Wrike’s Automation Engine

Automation Engine is available on accounts with Business and Enterprise subscriptions. Account admins and owners have the right to set up automation rules. On Enterprise accounts, this right can be revoked from admins.

Overview
Important Information
Create an Automation Rule
Automation Rule Constructor
Available Automation Triggers
Available Automation Actions
Edit and Delete Automation Rules
Disable and Enable Automation Rules

Overview

Wrike’s Automation Engine is a simple solution that helps to reduce the amount of manual repetitive work, speed up the process, and minimize the rate of human error. So with Automation Engine, instead of handling all the work by yourself, you and your team can employ the rule-based automation of various actions with tasks and projects.

Automation Engine is easy to use and doesn’t require any coding experience to create the automation rules. The rules have a simple “IF …, THEN …” structure. The automation rule constructor guides you through the 3-step rule creation process. All you need to do is let Wrike know:

Which tasks or projects to apply the rule to
When to trigger the rule — the “IF” statement
What should happen when the rule is triggered — the “THEN” statement.

Here’s a couple of popular automation rule examples:

IF the statuses of tasks (from a certain project) don’t change for five days from “Pending changes,” THEN @mention assignees and leave a comment.
IF the status of projects (from a certain space) changes to “Completed,” THEN move the projects to the “Archive” folder.

Important Information

In each account, you can create up to 50 automation rules.
There’s a monthly limit to the number of actions performed via automation in the account. For Business accounts, it’s 200 actions per each paid seat monthly. For Enterprise accounts, it’s 1,000 actions per paid seat monthly. When the limit is reached, all rules will be disabled automatically, and Wrike will notify all account admins by email. Wrike will also send separate email notifications to all admins when your account has 50% and 10% left of the total monthly action limit.
Wrike Tip: You can check how many actions were performed this month via each automation rule. To do that, click your profile image, select “Settings,” and click “Automation” on the left. You’ll see the performed action number for each rule in the rule list under the “Actions, this month” column.
Each automation rule can have one trigger (the IF statement) and up to 10 actions (the THEN statement).
Whenever an action is executed via Automation Engine, it appears in the task/project stream with the Automation Bot as the author. The same is true for the Activity Report.
Automation rules won’t be triggered in case the changes to tasks or projects are made through API or mass actions.
If the rule that you created stops working in case its conditions are no longer operable, Wrike will automatically disable the rule and notify you by email.

Create an Automation Rule

Account admins and owners can create new automation rules. On Enterprise accounts, this right can be revoked from admins.

Click your profile image in the upper-right corner of the workspace.
Select “Settings.”
Click “Automation” in the left panel under the “Account Management” section.
If this is the first automation rule in the account, click the “Create rule” button that appears. Otherwise, click “+ New rule” at the top of the rule list.
In the rule constructor that opens:
- Select if the rule applies to tasks or projects, and select their location.
- Select and set up one of the available triggers.
- Select and set up one or more of the available actions. You can add up to 10 actions to the rule.
If necessary, edit the title of the rule at the top left of the view. By default, the title is filled in automatically and consists of the names of its trigger and action.
Click “Create” in the upper-right corner of the view.

Now your rule is created, and once it’s triggered, it’ll automatically perform the action that you set up.

Automation Rule Constructor

The rule constructor consists of three sections that you need to fill in for the automation rule to work.

The “Apply to” section

Here you select exactly what the rule should apply to.
E.g., IF the statuses of tasks (from a certain project) don’t change for 5 days from “Pending changes,” THEN @mention assignees and leave a comment.

Use the drop-down to select whether to apply the rule to tasks or projects.
Click “Select project, folder, or space” to select one or multiple source locations of the tasks or projects that you want to apply the rule to. To add additional locations click the “+” button.
Note: You can add up to 10 folders, projects, or spaces as the source locations.

The “Add trigger” section

Here you select the condition that defines in what case the rule should be triggered.
E.g., IF the statuses of tasks (from a certain project) don’t change for 5 days from “Pending changes,” THEN @mention assignees and leave a comment.

Click the “Add trigger” section.
Select one of the available triggers from the list.
Fill in the additional required setting if necessary.

