Sheet automations allow you to streamline your workflows by setting up triggers that perform actions automatically, saving you time and effort.
For example, you can use automations to:
Schedule a daily check of your RAID sheet for SLA breaches. If a row has a "Risk Status" of "Open" and its "Date Reported" is older than 7 days, the automation will trigger.
Send data to an external system via an HTTP request on a set schedule.
You also have the ability to create manual triggers. This allows users, such as an administrator, to manually activate the automation only after they've confirmed a specific action (like verifying a task was executed correctly), giving them maximum control over when a sheet automation is initiated.
Note: Automations are configured exclusively at the Sheet Template level.
Create a New Automation: Navigate to the 'Automations' tab within your sheet template and click 'New automation'.
Select a Trigger Type:
Event on sheet: Triggers when something changes in the sheet (e.g., a row is updated).
Set schedule: Triggers at a specific time or on a recurring basis.
Click of a button: Allows for manual triggering of the automation.
Configure the Trigger: Define the specific conditions for your trigger. You will be able to choose between Sheet triggers and Sheet Tab triggers when setting this up. For example, if you chose 'Event on sheet', you might select 'When row matches a condition' and then specify the target sheet tab and the exact criteria (e.g., 'where Priority is exactly High').
Define the Actions: Add an action block. You can set conditions for this block to run.
Choose an Action: Select the action you want to perform from the list, which includes Sheet Actions, Project Actions, and Notifications. For example, you could choose 'Create sheet tab' or 'Send HTTP request'.
Configure the Action: Fill in the details for the chosen action. For example an 'Update sheet field' action would have you select the field to update and the new value. For an 'HTTP request', you would provide the URL, method, headers, and body.
Save the Automation: Once configured, save your automation. It will now run whenever the trigger conditions are met.
Event on Sheet:
Automations are triggered based on the occurrence of an event, such as a status being updated, which could then automatically create a new sheet tab
Once you choose the event that initiates the automation on your sheet, you can select the specific trigger type. Rocketlane offers two categories of triggers: Sheet triggers and Sheet tab triggers.
Sheet triggers include:
Sheet created
Status updated
Assignee updated
Due date updated
Field updated
Sheet approval response received
New message on sheet
Sheet becomes overdue
Sheet is deleted
Sheet tab triggers include:
Sheet tab assignee updated
Sheet tab status updated
Sheet tab becomes overdue
Row matches condition
Row updated
Row created
Row deleted
Sheet tab created
Sheet tab is deleted
After you've selected a trigger, you can add conditions and actions. (If you're new to these concepts, please refer to our Automations documentation for a refresher.)
In addition to our standard actions, you can now perform a number of specific actions on your sheet's fields. These include:
Change start date : Postpone the date, expedite it, set it to today, or set a relative date (based on a specific number of days or relative to another date field).
Create Sheet Tab : Automatically generates a new sheet tab, allowing you to define its name, initial status, and due date.
Update Assignee : Manages the assignment of the sheet: you can clear the current value or replace, append, or remove individuals from the existing assignee list, using users, placeholders, or fields.
Change due date : Similar to "Change start date," you can postpone the date, expedite it, set it to today, or set a relative date.
Shift dates : Automatically moves both the start date and due date forward or backward by a specified number of days (e.g., +5 or −3 days).
Change status : Updates the overall status of the sheet (e.g., from To Do to In Progress or Completed).
Update sheet fields : Automatically modifies the value of any field (column) within the sheet (e.g., updating a priority or category field).
Freeze sheet : Locks the entire sheet and prevents any further data editing, ensuring that all entries are finalized.
Request for approval : Sends an official approval request, specifying the person or placeholder to receive the request and the required number of days for a response.
Follow sheet : Automatically subscribes a specific user to the sheet, ensuring they receive notifications for any major updates or changes.
Delete sheet : Permanently removes the entire sheet from the project.
Send message on sheet : Posts a predefined message directly into the sheet's conversation window, which can include tagging users or using smartfills for context.
Click of a Button:
The Click of a Button trigger is designed for workflows where you need maximum control, ensuring an automation executes only when a user manually clicks a specific button. The configuration of conditions and actions remains the same as any other automation type, but the trigger requires a conscious user action.
This is ideal for critical, high-impact processes like a UAT (User Acceptance Testing) sign-off. By using the button, the UAT Lead must first verify that all critical items are resolved before they manually trigger the automation, preventing accidental or premature project advancement (e.g., marking the UAT phase as complete and notifying stakeholders).
Set Schedule:
A Schedule-Based Trigger executes an automation at set, recurring intervals, independent of user actions. You first select the Sheet Tab, then specify the time, date, and repetition frequency. This is ideal for routine checks and escalations. For instance, in a RAID Sheet, an automation can run every Monday to check for "High" priority risks, automatically updating sheet fields and escalating the issue to the Risk Owner.