#Automation workflows

A Space currently has two automation surfaces:

• Automations: a rule that starts one Agent or Crew with a set of instructions. See Automations.
• Automation workflows: a canvas of triggers and action nodes. They can call third-party apps through connectors, and they can call a Sharkly Agent or Crew.

This page describes automation workflows only.

#How they differ from Automations

Do not treat the two surfaces as the same product. The schedule, task-status, comment, and webhook triggers on the Automations page are not the canvas builder.

#Where to open them

Open the Space automation module. Tab names, empty states, and template categories follow the product UI.

#Connectors

Third-party actions need an authorized connector before they can run.

Slack OAuth2, custom apps, and Bot Token setup are documented in Connect Slack in an automation workflow. This page does not repeat that setup.

#Run an Agent or Crew

A workflow can hand work to an Agent or Crew that is already configured in Sharkly.

The action lives under the AI & Agents integration and is named Run Agent. After you add it, fill in only two fields:

• Executor: one dropdown for an Agent or a Crew. These are not two separate actions.
• What to do: text that can reference data from earlier steps.

The workflow waits for that run to finish before it continues.

Run Agent does not create a Task in this release. The run appears in that Agent's execution history and can be traced back to the workflow that started it.

Agent settings include a separate switch for being called by a workflow. It is on by default and is not the same switch as being assigned Tasks. If you turn it off, the Agent still appears in the selector but cannot be chosen.

Who you can select matches Task assignment: archived, out-of-Space, and another person's Personal records do not appear. A Crew is not extra-checked against its leader's workflow switch — assigning the Crew can still reach a leader who turned that switch off.

#Task field changes

Use the Task field changed trigger in the Tasks connector to start a workflow when a selected Task field actually changes. The current Issue fields include title, description, priority, assignee, start date, due date, estimate, Sprint, Task type, Parent task, and Project. Available custom fields can also be selected. Configure the trigger with:

• Task type (optional): leave it empty to match every task type, or select one to limit the trigger to that type.
• Field (required): choose one of the available built-in or custom fields. Custom-field options show their field type and can be narrowed by the selected task type.
• When you choose priority, you can also specify the new target priority. Leave it unset to match any priority change.

The trigger output includes the Task and a fieldChange value containing the field name, previous value, and new value. If one update changes several fields, only the selected field is exposed as fieldChange. A workflow does not start when there is no real change or when a different field changed. Task status changes use a separate trigger. Existing automation configurations are unaffected; use the workflow run history to investigate a problem.

#Schedule trigger

A schedule can be set to the minute. The timezone defaults to the timezone of the current computer.

#Slack actions

Slack is available in workflows as an action in this release. Slack events cannot start a workflow yet. See Connect Slack in an automation workflow.

#Common questions

#Does an automation workflow create a Task?

Run Agent does not create a Task. The run is recorded on the Agent, not in the task list.

#If I turn off workflow calls for an Agent, can a Crew still reach it?

That Agent cannot be selected on its own. If the executor is a Crew, the Crew is not extra-checked against its leader's workflow switch.

#Can a Slack event start a workflow?

Not in this release. Slack can be used as an action, not as a workflow trigger.