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When an automation runs

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An automation runs at most once per process

Section titled “An automation runs at most once per process”

This is the single most important thing to know about automations, and it catches people out.

Once an automation has fired in a process, Tallyfy marks it as done for that process and never runs it again. Whatever it did stays done. If it set a deadline, that deadline sits where it was put, even when the thing it was calculated from changes later.

Launch the same template again and you get a fresh process with a clean slate, so every automation is eligible to run once more. The once-only rule is per process, not per template.

The two moments Tallyfy checks

Section titled “The two moments Tallyfy checks”

Tallyfy doesn’t watch your process continuously. It checks automations at two moments, and only those two.

When the process launches. Tallyfy looks at every automation whose conditions all read kick-off form fields. Those are the only ones it can decide at launch, because the kick-off answers are the only data that exists yet.

When a task is completed or reopened. Tallyfy looks at the automations whose conditions involve that task or the form fields on it. This is why an automation reading a step’s form field doesn’t fire the moment somebody types in the field. It fires when the task carrying that field is completed.

The two moments Tallyfy checks an automationLaunchTask doneCheck rulesApply actionsSkipped after that Kick-off rulesStep rulesConditions metSame process

There’s no “when this field changes” trigger

Section titled “There’s no “when this field changes” trigger”

Tallyfy has no trigger that watches a form field and reacts when its value changes. Editing a date, a dropdown or a text answer never starts an automation by itself.

Here’s the sequence that trips people up:

  1. You enter a start date of 5 September and complete the task.
  2. The automation fires and sets a dependent task’s deadline to 6 September.
  3. You reopen the task, change the start date to 15 September, and complete it again.
  4. Nothing happens. The dependent task is still due 6 September.

Step 4 is the once-only rule doing exactly what it’s built to do. The automation already ran in this process, so completing the task a second time doesn’t run it again.

What to do when a date moves mid-process

Section titled “What to do when a date moves mid-process”

Pick whichever fits how often it happens.

  • Change the deadlines by hand. Open each affected task and set the date you want. Tasks that count their deadline from the one you edited move with it, so a chain built in the template is still worth having.
  • Get the date right before the task is completed. The automation reads the field at the moment the task completes, so as long as the value is correct by then, the deadline it sets is correct.
  • Relaunch, if almost nothing has been done. A new process starts every automation fresh.

A deadline an automation sets doesn’t push the steps behind it

Section titled “A deadline an automation sets doesn’t push the steps behind it”

A step whose deadline counts from another step normally follows it. Complete the anchor step, or edit its deadline by hand, and everything behind it is worked out again.

That doesn’t happen when an automation sets the anchor’s deadline. The automation moves the one task it targets and nothing else. Steps set to “2 days after that step” stay where they were.

Here is the difference, in one process with step C set to “2 days after step B”:

What moved step BWhat happened to step C
An automation set B to 2 OctoberC didn’t move
Somebody edited B by hand to 20 OctoberC moved to 22 October

So if a chain of steps has to move together, move the step the chain hangs off by hand, or point every step in the chain at the same date field with its own automation. Don’t mix the two.

Other reasons an automation does nothing

Section titled “Other reasons an automation does nothing”

Running isn’t the same as having an effect. An automation can fire and still change nothing.

  • The target task is already completed. Deadline, visibility and assignment actions all skip a task that’s finished. There’s nothing to shift or hide.
  • A condition reads a field that’s still empty. An empty field is a real value to Tallyfy and it gets compared like any other. A deadline action pointed at an empty date field is the case to watch, because it counts from right now instead of doing nothing, which usually lands the deadline in the past. Add an “is not empty” condition to stop that.
  • The organization is on a free plan and its trial has ended. Automations don’t run at all in that case. They’re still saved on the template and they start working again as soon as the organization is on a paid plan.

Order within one process

Section titled “Order within one process”

Several automations can fire from the same task completion. One automation can also carry several actions. Where two of them touch the same step, the result depends on which one Tallyfy gets to last, and that isn’t something you should design around.

If a step’s deadline has to follow another step’s deadline, set that up in the step’s Timings row rather than with two automations that race each other.

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