Workflow (Automation)

A workflow is a saved automation: a trigger, plus one or more steps that follow it. The trigger decides when it runs — on a schedule, or in response to something happening in your workspace. The steps decide what happens next.

They handle the work that is easy to describe and easy to forget: raise a task every time a client comments, run an AI review on a page every month, push new tasks into Slack, or send a report at the end of each week.

Who this is for

Workflows sits in the left navigation and is permission-gated. If your role does not carry workflow access, the item will not appear. Creating a workflow needs a separate create permission, so it is possible to see existing workflows without being able to add new ones.

The words Atarim uses

Workflows has its own vocabulary, and the interface is consistent about it. Knowing these five terms makes everything else easier to follow.

Finding your way around

Select Workflows in the left navigation. The screen has three tabs.

If you have not built anything yet, the Manage tab shows No Workflows Yet with a Create Your First Workflow button.

Using a template

Templates are complete, working workflows. Adopting one creates your own copy, which you then own and can change freely.

Open Workflows and stay on the Templates tab. Template cards load, each showing a name, a short description, its estimated credit cost per run, and the technologies it applies to.

Select the preview action on a card to see what it actually does before committing. A preview opens showing the workflow laid out on a canvas — its trigger and every step — read-only.

Check the estimated cost against how often you intend to run it. Cost is per run, so a template at a daily cadence costs roughly thirty times its monthly equivalent.

Select the use action to adopt it. A new workflow is created in your workspace and appears on the Manage tab. The template itself is unchanged, and your copy is independent of it.

Go to Manage, attach the projects it should run against, then switch it on. Until both are done, it will not run.

Building a workflow from scratch

Select Create New on the Manage tab to open the canvas. The canvas has a step library down the left and your workflow in the middle.

Step 1 — Add your trigger

Select Create New. The canvas opens with an empty starting point and the step library on the left.

Find your trigger in the library. Use the Search steps box at the top if the list is long. The library is grouped — Trigger, Schedule, Flow, Condition, and Action — so you can also filter to just the group you need.

Add the trigger to the canvas. It becomes the first node. Every workflow has exactly one.

Select the trigger node to open its settings, and fill in any fields it needs. A Schedule trigger asks for a cadence; most task triggers need nothing.

Step 2 — Add your steps

Add an action or condition from the library. It joins the canvas beneath the trigger. Steps run in order, top to bottom.

Select the node to open its configuration panel. The panel shows only the fields that step needs.

Fill in the required fields. Many fields load live options from your workspace. If a dropdown is empty, set the project field first, or check the relevant integration is connected.

Repeat for each step in your sequence. To remove a step, select it and use the delete control in its panel.

Step 3 — Set the task context where it matters

This is the part people miss. When an action step follows other steps, its panel gains a Task context field, which decides which task that step acts on.

Step 4 — Name, save, attach, activate

Give the workflow a name that describes what it does. Client comment to task and Slack beats Workflow 3 once you have a dozen.

Save it.

Go to the Manage tab and attach the projects it should run against.

Switch it on with the status toggle. It will refuse to activate if no project is attached.

Trigger it once deliberately and check the Runs tab. Confirm every step reads Executed before relying on it.

Using placeholders in your steps

Placeholders insert live task data into text as the workflow runs. They are written between double percent signs — %%task_title%% — and are replaced with real values at run time.

They are not accepted everywhere. Only two fields process them:

A worked notification

Title (fixed text): New client feedback

%%comment_author%% commented on %%task_title%%: "%%comment_message%%" — see %%task_page_url%%

The recipient gets a notification headed “New client feedback” with the author, task, comment text, and a link filled in.

Trigger reference

Every workflow needs exactly one trigger, and none of them cost credits. Twelve are available.

Condition reference

Conditions check something before a workflow continues. Six are available, and none cost credits.

Task actions

The everyday building blocks. None of these cost credits.

Flow control: Delay

Delay pauses the workflow before it continues to the next step. It costs no credits, and it is what turns a simple automation into a follow-up system.

Add a Delay step at the point where the workflow should wait. Everything above it runs immediately; everything below waits.

Enter the wait using the five fields: Delay (weeks), Delay (days), Delay (hours), Delay (minutes), and Delay (seconds). Fill in only the units you need and leave the rest blank. They add together, so 1 day plus 12 hours waits 36 hours.

Add the steps that should run after the wait.

Practical uses for a delay

Three patterns that use a delay well:

Chase a stale task. Trigger on a status change, wait three days, then add a comment asking for an update.

Nudge a client. Trigger when a review tag is added, wait two days, then post a gentle follow-up.

Follow up internally. Trigger when a task is assigned, wait five days, then notify the assignee.

AI actions

These are the only steps that consume credits beyond the base cost of running the workflow. Costs shown are per step, per run.

Project, page, and image actions

Notification and email actions

Integration actions

Each of these pushes an Atarim task into an external tool. None cost credits, but all require that integration to be connected first under Settings → Integrations. The fields differ because each tool organises work differently.

