Automations
Let Stellary do the repetitive work for you. Define rules that react to events in your project — move cards, apply labels, send notifications, and more — all without lifting a finger.
What are Automations?
Automations are a project-level rule engine built into Stellary. Each rule follows a simple pattern: when something happens (trigger), if certain criteria are met (conditions), then perform an action.
Rules run server-side the instant an event occurs, so your workflow stays consistent whether your team interacts from the board, the list view, or the API. Every execution is logged, giving you a complete audit trail for compliance and debugging.
Creating a Rule
Open your project settings and navigate to the Automations tab. Click "New Rule" to start the creation wizard. Each rule consists of three parts:
- Trigger — the event that starts the rule (e.g., a card is moved)
- Conditions — optional JSON-based filters that narrow when the rule fires (e.g., only for cards with a specific label or priority)
- Action — what Stellary does when the trigger and conditions match (e.g., change the card status)
Give your rule a descriptive name, configure the three parts, and save. The rule is active by default and will start firing immediately.
Trigger Types
Stellary supports seven trigger types that cover the most common project events. Pick the one that matches the moment you want to react to:
task_moved
Fires when a card is moved from one column to another.
task_created
Fires when a new card is created in the project.
checklist_complete
Fires when all items in a checklist are checked off.
due_date_reached
Fires when a card reaches its due date.
task_status_changed
Fires when a card status changes (e.g., open → in progress → done).
task_assigned
Fires when a card is assigned to a team member.
task_added_to_board
Fires when a card is added to a specific board or scope.
Conditions
Conditions let you fine-tune when a rule should fire. They use a JSON-based filtering syntax that can match against any card property — column, priority, assignee, labels, custom fields, and more.
You can combine multiple conditions, and all must be true for the action to execute. Examples:
- Column filter — fire only when the target column is "Done"
- Priority filter — fire only for High or Medium priority cards
- Label filter — fire only when the card has the "Bug" label
- Assignee filter — fire only when the card is assigned to a specific team member
Conditions are optional. If you leave them empty, the rule fires for every occurrence of the trigger.
Actions
The action defines what happens when the trigger fires and all conditions are met. Stellary provides several action types:
- Move card — automatically move a card to a specific column
- Change status — set the card status (open, in progress, done, cancelled)
- Apply label — add one or more labels to the card
- Assign member — assign the card to a specific team member
- Send notification — trigger a notification to the assignee or project members
- Update priority — set the card priority level
Each action is executed atomically. If an action fails (e.g., the target column no longer exists), the failure is recorded in the execution trace without affecting other rules.
Example Rules
Here are four real-world automations to get you started. Each one combines a trigger, an optional condition, and an action to eliminate manual work:
Auto-archive completed cards
Automatically mark cards as done when they reach the final column, keeping your board clean.
Label on assignment
Tag cards with the appropriate team label so filters and stats reflect team workload instantly.
Due-date notification
Never miss a deadline — high-priority cards trigger an alert the moment their due date arrives.
Checklist completes the task
When every checklist item is ticked, the card is automatically resolved — no manual status update needed.
Execution Traces
Every time a rule runs, Stellary logs a detailed execution trace. Each trace includes:
- Actor — the user or system event that triggered the rule
- Target — the card or entity affected by the action
- Timestamp — the exact date and time of execution
- Result — success or failure, with an error message if something went wrong
The trace log is available in the Automations tab of your project settings. Use it to verify that rules are working as expected, debug unexpected behavior, or satisfy compliance requirements with a full audit trail.
Successful execution
The action was applied to the target card. The trace shows the before and after state.
Failed execution
The action could not be completed. The trace includes the error reason so you can fix the rule.
Enable & Disable
Each rule has a toggle to enable or disable it individually. Disabling a rule pauses it immediately — no triggers will be evaluated and no actions will fire until you re-enable it.
This is useful when you need to:
- Temporarily pause a rule during a migration or bulk import without deleting it
- Debug an unexpected behavior by isolating rules one at a time
- Prepare rules in advance — create them in a disabled state and activate them when your team is ready
Disabled rules are clearly marked in the Automations list, and their execution traces are preserved so you never lose historical data.