Wrike Tip: If you want to change the trigger while you’re creating or editing the rule, hover over its name displayed in the “Add trigger” section on the left and click the trash bin icon that appears.

The “Add action” section

Here you define what should happen when the rule is triggered. You can add up to 10 actions to each rule.
E.g., IF the statuses of tasks (from a certain project) don’t change for 5 days from “Pending changes,” THEN @mention assignees and leave a comment.

Click the “Add action” section.
Select one of the available actions from the list.
Fill in the additional required settings if necessary.

To add more actions to your automation rule, click the “Add another action” section that appears when you set up the first action.
Wrike Tip: If you want to change the action while you’re creating or editing the rule, hover over its name displayed in the “Add action” section on the left and click the trash bin icon that appears.

Available Automation Triggers

Automation triggers are an essential part of automation rules. They're the “IF …” statements that define when exactly the automation rule should be triggered. Each rule can have one trigger.
Note: The list of available automation triggers that you see in the rule constructor changes depending on whether your rule applies to tasks or projects. See the “Can be applied to” column in the table below to check if a trigger is available for task- or project-based rules.

Trigger name	Description	Can be applied to	Additional required settings	Notes
Task/project status changes to	It triggers the rule whenever a task or project status changes to a status(es) that you define. E.g., "If project status changes to Completed or Cancelled, then ..."	Tasks and projects	Select at least one status group (e.g., Any completed). In this case, the rule is triggered by statuses included in this group in any workflow Or click Select specific statuses to choose at least one specific status that will trigger the rule.	If at least one of the selected specific workflow statuses is deleted from the account, the rule will be disabled.
If task/project status doesn’t change in	It triggers the rule when a task or project spends too much time in the same status(es) that you define. Countdown restarts each time the status changes to a new one. E.g., "If task status doesn’t change in 5 days from In progress, then ..."	Tasks and projects	Set the number of calendar days during which the status should stay the same for the rule to be triggered. Next, select at least one status group (e.g., Any active). In this case, the rule is triggered by statuses included in this group in any workflow. Or click Select specific statuses to choose at least one specific status that will trigger the rule.	If you create a rule with this trigger, it won't be applied to tasks or projects retrospectively. Meaning that the rule won't be triggered if the status of a task hadn't been changed for the defined number of days before you created the rule. E.g., the trigger was set to 5 days, and if a task had already had the same status for five days before the rule was created, it wouldn't be triggered. But if the task had the same status for three days, and then you created the rule, it'll be triggered in two days.
New task/project is created	It triggers the rule when a new task or project is created in the source location(s) you select in the Apply to section of the rule builder. E.g., "If new task is created (in the selected location), then ..."	Tasks and projects	-	The rule dependent on this trigger won’t work if tasks and projects are created via Excel import, API, or duplication. The rule dependent on this trigger also won’t work in case tasks and projects are created via request forms or blueprints, which are set up to create 100 or more work items at a time.
All predecessor statuses change to	It triggers the rule when all predecessors of tasks change their status to the status(es) you define. Task predecessors are a part of the Gantt chart. You can read more about them here. E.g., "If all task's predecessor statuses change to Completed, then ..."	Tasks	Select at least one status group (e.g., Any completed). In this case, the rule is triggered by statuses included in this group in any workflow. Or click Select specific statuses to choose at least one specific status that will trigger the rule.	The trigger only checks direct predecessors. Wrike checks if the conditions of this trigger are true every five minutes. So, once all the predecessors of a particular task get the relevant status, it might take up to five minutes for the rule to be triggered. If at least one of the selected specific workflow statuses is deleted from the account, the rule will be disabled.
All direct subtask statuses change to	It triggers the rule when all subtasks of a task get the status(es) that you define. E.g., "If all direct subtask statuses change to Completed, ..."	Tasks	Select at least one status group (e.g., Any completed). In this case, the rule is triggered by statuses included in this group in any workflow. Or click Select specific statuses to choose at least one specific status that will trigger the rule.	Wrike checks if the conditions of this trigger are true every five minutes. So, once all the subtasks of a particular task get the relevant status, it might take up to five minutes for the rule to be triggered. If at least one of the selected specific workflow statuses is deleted from the account, the rule will be disabled.
All direct subproject and task statuses change to	It triggers the rule when all tasks within a project and its subprojects get the status(es) that you define. E.g., "If all direct subproject and task statuses change to Cancelled, ..."	Projects	Select at least one status group (e.g., Any cancelled). In this case, the rule is triggered by statuses included in this group in any workflow. Or click Select specific statuses to choose at least one specific status that will trigger the rule.	Wrike checks if the conditions of this trigger are true every five minutes. So, once all the subtasks of a particular task get the relevant status, it might take up to five minutes for the rule to be triggered. If at least one of the selected specific workflow statuses is deleted from the account, the rule will be disabled.
Project is at risk (AI-based)	It triggers the rule when a project's risk level changes.	Projects	Select the change in the risk level that should trigger the rule: if it rises or lowers. Or choose the exact risk level: low, medium, or high.	This trigger will work only for projects that: Have a start date and end date Have content (subproject, tasks, etc.) Aren’t in completed status Aren’t two or more weeks overdue.
Custom field changes	It triggers the rule when a value in a custom field changes. E.g., "If custom field Urgency changes to any value, then ..."	Tasks and projects	Select the custom field. For dropdown fields, select if the rule should be triggered byany valuechange or by a change to a specific value. For checkbox fields, select if the rule should be triggered when it changes to any value or specifically to checked orunchecked.	The trigger only works for dropdown and checkbox custom fields that are added to the project, folder, or space that you select in the Apply tosection of the rule builder.

