You can configure automation rules to create activities, send emails, submit, edit or duplicate forms, and edit case fields upon fulfilling defined criteria. Once you create your rule, take a look at the sections you require then finalise your rule in the last section.
Create an automation rule
To start creating automation rules, follow these simple steps:
Click three-line menu, then click Configuration.
Click the relevant service that the service user is under.
Select the service you wish to create the rule against, e.g. Client Records.
Click Automation, then click New Automation Rule.
From here, jump to the section you need below.
Choose trigger type
Here you would choose if you want an automation rule for a form or a case field.
⚠️ Important: Once you have selected a trigger type and navigated to the next page, the trigger type cannot be changed.
Form submitted
You would use this if you want to receive an email, activity, new form, or to update a case file when submitting a form.
Click Form Submitted, then select the relevant form from the dropdown.
Click Next.
If needed, click the plus button to add criteria to the rule.
Click Create Trigger.
Use the plus button next to each action to specify how many times the rule should perform that action.
Case Field Update
You would use this if you want to receive an email, activity, new form, or to update a case file when updating a case field.
Click Case Field Update, then select the relevant field from the dropdown.
If needed, click the plus button to add criteria to the rule.
Click Create Trigger.
Use the plus button next to each action to specify how many times the rule should perform that action.
Choose Actions
You can create an email when submitting a form or amending a case field. Tokens are types of code you can use in emails and activities.
Add the role you want to send the email to.
Add a subject for the email, then add a body to the email.
You can add an attachment of the form or another form that needs to be completed following this form submission.
You can add a delay in when this email sends after submitting the form by selecting the delay checkbox and adding tokens. For example, form submitted date and time +14d.
Create Activity
You would use this to create an admin activity when submitting a form or updating a case field.
Add an activity name, then add the role you want to assign the activity to.
Add a deadline for completing the activity.
You can add a delay in when this sends after the form is submitted by selecting the delay checkbox and adding tokens.
📌 Note: You can assign each admin activity to multiple people, however only a single user needs to complete it.
Update Case Field
You would use this to update a case field when submitting a form, such as a care plan due date.
Select which case field you want to update.
Use the blue tokens to select what token you want to use to update. For example, case field address line 1 = Form component 60 form ${form_component_60}.
Click the plus button if you want to add more fields.
Submit Form
You can use this to edit, duplicate or create a new form when submitting another form or updating a case field.
Select the form you want to use from the dropdown.
Select the action from the drop-down: create, edit, or duplicate.
If you want the automation to update with the latest form version, select the checkbox.
Select the part of the form you want to duplicate, edit or create.
Add what you want this to show. For example, form ${form_submitted_date_time} +10d.
If you need to add more outcomes, click the plus button to add fields.
Finalise your rule
To finalise your rule, you should be on the Description & Activation step 5 of 5 screen. Here you'll name your rule and add any delays you'd like to the rule.
Field | Description |
Title | A title for your automation rule. |
Description | A description of what your automation rule does. |
Override inflight rule action | If selected, any inflight rules will be overridden with the latest triggers when resubmitting the form. |
Trigger only on initial form submission | If selected, the rule only triggers when first submitting the form. Any subsequent updates to the form don't cause the rule to re-trigger. |
Edit an automation rule
Click the three-line menu, then click Configuration.
Click the relevant service that the service user is under.
Select the relevant service, then click Automation.
Click the edit icon on the relevant automation rule.
Make the relevant amendments, then click Update.
Change the emails of who receive automation rules
If you need to update the email address that receives notifications from an automation rule, you'll need to modify the associated user's email address. Automation rules are tied to roles and groups, meaning that any user within the relevant group will receive an email when the rule is triggered.
Click the three-line menu.
Click Configuration, then Employees.
Click on the username, then click Edit.
Amend the email address, then click Update.
If you need to amend who is receiving the emails, you would need to update the roles. Here's a handy guide on creating and updating roles to help.
Troubleshooting — automation rule triggered but case fields did not update
If an automation rule appears to have run (you can see it in the rule history) but the target case fields have not been updated, work through the checks below before raising a support case.
Check the field mapping in the Update Case Field action. Open the automation rule and review the Update Case Field action. Each mapped field must reference a valid field token that matches a real component on the form or a valid case field. If any token references a form component that has since been removed or renamed, the action will fail silently for that field. Update the token to match the current component ID.
Check whether the rule has a delay. If the rule includes a delay (for example, form submitted date +14d), the case field update will not happen immediately. It is queued as an in-flight rule and runs at the scheduled time. This is not an error. If the delay is unintended, edit the rule and remove the delay from the action.
Check whether Trigger only on initial form submission is enabled. If this checkbox is ticked and the form has been submitted before, the rule will not re-trigger on subsequent submissions. If you need the case fields to update on every submission, uncheck this option in the rule settings.
Check whether Override inflight rules is enabled. If a delayed rule is already in flight and the form is resubmitted, the in-flight rule may conflict with the new trigger unless this setting is enabled. If case fields are not updating on resubmission, check this setting.
Check the condition criteria on the rule. If the rule has criteria set (for example, only trigger if a specific field equals a specific value), verify that the form submission that was just made actually met those criteria. The rule may have been intentionally designed not to trigger in all cases.
For a full guide on diagnosing automation rule failures, see Automation rules and case field population — why fields may not update.
📌 Note: If you have confirmed the rule is correctly configured and fields are still not updating, raise a support case via the Access Digital Assistant. Include the rule name, the service and form it is configured against, the field that should have updated, and the date and time of the form submission that triggered it.