Output actions

Example workflows

Seven patterns built from the triggers and steps above. Each names the trigger, the steps in order, and what problem it solves.

1. Turn client feedback into assigned work

The problem: comments arrive on a project and nobody notices until someone opens the dashboard.

Build it like this:

Trigger: Task comment added.

Change task assignee — route it to whoever owns that client.

Change task priority — set it so it surfaces in their queue.

Send notification to Slack — tell the team where they already are.

Feedback becomes assigned work the moment it is left, with no credits consumed.

2. Chase a task that has gone quiet

The problem: work moves to In Progress and then sits there.

Build it like this:

Trigger: Task status changes.

Condition: Task status is set to your in-progress status.

Delay — three days.

Add task comment — ask for an update.

Notify person(s) — tell the assignee.

Stale work chases itself instead of waiting for a status meeting.

3. Nudge a client who has not replied

The problem: work is blocked waiting on client approval and nobody wants to keep asking.

Build it like this:

Trigger: Task tag added.

Condition: Task tag is set to your review tag.

Delay — two days.

Add task comment — a short, friendly check-in.

The follow-up happens on time and reads as considerate rather than nagging.

4. Monthly site review with a client-ready report

The problem: retainer clients expect proactive work, and nobody has time to audit every site by hand.

Build it like this:

Trigger: Schedule — monthly.

AI design review — set Output mode to a batch of tasks, or to both if you want a summary too. (10 credits)

Create Workflow PDF Report — a summary you can send on. (1 credit)

Roughly 21 credits a month per project, including the base run cost, and the report writes itself.

5. Route incoming client emails

The problem: requests arrive by email and get lost between inboxes.

Build it like this:

Trigger: Incoming Email.

Condition: Email field contains — match the client’s domain or a keyword in the subject.

Add task — create the work on the right project.

Respond to Email — acknowledge receipt automatically.

The client gets an immediate reply, and the request lands as a task rather than sitting in someone’s inbox.

6. Push urgent work into your dev tool

The problem: developers work in Jira and never see Atarim.

Build it like this:

Trigger: Task priority changes.

Condition: Task priority is set to your highest level.

Add Task to Jira — choose the project.

Notify person(s) — alert the lead.

Only genuinely urgent work crosses over, so the dev board does not fill with noise.

7. Know when your automations break

The problem: a workflow fails quietly and nobody notices for weeks.

Build it like this:

Trigger: Workflow Failed.

Notify person(s) — tell whoever maintains your automations.

Send notification to Slack — optional, for visibility.

One cheap workflow that watches all the others. Build this first.

Managing your workflows

The Manage tab lists everything you have built:

Attaching projects

Find the workflow’s row and open the Project column’s selector, labelled Attach… when nothing is attached. A list of your projects opens, each with a checkbox.

Select every project this workflow should run against.

Close the selector. Your choices are saved when the selector closes, and the column updates to show what is attached.

Activating and pausing

Use the toggle in the Status column to switch a workflow on.

If no project is attached, the toggle refuses and a message appears: “Attach a project to this workflow before activating it.” Attach one and try again.

Toggle it off at any time to pause it. Pausing stops future runs. Past runs and their traces are kept.

Editing and deleting

Select the edit action on a row to reopen the workflow on the canvas. Editing requires its own permission, so the control is hidden if your role lacks it.

Select the delete action to remove a workflow. A confirmation dialog opens, headed Delete Workflow, naming the workflow and warning that the action cannot be undone.

Checking what actually happened

The Runs tab lists every execution, successful or not.

Open the Runs tab. Every run across all your workflows is listed, newest first.

Filter by outcome using the All, Failed, Running, and Success chips. Each chip shows a count, so you can see at a glance how many runs failed.

Narrow the period with Last 7 days, Last 30 days, Last 90 days, or All time.

Select a run to open its trace.

Reading the statuses

Runs and steps use different words, deliberately.

Reading a run trace

Opening a run shows the workflow drawn out with each step’s status on it, alongside a summary panel. The panel gives you:

The run status in large type, with the run number and when it started.

Duration — how long the whole run took.

Steps run, Skipped, and Failed counts.

The trigger summary describing what set it off.

For a failed run, a Failed at step message with the error text.

How to set up a custom webhook

The Send HTTP request step sends data from Atarim to any external service that accepts a webhook — Make, Zapier, n8n, a serverless function, or your own endpoint. It is the escape hatch for anything the built-in integrations do not cover, and it costs no credits.

The four fields

Step 1 — Get a test URL first

Before pointing a workflow at your real endpoint, send it somewhere you can inspect. This takes two minutes and saves a great deal of guesswork.

Open webhook.site in a browser tab. A unique URL is generated for you at the top of the page.

Copy that URL.

Leave the tab open. Anything sent to that URL appears in the page live, so you can see exactly what Atarim delivers.

Step 2 — Add the step in Atarim

Go to Workflows, then open an existing workflow or select Create New.