Available Automation Actions

Automation actions are an integral part of automation rules. They are the “... THEN ...” statements that define what exactly should happen to tasks or projects that the automation rule applies to once the rule is triggered. Each rule can have up to 10 actions.

Action name	Description	Can be applied to	Additional required setting	Notes
Change task/project status to	Once the rule is triggered, this action changes the status of tasks or projects to the one that you specify. E.g., "If ..., then change task status to Completed."	Tasks and projects	Click Select status to specify the status that the tasks or projects will get when the rule is triggered.	If at least one of the selected workflow statuses is deleted from the account, the rule will be disabled. This action will override any Fixed Workflow settings you have for the selected workflow/status. Additionally, auto-assign and automated approvals set up in the selected workflow will be ignored if the status was changed via the automation rule.
Add task/project to	Once the rule is triggered, this action adds tasks or projects to a location(s) that you specify. E.g., "If ..., then add project to Marketing operations."	Tasks and projects	Click Select project, folder, or space to specify the destination location(s).	You can select up to 10 different locations where the projects or tasks will be added. If at least one of these destination folders, projects, or spaces is deleted, the automation rule will be disabled.
Move task/project to	Once the rule is triggered, this action moves tasks or projects to a location(s) that you specify. You can also specify if the tasks/projects should be removed from all folders, projects, or spaces that they have been located in before the rule is triggered. E.g., "If ..., then move project to Archive."	Tasks and projects	Click Select project, folder, or space to specify the destination location(s). Then, specify where the tasks/projects should be moved from: Select all projects, folders, and spaces if you want to remove the tasks/projects from all their existing locations and move them to the destination location when the rule is triggered. Or select specific projects, folders, and spaces and then specify the exact location(s) from which you want to remove the tasks/projects. In this case, when the rule is triggered, the tasks/projects will be (1) moved to the destination location that you specify, (2) they’ll be removed from some of their previous locations also specified by you, and (3) some of their previous locations will be preserved.	You can select up to 10 different locations where the projects or tasks will be moved to and up to 10 locations they'll be moved from. If at least one destination folder, project, or space where the tasks/projects should be moved to or from is deleted, the automation rule will be disabled.
Add comment or mention	Once the rule is triggered, this action adds a comment to tasks or projects. Additionally, you can choose to @mention a specific user or a special user group. E.g., "If ..., then add a comment with @approvers and @Melanie Smith."	Tasks and projects	In the Type your comment field type the text of your comment. (Optional) check the box next to one or more of the special @mention options: Followers: All users who follow the tasks/projects Author: A placeholder for the creator of the tasks/projects Approvers: A placeholder for all approvers who haven't given their decision in the active approval (Optional) Click Select specific user or group to @mention one or more account users or user groups. (Optional) If your automation rule is triggered by the Project is at risk (AI-based) trigger, you can select to automatically include the project risk information to the comment. To do that, check the Include risk level details box under the comment field.	In the Preview section at the bottom, you can see how your comment will look like. When the automation rule is triggered and the comment is created, the @author placeholder will be replaced with the actual name of the user who created the task or project. @approvers will also be replaced with the names of the approvers if there are any. Otherwise, it will be added to the comment as plain text. @followers will stay as-is and all users who follow the task or project will receive the notification. The author of all comments created via Automation is the Automation Bot. You can select up to 20 specific users or user groups to @mention in the comment. If at least one of them is deleted from the account, the rule will be automatically disabled.
Assign task/project to	Once the rule is triggered, this action adds user(s) that you specified as task assignees or project owners. Additionally, it can remove all existing assignees or owners from the tasks/projects. E.g., "If ..., then assign task to Melanie Smith."	Tasks and projects	Click Select user and select at least one person to be added as a task assignee or project owner. Click + to add an additional user(s). (Optional) Check the box next to and reassign from other users to automatically unassign the task from all existing assignees or remove all existing project owners when the rule is triggered.	You can select up to 20 task assignees or project owners per action. If at least one of them is deleted from the account, the automation rule will be disabled.

