Available with limits on all Teamwork.com plans. Each action counts towards your automations usage. See Usage limits for more information.
Feature overview
What
Automation actions define what happens after a trigger event occurs. When an automation runs, one or more actions update tasks or projects automatically.
Why
  • Automate repetitive task and project updates.
  • Apply consistent changes across workflows.
  • Connect automations with notifications and external tools.
Who
Users with permission to create automations. Some actions depend on access to the selected projects, people, or connected tools.
When
Use automation actions when you want a trigger event to update work, notify people, or send information automatically.
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Automations are made up of triggers, optional conditions, and actions. See Supported triggers, Supported conditions, and Supported actions.
Automation flow: Trigger → Conditions (optional) → Actions (with target selection)
When something happens, and optional criteria are met, an action is performed on the selected target.

Automation examples

(when this happens)
Condition(s)
(and these conditions are true)
Action
(perform this action)
Task's start date arrives
Task priority is set to high
Notify task assignees
Task is completed
none set
Move task to Done column
Task's due date arrives
Task progress is set to 90%
Add comment


Action targeting

For task-based actions, you can choose which task the action applies to.

Target
Description
Trigger task
The task that triggered the automation.
Parent task
The parent of the trigger task.
Subtasks
All subtasks of the trigger task.
Previous task
A task created or copied earlier in the automation.

Previous task is only available when an earlier action in the same automation creates or copies a task.

Automation actions

You can set one or multiple actions on each automation. Most task-based actions also let you choose which related task the action should target.

Actions relating to notifying users or adding or changing assignees require the selected users to be members of the chosen project. Automations also run on private tasks if the automation creator is an administrator.
Available actions depend on the trigger used. Most actions support task-based triggers unless otherwise stated.

Action
(do this)		Description
Notify people
  • Notify via email.
  • Send to selected users, task assignees, or task followers.
  • Optionally skip notifying the person who triggered the automation.
Send HTTP request
Connect automations with any app by sending HTTP requests to a specified URL.
Add comment
Add a comment to a task.
Change assignees
  • Add specific assignees.
  • Remove specific assignees or remove all existing assignees.
  • Reassign the task.
Move to task list
  • Select a project, either the current project or another project.
  • Choose an existing active task list on that project.
Copy to task list
  • Select a project, either the current project or another project.
  • Choose an existing active task list on that project.
Move to board column
  • Select a project, either the current project or another project.
  • Choose an existing board column on that project.
Add task
Create a new task.
Add subtask
  • Choose the parent task, either a specific task or the trigger task.
  • Set subtask properties such as name, description, dates, priority, tags, assignee, and followers.
Change priority
Change a task's priority.
Change tags
  • Add specific tags.
  • Remove specific tags or remove all existing tags.
  • Replace existing tags with specific tags.
  • Choose from project-level and site-level tags.
  • Project-specific tags only appear when a single project is selected.
Log time
  • Set hours and minutes.
  • Mark the time as billable.
  • Choose the time log assignee.
  • Add a description and tags.
Change estimated time
Set, increase, or decrease the amount of estimated time for a task.
Complete task
Complete a task.
Change followers
  • Add followers.
  • Remove specific followers or remove all existing followers.
  • Replace existing followers with specific users.
Change start date
  • Set the date relative to the trigger date.
  • Set the date to the trigger date or a specific date.
  • Map the date from the trigger task's start date or due date.
  • Remove the date if needed.
  • Skip weekends for supported options.
Change due date
  • Set the date relative to the trigger date.
  • Set the date to the trigger date or a specific date.
  • Map the date from the trigger task's start date or due date.
  • Remove the date if needed.
  • Skip weekends for supported options.
Change progress
Update the progress percentage for the task.
Add tasks from template
Create new tasks on a project using tasks from a task list template.

Options:
Template: Select an existing task list template to use.
Location: Choose where the tasks will be created:
  • Select location:
    • Project — create the tasks as a new task list on the project.
    • Task list (optional) — create the tasks within an existing task list.
    • Task (optional) — create the tasks as subtasks of a specific task.
  • Trigger task — Create the tasks as subtasks of the trigger task.
Set custom field
Update the values of tasks' existing custom fields.
Date custom fields can be:

  • Updated relative to the trigger date
  • Set to a specific date or no date
  • Mapped to the task's start or due date (or # days before or after start or end date)
  • Updated relative to the field's current date.
  • If the specified field isn't populated on the trigger task, the action is skipped.
Create a project
Create a new project every given day of the week.
  • Set the project name and description.
  • Populate the project from a project template (optional).
Send Slack message to channel
Send a message in a Slack channel.
Send Chat message to channel
Send a message in a Teamwork Chat channel.
Notify team in Channel
Send a message in a Microsoft Teams channel.
Notify in Teams Chat
Send a message in a Microsoft Teams chat.


Action targeting examples

Use case
Setup
Update all subtasks
When the trigger task changes, select Subtasks as the action target to update all subtasks.
Escalate to the parent task
When a subtask meets trigger conditions, select Parent task to update the parent task.
Continue a multi-step workflow
Create or copy a task in one action, then use Previous task in a later action to update that new task.

If selected users do not have access to the task, the action will be skipped. This applies to assignees and followers, including when actions create subtasks or tasks from templates.

Desk integration actions

Automations can perform actions on linked Teamwork Desk tickets when a trigger is activated.

Action
Description
Send a reply to linked Desk tickets
Send a reply to any linked Desk tickets.
Add a note to linked Desk tickets
Add an internal note to any linked Desk tickets.

Available variables

You can use the following variables when configuring Desk-related actions:

Variable
Description
Task name
The name of the task.
Task description
The task description.
Creator name
The name of the task creator.
Creator email
The email address of the task creator.
Date created
The date the task was created.
Task link
A direct link to the task.
Due date
The task due date.
Start date
The task start date.
Date updated
The date the task was last updated.
Assignee
The current task assignee.
Priority
The current task priority.
Progress
The current task progress value.
Estimated time
The current estimated time on the task.
Tags
The tags currently applied to the task.
Task list
The task list the task belongs to.
Task project
The project the task belongs to.
Newest comment
The most recent task comment.
Stage
The current workflow stage or board column.
Custom fields
The task's custom field values.