---
id: KB-CL-005
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/collaboration/rules-that-create-tasks-by-themselves
idioma: en
categoria: colaboracion
subcategoria: automatico
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CL-002, KB-TD-003]
citadoPor: [KB-CL-010, KB-CL-013]
---

# Rules that act on their own

_"When this happens, do that": automating without any coding._

**Responde a:** automate actions when something happens · create automatic tasks · automatic workflow rules · get warned automatically when a document is missing

A lot of repetitive work has the shape "when X happens, do Y": when the case completes, tell production; when insurance expires, open a task; when a document is missing, remind someone. That can be written down once.

## The shape of a rule

| When this happens… | …do this |
| --- | --- |
| A case completes | Notify whoever has to act |
| Something mandatory expires | Create a task with an owner |
| A document is rejected | Notify whoever requested it |
| A missing document is detected | Open the reminder to the third party |
| It has been stuck X days | Create a task to phone them |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> A rule turns an intention into something that happens. That is also its risk: a badly set rule does its thing hundreds of times with nobody stopping it. Start with one, watch it for two weeks, then add the next.

## What is worth automating

**En corto**

- What is always done the same way and involves no decision.
- What gets forgotten for being dull, not for being hard.
- What triggers work for someone else on the team.

## What is not

Anything with an "it depends". Approving, rejecting, blocking a supplier or accepting a document are decisions, and a rule does not answer for them if it goes wrong.

> [!WARNING]
> Every action a rule triggers consumes, exactly as if a person did it. A rule firing a thousand times spends a thousand: check the breakdown in the first month.

> [!NOTE]
> The rule that gives back most is nearly always the dullest: open a task when something has been stuck too long. It is what nobody does by hand and what prevents the most dead cases.

**Can I stop them?**

Yes, and it is worth knowing how before you need to.

**Is what a rule did recorded?**

Yes, the same as a person's actions.

**How many should I have?**

Few and understood. Twenty rules nobody remembers is a system nobody controls.

## Ejemplos

**A company accumulates stalled cases because nobody reviews which have not moved in weeks.**

- Sets one rule: at 21 days stalled, open a task for the owner

→ Dead cases stop piling up without anyone having to remember to review them.

**A rule launches onboarding when a supplier is created and nobody reviews what it triggers.**

- Checks which rules are active and what each does
- Tests the rule on a real case before letting it run
- Reviews at four weeks whether it still makes sense

→ The system does known things rather than surprising somebody on a Tuesday.

**Two rules fire on the same thing and the supplier gets two notices.**

- Checks for overlap before adding a new one

→ The recipient receives one message, not two.

**A rule fires on a case nobody anticipated.**

- Narrows the condition as much as possible

→ The rule acts where it should.

**The rule is a year old and the process changed six months ago.**

- Reviews rules when the circuit changes

→ The system keeps up with the process.

**A rule is switched off and nobody knows what stopped happening.**

- Notes what it did before switching it off

→ The gap is visible rather than discovered.

**Nobody knows who created a rule or why.**

- Records the reason when creating it

→ The rule can be reviewed on a basis.

**A rule sends emails in the middle of the night.**

- Configures the sending window

→ The notice arrives when somebody can act.