Overview
Once you know how to attach and configure an automation (see [Creating Your First Automation]), the next question is: what should you automate? This article collects proven "recipes" — small, reusable automation patterns you can drop into your projects today. Each recipe uses the same basic move: add a task, attach an automation, configure it.
Pick one recipe, set it up on a single project, and expand from there.
Recipe 1: Send a templated email at a project step
What it does: Sends a pre-written email from your Library when your workflow reaches a specific task — for example, a document request or a status update to a client contact.
When to use it: Any time you find yourself writing the same email over and over for different clients.
How to set it up:
Add a task to your project at the point where the email should go out. Name it clearly, like "Send document request email."
Click Attach Automation and select the email automation.
Set the recipient.
Select the email template to send.
Click Attach Automation to save.
Recipe 2: Launch a follow-up project when this one completes
What it does: Automatically starts the next project in your process when the current one finishes — so nothing sits idle waiting for someone to remember to kick it off.
When to use it: Multi-phase work where one project always leads to another, like onboarding flowing into the first year's administration work.
How to set it up:
Add a task near the end of your project.
Click Attach Automation and select the launch project automation.
Configure which project should launch.
Set the conditions that determine when the launch triggers — for example, when the current project is completed.
Click Attach Automation to save.
Tip: Conditions are what make this recipe safe. Set them carefully so the next project launches only when you truly want it to.
Recipe 3: File a signed document into the client's internal folder
What it does: Uses the Save a Project File automation to move a document collected in a project — like a fully executed NDA — into the client's directory, visible to your internal team only.
When to use it: Compliance-sensitive documents your team needs to keep, but the client doesn't need to see in their portal.
How to set it up:
Add a custom field to the project for the file (for example, "Fully Executed NDA").
Upload the document into that field when you receive it.
Add a task and click Attach Automation, then select "Save a Project File."
Set File to be Saved to your custom field.
Set Save Location to the Client Directory using the chain icon.
Click Attach Automation to save.
For full details and troubleshooting, see [Save to Project File Automation].
Recipe 4: Deliver a finished document to the client's shared folder
What it does: The same Save a Project File automation as Recipe 3, but pointed at the Shared Directory — so the client sees the finished document in their shared folder the moment it's saved.
When to use it: Final deliverables the client should receive, like completed reports or executed agreements they need a copy of.
How to set it up:
Follow Recipe 3, steps 1–4.
Set Save Location to the Shared Directory instead.
Click Attach Automation to save.
Important: Double-check the save location before saving the automation. Client Directory is internal-only; Shared Directory is visible to your client.
Recipe 5: Bake your automations into a project template
What it does: Adds any of the recipes above to a project template, so every new project launched from that template starts with the automations already attached and configured.
When to use it: Once a recipe works well on one project and you want it on every project of that type — without rebuilding it each time.
How to set it up:
Go to Library > Projects and open the template you want to update.
If the recipe needs a custom field (Recipes 3 and 4), add it under Project Data Fields.
In the Tasks section, click Add Task, describe what the automation does, and press Enter.
Click Attach Automation, select the automation, and configure it just as you would in a live project.
Tip: Template automations are where the real time savings live. Set up once, benefit on every future project.
Related articles
Automations Overview
Creating Your First Automation
Save to Project File Automation