Automations

Streamline Your Workflow


Automations

help streamline repetitive tasks by automatically performing actions when certain events occur in your collections .

By defining the 'When → Then' conditions, you can reduce manual work and keep your team in sync.

What are automations?

Automations let you configure trigger events (the 'when') and
resulting actions (the 'then'). For example:

✴︎ When a new record

is added to a 'Maintenance' collection
Then create a task assigned to multiple maintenance staff, or send a notification

✴︎ When a workflow

stage changes to 'Approved'
Then generate a new record in another collection, or send an email alert

The benefits of automations:

  • Automate routine tasks like creating follow-up tasks or notifications.
  • Make sure boring administration tasks are never missed.
  • Standardise processes and reduce manual steps.
  • Keep everyone informed with automated alerts or tasks.
  • Add new automations as your organisation's needs evolve.

Setting Up an Automation

1. Access Automation Settings

  1. Open Settings:

    Click your name in the bottom-left corner of Kinabase.
  2. Select Automations:

    Under Organisation, choose Automations.
  3. Add New Automation:

    Click + Add Automation in the top-right corner.
  4. Name & Description:

Give your automation a clear name (e.g., 'Notify Finance on New Invoices') and a brief description.


2. Define the 'When' Condition(s)

This is your 'Trigger' - when this happens, the automation runs.

You have lots of options for trigger events, for instance:

Whenever...

  • ... A record is added to a specific collection
  • ... A record is updated (general or a specific field)
  • ... A record is right-clicked.
  • ... A record becomes due. (If you have a date field in your record)
  • ... A record changes (workflow) stage

Pick your trigger event from the dropdown menu.


You can also set Additional Trigger Conditions based on field values.
Use the 'If field value is...' to define these.

Use these Additional Trigger Conditions to define whenever... a certain field

meets a condition.

  • You can define 'If' conditions with both '+And' and '+Or' criteria to refine when the automation runs
  • You can even use the field character length for text fields.
  • For example 'Only if a priority field equals 'High' and Company is 'XYZ')

3. Set the 'Then' Action

Once you define the trigger, choose what Kinabase should do automatically:


You can add multiple steps to the same automation - e.g., first send a notification, then create a new record, then add a task.

3. Save & Activate

  • Click 'OK' to finalise your automation.
  • It takes effect immediately; any new triggers will now run the automation steps you defined.



Advanced Automation Features

Our Automations have some advanced features that help streamline your internal operations and seamlessly take care of the busy work for you.

See below for how you can get the most out of automations:

Multiple Steps & Conditions

Enable a cascade of action steps based on your conditions & logic:

+ Add Step:

Create multiple follow-up actions. For example, after adding a task, you could also send an email notification to a manager.

Filters & Conditions:

Some triggers allow you to refine when an automation gets used (e.g., only if a certain field equals 'High Priority').

Preview Automations

Test Before You Trigger:

Some workflow stages allow you to preview which automations will run. This ensures you have full clarity on what will happen next.

Use this preview feature to confirm tasks, notifications, or record changes before finalising an action.

Assign Tasks to Multiple Users

Team Collaboration:

When adding a 'Create Task' step, you can select multiple owners. All assigned users will be notified and see the task in their dashboard

.

Viewing & Editing Automations

Edit or Deactivate:

If you need to pause or change an automation, open it from the Automations list and modify or toggle it off.

View History Logs:

Right-click & Edit an automation. Select the History tab to see a log of each time it's been triggered and the outcome. You will also find statistics on how many times it has run successfully or failed.


View Schedule:

If your Automation is based on times & dates - you can also see when it is next scheduled to run in the 'Scheduled' tab.

Linked Records

You can copy parent-record values automatically in automation field mapping.

Field Assignment

When creating or editing an automation, you can set fields in the new record to pull values from the triggering record or other related records.

  1. In the Automation Editor, add or open a Record step that targets a sub-record Collection. 
  2. In Field assignment, click the new “Copy from parent” option next to any mappable Field. 
  3. Choose the parent Field you want and Save – Kinabase will use that value every time the step runs. 

Read our Product Update for more.


Best Practices

Automations can be very useful, but can become overly complicated if you're not careful. Follow the guidance below to get the most out of them:

Start simply & evolve

Start with a minimal number of automations. Overcomplicating from the get-go can lead to confusion.

It does 'what it says on the tin'

Clear automation names help your team understand their purpose straight away.

Periodically review

Check automation logs periodically to ensure everything is running smoothly.

Combine with your workflows

Automations work great with workflows - when a record moves to a certain stage, let an automation handle the follow-up tasks.


Using Automations in Kinabase saves time and maintains consistency for your team, letting them focus on the tasks that matter most.

If you need more help or have advanced scenarios in mind, check out our other guides or contact our Support Team.