No More Doing the Same Clicks Every Time

When you repeat the same work, the same clicks repeat inside each task too. Finish one step and set the next one to started. Start the task and open the preparation section. With a day left before the deadline, add a label. Same order, same buttons, every time.

We’ve added automations to fecit. Write a rule into a template once, and the rule runs on every task made from that template. Open “Automation” from the ⋯ menu of a task or template (⋮ on desktop).

One rule = event → conditions → wait → actions

A rule reads from top to bottom.

• Event — when it starts. When the status changes, when a step’s status changes, at a time, when a label is added, when writing is added, when an item is packed, and more: 11 in all.
• Conditions — optional. If you add them, the rule runs only when all of them match. Status, remaining steps, deadline, priority, labels, preparation, and more: 15 in all.
• Wait — right away, after anywhere from 5 seconds to 7 days, or after the step’s duration.
• Actions — what to do. Change status, change step status, expand or collapse a section, focus on or off, add a label, add a reminder, and more: 16 in all, and you can chain several in order.

Each kind comes with a one-line description on the picker screen, so you can read as you choose.

Clicks you can hand over

When a step is done, move to the next

• Event: When a step’s status changes — any step to Completed
• Condition: Remaining steps — some left
• Action: Change step status — next step to Started

The button you pressed most often in multi-step work goes away.

Let timed steps move on by themselves

• Event: When a step’s status changes — any step to Started
• Wait: After the step’s duration
• Action: Change step status — this step to Completed

Put this next to the rule above, and work with a duration on every step — warm-up 5 min → run 20 min → cool-down 5 min — flows to the end once you start the first step. While it waits, the step row shows the time left, like “Completes in 4:59.”

Open your workspace when you start

• Event: When the status changes — to Started
• Actions: Expand or collapse a section — expand Preparation; Focus on or off — on

Start once the materials are packed

• Event: When an item is packed — Materials
• Condition: Preparation — all Materials packed
• Action: Change status — to Started

Mark it as the deadline gets close

• Event: At a time — 1 day before the deadline
• Condition: Status is not Completed
• Action: Add label — a label you choose

Wrap up when you write the retrospect

• Event: When writing is added — Retrospect
• Action: Change status — to Completed

Write it in the template, and it runs every time

• A template’s rules are copied into a task when the task is made. Editing the template’s rules later doesn’t change tasks you’ve already made.
• You can create and edit rules on a task, too. Tasks made without a template can use automations as well.

Just as you build up a recurring job’s procedure in its template, you can build up the clicks that handle that procedure there too.

Safe to hand over

• It runs even when the app is closed. Rules run on the server. Waits and time events fire on time without the app being open.
• It stays inside the task. A rule changes only that task’s own fields. It doesn’t create other documents or send anything outside.
• Rules that trigger each other are stopped when you save. If rule A would trigger rule B and B would trigger A again, fecit tells you the moment you save and doesn’t save it.
• You can see what changed things. Changes made by an automation stay in the history as “Automation · rule name,” and if the last run failed, the failure shows on that rule.
• Safe in shared templates too. In a copy that went out through the library, rules pointing to labels, projects, or members the recipient can’t use are removed.

Next update — chaining stages

This feature arrives in the next app update.

After the actions, you can chain more conditions → wait → actions stages. Each “Add stage” adds one, and each stage can have a name.

• A later stage’s conditions look at the values after the previous stage’s actions are done. If they don’t match, the chain stops there.
• Up to 10 stages, and up to 10 actions in total per rule.

For example, “when it starts, turn focus on right away; then, an hour later, if it’s still Started, add a label” becomes a single rule. A flow that starts from one event and continues over time in several steps is seen and edited in one place.

In short

Automations hand the repeated clicks of handling a task over to rules. When your hands no longer move steps along, open sections, and add labels, what’s left in their place is time to think about what to do this time.