If you often repeat administrative tasks in Productive, such as creating a new task or sending a Slack message to the team after a sales deal reaches a certain stage, a milestone is completed, or a client budget end date changes, consider automating these processes.
Productive's Automations can help you save time and focus on critical business activities that drive growth and success.
The Core Components of an Automation
Every automation rule consists of up to three parts:
When: the trigger that starts the process
Check if: optional conditions that narrow down when the rule should apply
Then: the action(s) that should happen as a result
"When" — The Trigger
This is the starting point of your automation: the event that causes the rule to run. It could be the creation, update, deletion, or comment on an object in Productive (such as a task, deal, budget, invoice, or form), or a specific time-based trigger.
"Check if" — Optional Conditions
These steps help fine-tune the rule. For example, only continue if the deal owner is a specific person, the task is of a certain type, or the budget is tied to a specific revenue stream. You can add one or more conditions to ensure the automation only proceeds in specific scenarios.
"Then" — The Actions
This is what the automation does. Examples include sending a message in Slack, creating a task, updating a field, or adding a comment.
Each action carried out by your automation counts toward your monthly action limit. 👉 Learn more in our Monthly Automation Actions article.
📌 Check out our Automations: Examples and Best Practices article for tips and practical examples to optimize your automation workflows.
Example: How Automations Work
Here’s a simple rule to demonstrate the flow:
When a new deal is created
Check if the deal owner is Alex Taylor
Then create a task in a specific project
Once all criteria can be met, the Automation's flag found at the bottom of the screen turns green, meaning the automation is ready to be saved and start being applied.
The “When” step is required
The “Check if” step is optional
The “Then” step is required
Accessing and Managing Automations
You can manage all automations from Settings > Automations.
Here, Admins, Profitability Managers, and Managers with unlimited access can create, edit, and manage rules. Access can also be fine-tuned via custom permissions.
Each automation includes a summary of its purpose, current status (active/inactive), and the number of actions it’s used during the current month (accessed via the three-dot menu).
To create a new rule, click + New Automation and define each step: When, Check if (optional), and Then.
Want to learn more about how each automation step works?
Explore our dedicated articles that break down each part of a rule:
When steps — Learn which triggers are available and how they behave
Check if steps — See how to use conditions to refine your automations
Then steps — Discover the full range of actions you can automate
These articles will help you better understand each building block so you can create more precise and effective automation rules.
Context-Specific Automations
You can also manage automations directly from these screens:
Projects
Budgets
Deals
Forms
Click the 🤖 Automate icon in the top-right of each screen.
📌 Note: Automations created this way are specific to the selected context. For example, from a project, you’ll be creating task-related rules only.
