Automations

Automations let you build workflows that react to events on a board. "When a task moves to Done, add a tag." "When a task becomes overdue, notify the assignee." "Every Monday at 9am, create a weekly status task."

Automations are node-based — you drag triggers, actions, and logic nodes onto a canvas and connect them to build the flow. They run server-side, so they work even when no one has the board open.

Access

Automations are built and managed by board Admins. Everyone sees the effects; only Admins can create or edit flows.

Switch to the Automations tab from the board's view toolbar.

The Automation List

The main view lists every automation on the current board:

Column	Description
Name	The automation's name
Trigger	The event that starts it
Runs	Total times the automation has executed
Last run	When it last fired
Active toggle	Flip to pause or resume

Toolbar Actions

• New Automation — open the builder on a blank canvas
• Import — upload a .json automation exported from another board
• Edit (pencil icon) — open an automation in the builder
• Delete (trash icon) — remove an automation and its execution logs

The Visual Builder

The builder is a full-screen canvas for designing flows.

Layout

Area	Purpose
Left sidebar	Node palette — drag or click to add nodes
Center canvas	Your flow — arrange and connect nodes here
Right sidebar	Configuration panel for the selected node
Top toolbar	Automation name, Save, and Export

Working with nodes

• Add — click a node type in the palette, or drag it onto the canvas
• Connect — drag from a node's output handle (right) to another node's input handle (left)
• Select — click a node to open its config panel on the right
• Delete — select it and press Delete, or use the button in the config panel
• Move — drag nodes around to arrange
• Pan / zoom — scroll to zoom, drag the canvas background to pan

Click Save in the toolbar to persist your work.

Triggers

Every automation starts with one trigger. Adding a new trigger replaces the previous one.

Event Triggers

Trigger	Fires when…
Card Created	A new task is created (optionally in a specific list)
Card Moved	A task moves between lists (optionally from / to specific lists)
Card Completed	A task is marked complete or incomplete
Card Tagged	A tag is added to a task (optionally a specific tag)
Card Archived	A task is archived
Priority Changed	A task's priority is set or changed
Due Date Changed	A task's due date is added, removed, or changed
Custom Field Changed	A specific custom field on a task is updated
Member Added	A member is assigned (optionally a specific member)
Member Removed	A member is unassigned (optionally a specific member)
Due Date Reached	On or before a task's due date, with configurable offset

Schedule Trigger

Run an automation on a fixed schedule — daily, weekly, monthly, or a custom cron expression. Useful for recurring tasks: weekly cleanup, monthly reports, daily stand-up reminders.

Actions

Actions do things to tasks or the board.

Task Actions

Action	What it does
Move Card	Move to a specific list
Complete Card	Mark complete or incomplete
Archive Card	Archive the task
Delete Card	Permanently delete the task
Add Tag / Remove Tag	Modify tags
Assign Member / Unassign Member	Modify assignees
Set Priority	Change priority level
Set Due Date	Set a due date relative to now (e.g. "+3 days")
Set Custom Field	Update a custom field value
Add Comment	Post an automated comment (supports placeholders)
Create Card	Create a new task with a title, description, list, and members

Notification Actions

Action	What it does
Send Email	Send an email with custom subject and body (SMTP required)
HTTP Request	POST, GET, PUT, or DELETE to any URL — webhook-style integrations with other services

Placeholders

Text fields in actions support placeholders that get replaced at runtime:

• {card.title} — the triggering task's title
• {card.description} — its description
• {card.priority} — priority level
• {card.list} — the list it's in
• {card.due_date}, {card.start_date} — dates
• {actor.name} — who triggered the automation (for action triggers)

Logic Nodes

Logic nodes control which paths of your flow run.

Node	What it does
Condition	If/else branch — evaluates a condition and sends execution down True or False
Filter	Stop execution if the condition doesn't match — simpler one-way check
Delay	Pause execution for a specified duration before continuing

Condition operators

equals, not equals, contains, not contains, is empty, is not empty

Condition fields

title, description, priority, tags, members, list, due_date, start_date, completed, or any custom field.

Subflow

Call another automation from inside this one. Useful for reusing common sequences — a single "notify stakeholders" subflow that many automations invoke.

AI Nodes

Only available when AI is enabled for your workspace.

Node	What it does
AI Generate	Use AI to generate, summarize, or suggest content — write a prompt and pick a target field to populate

AI nodes consume your workspace's AI credits (or hit your configured provider, depending on your setup).

Node Visual Guide

Each category has a distinct color for quick recognition:

Category	Border
Trigger	Amber
Action	Blue
Logic	Purple
AI	Green

Condition nodes show two output handles: green for the true path, red for the false path.

Portable References

Automation configurations reference entities by name, not by internal IDs:

• Lists by name
• Tags by name
• Members by display name or email
• Custom fields by field name

This is what makes automations portable — export one from board A, import it on board B or another Truetask instance entirely, and as long as the referenced names exist on the target board, it works. Names are resolved to IDs at execution time.

Import and Export

Export

1. Open an automation in the builder
2. Click Export in the toolbar
3. Download the .json file

Import

1. Click Import on the automation list
2. Pick the .json file
3. The automation is created on the current board inactive — toggle it on when you're ready

On import, internal node and edge IDs are regenerated so they don't collide. Entity references (list names, tag names, etc.) are preserved as-is.

Export format

{
  "version": 1,
  "type": "truetask_automation",
  "exported_at": "2026-04-17T12:00:00Z",
  "name": "Auto-archive completed tasks",
  "graph": {
    "nodes": [...],
    "edges": [...]
  }
}

Example Workflows

Auto-archive completed tasks

1. Trigger: Card Completed (completed: true)
2. Action: Archive Card

Tag urgent tasks approaching deadline

1. Trigger: Due Date Reached (before due, 24 hours)
2. Action: Add Tag (tag: "urgent")
3. Action: Assign Member (member: "Project Lead")

Route tasks by priority

1. Trigger: Card Created
2. Logic: Condition (field: priority, equals: "High")
   • True → Move Card (list: "In Progress") → Assign Member (member: "Senior Dev")
   • False → Move Card (list: "Backlog")

Weekly status check-in

1. Trigger: Schedule (every Monday at 9:00)
2. Action: Create Card (title: "Weekly status — {date}", list: "This Week")

Notify Slack when a task is completed

1. Trigger: Card Completed (completed: true)
2. Action: HTTP Request (POST to your Slack webhook URL with a JSON body)

Programmatic Access

Automations can be managed through the MCP server or REST API:

MCP Tool	Description
list_automations	List all automations on a board
get_automation	Get one with its full graph
create_automation	Create a new one
update_automation	Update name, active state, or graph
delete_automation	Delete
get_automation_logs	View execution history
export_automation	Export as JSON
import_automation	Import from JSON

See Connect AI Assistant and API & Webhooks for details.

Permissions

Action	Who can do it
View Automations tab	Board Admin
Create / edit / delete automations	Board Admin
Toggle active / inactive	Board Admin
Import / export	Board Admin

Site Owners and Admins always have full access to every board's automations, regardless of their board role.