Edit and Delete Automation Rules

Account admins and owners can edit and delete automation rules. On Enterprise accounts, these rights can be revoked from admins.

If necessary, you can edit any part of the automation rules and delete them at any time. In case the rule is automatically disabled due to its conditions no longer being operable, you also need to edit the rule before you can enable it. For example, it can happen when someone deletes the workflow status or the destination folder that an action depended on.

Editing rules

Click your profile image in the upper-right corner of the workspace.
Select “Settings.”
Click “Automation” in the left panel under the “Account Management” section.
Find the relevant rule in the rule list that opens.
Note: Automatically disabled rules have a red triangle notification icon to the right of their title.
Click the title of the rule to open the rule constructor. Here you can:
- Change what the rule should apply to, select tasks or projects, and their source location.
- Edit or change the trigger to update the condition that defines in what case the rule should be triggered. To delete the current trigger, hover over its name in the trigger section on the left and click the trash bin icon that appears.
- Edit or change the action to update what should happen when the rule is triggered. To delete the current action, hover over its name in the action section on the left and click the trash bin icon that appears.
- Edit the title of the rule if necessary: If you change the trigger or action, the original title is not updated automatically.
Click “Save” in the upper-right corner of the view.
Click “Done” in the upper-right corner or the caret icon in the upper-left corner to go back to the rule list.

Note: You might not be able to edit some rules, including the ones created by you, in case you no longer have access to one of the folders, projects, or spaces that the rule depends on. For example, if the folder that the rule applies to is unshared with you, the rule will keep working but you won’t be able to save your edits to it. The same goes for folders, projects, or spaces that triggers and actions depend on. You'll see a notification about it at the top of the view.

Deleting rules

Note: Deleted automation rules can't be restored.

Click your profile image in the upper-right corner of the workspace.
Select “Settings.”
Click “Automation” in the left panel under the “Account Management” section.
Right-click the relevant rule in the rule list that opens.
Select “Delete.”
Click “Delete” in the pop-up to confirm your decision.

When you complete the steps, the rule is permanently deleted.

Disable and Enable Automation Rules

Account admins and owners can manage automation rules. On Enterprise accounts, this right can be revoked from admins.

If you no longer need an automation rule to work, you can disable it instead of deleting in case you might need to enable it again in the future.
Wrike can also automatically disable some rules, in case their conditions are no longer operable, e.g., when someone deletes the workflow status or the destination folder that a trigger or action depended on. You can manually edit the broken automation rule and enable it.

Note: Disabled rules also count toward the limit of 50 rules per account.

To disable or enable an automation rule:

Click your profile image in the upper-right corner of the workspace.
Select “Settings.”
Click “Automation” in the left panel under the “Account Management” section.
Find the relevant rule in the rule list that opens.
Click the toggle button to the right of the title of the rule under the status column to disable or enable it.

If the toggle button is colored blue, that means that the rule is enabled and is working. The white toggle button signifies that the rule is disabled.

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