too large, or authentication failed. Resolution: Verify the webhook URL and headers. Check the Automation Log for the HTTP response code.

Escalation path

For automation rules causing unintended side effects:

  1. Disable the rule immediately from Configuration > Workflows > Automation.
  2. Review the Automation Log for affected record IDs.
  3. File a support ticket with severity Medium and attach the rule definition.
  4. Escalate to #valuepact-ops if the rule affected more than 50 records.