On the Library tab in the right-hand panel, choose your trigger. For a first test, Task added is the easiest to fire deliberately.
The trigger appears on the canvas as Step 1, under the When this happens label.

Still on the Library tab, add a Send HTTP request step.
It joins the canvas as the next numbered step, under a Then do this label.

Select that step on the canvas to open the Step Details tab.
The panel shows the step’s name with its Action badge, followed by its fields. Required fields are marked with a red asterisk.

Paste your test URL into URL.

Set HTTP method to POST.

Leave Headers empty for now — authentication can wait until basic delivery is proven.

Use the Attach to projects… selector at the top of the panel to choose which projects the workflow runs against.

Save the workflow, then switch it on from the Manage tab.

Step 3 — Write your payload

Start with something fixed, confirm it arrives, then add live data.

A static payload sends the same thing every time:

A dynamic payload uses placeholders, which are replaced with real values when the workflow runs:

{"title": "%%task_title%%", "status": "%%task_status%%", "url": "%%task_page_url%%"}

Mixed text and placeholders work too — a placeholder can sit anywhere inside a string:

{"summary": "New task %%task_title%% was created at %%created_at%%"}

Step 4 — Test and check what arrived

Trigger the workflow — if you used Task added, create a test task.

Switch to your webhook.site tab. The request appears within a few seconds, showing the headers and the body exactly as Atarim sent them.

Check every placeholder was replaced with a real value. An empty value means the placeholder name is wrong.

In Atarim, open the Runs tab and confirm the step reads Executed.

Adjust the payload and repeat until it looks right.

Step 5 — Switch to your live endpoint

Replace the test URL with your real endpoint.

Add any authentication under Headers. For example: {"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN", "Content-Type": "application/json"}

Save, and trigger it once more.

Confirm at the receiving end that the data arrived and was understood. Atarim reports whether it sent the request, not whether the other service accepted it.

A comment payload

The same approach works for comment data. A fuller payload might look like this:

{
    "task_info": "Task ID: %%id%%, Site ID: %%site_id%%, Priority: %%task_priority%%, Status: %%task_status%%",
    "author_details": "Author: %%task_config_author_name%%, Task Title: %%task_title%%",
    "page_info": "Page URL: %%task_page_url%%, Page Title: %%task_page_title%%",
    "comment_details": "Comment ID: %%comment_id%%, Comment Message: %%comment_message%%",
    "task_timing": "Created At: %%created_at%%, Updated At: %%updated_at%%"
}

Placeholder reference

Placeholders are wrapped in double percent signs and replaced when the workflow runs.

What to use it for

Typical uses for the step:

Sending task summaries to an internal dashboard.

Logging task events to a database through a serverless function.

Posting to a custom Slack app that needs its own formatting.

Kicking off automations in tools such as Make, n8n, or Pipedream.

What workflows cost

Every workflow run consumes AI credits. The cost shown on a template or in the Manage table is an estimate per run, summed from the trigger, the steps, and a base cost for running at all.

Usage appears in your credit history labelled Workflow Initiated, so you can see what your automations are consuming alongside everything else.

When a workflow switches itself off

Atarim watches for workflows that keep failing. After three consecutive failed runs, the workflow is deactivated automatically and an email is sent letting you know, with a link to it.

The failure count resets as soon as a run succeeds, so occasional failures will not trip it — only a genuine, repeated problem.

Known limitations

Where the feature stops:

A workflow must be attached to at least one project to do anything, and must be switched on separately.

Workflows are workspace-scoped. They do not run against projects in other workspaces.

Three consecutive failures deactivates a workflow without asking.

Templates currently target WordPress only as their supported technology.

FAQs

Common issues

• Workflows is missing from the sidebar. Your role does not carry workflow access. Ask an administrator to grant it.
• You can see workflows but not create them. Creating needs a separate permission from viewing. An administrator can add it.
• A workflow never runs. Check three things in order: is it active, is it attached to at least one project, and is your credit balance positive.
• A workflow switched itself off. It failed three times in a row. Check the Runs tab for the failures and read the trace before reactivating.
• Runs stopped without warning. Check your credit balance. A negative balance blocks runs rather than queuing them.
• The Runs count on Manage has not moved. That column counts successful runs only. Check the Runs tab — the workflow may be running and failing.
• Some steps say “Skipped”. A step is skipped when a condition ahead of it was not met. Open the trace and check that condition’s configuration.
• A step says “Executed” but nothing happened. Open the run trace and check that step’s configuration — particularly any project or field it depends on.
• A step’s dropdown is empty. Many step fields load options from your workspace. Choose the project the step applies to first, then reopen the dropdown.

Conclusion

Workflows pay off on the work nobody enjoys remembering — the monthly check, the update round, the task that should exist the moment a client comments. Start from a template, watch one run end to end before trusting it, and keep an eye on the Runs tab rather than the success count. Automations are only useful while they are actually running.

Learn About Credits & Usage