How to author automation rules#

Audience: admin — rule authoring, test-runs, and enable boundaries are settings-owner work.

Automation rules let your service desk handle repetitive routing and follow-ups automatically: for example, alerting a manager when a P1 ticket arrives, adding a triage checklist when an RMM alert triggers, or notifying an account lead when a low CSAT score comes in. Every rule can be dry-run tested against sample events before you turn it on.

Prerequisites#

• Admin access to Settings → Automations (and Settings → Alerts for inbound alert sources).
• If your rule invokes an AI agent, complete Your first agent run first so the agent is enrolled and approved.

Why automation rules don't break on upgrades#

Instead of requiring custom scripts that break when an API field changes, automation rules in Marula are stored as structured trigger-and-action data rows (see Why customizations are data). When you upgrade Marula, your rules migrate right alongside your boards and custom fields.

1. Choose a trigger and actions#

Open Settings → Automations and create a new rule:

1. Pick the trigger event from the menu (such as ticket.created, sla.breached, stock.level_low, csat.recorded, or an event contributed by an installed connector).
2. Add optional conditions (such as priority, board, or status category). Rules can evaluate ticket events as well as board-scoped events that don't yet have a ticket attached.
3. Pick one or more actions to run when the conditions match (for example, post an internal note, assign a board or owner, send a webhook, or invoke an enrolled agent).

2. Run a dry-run test before enabling#

Before turning a rule loose on live customer tickets, click Dry-run test in the rule editor.

The dry run evaluates your rule against sample events and displays a preview of the exact actions that would have fired, without modifying any tickets or sending any notifications. This follows the same preview-first safety model as dry-run data imports.

3. Enable or pause the rule#

Once the dry-run preview matches what you expect, toggle the rule Enabled. If you need to pause a rule later during maintenance, flip it back to Disabled; disabling pauses execution immediately without deleting your configuration.

4. Triage incoming infrastructure alerts#

Open Settings → Alerts to manage inbound monitoring alerts (from RMMs, uptime monitors, or signed webhook sources). Alerts support Acknowledge and Resolve states and collapse alert storms by dedup_key so a flapping router doesn't flood your board with 200 identical tickets.

What you learned#

• Rules are built from typed triggers and actions (plus optional conditions) that survive version upgrades safely.
• Always run the built-in Dry-run test to verify what a rule will do before enabling it.
• If a rule calls an AI surface or agent, it still respects your organization's master AI switch and role grants (see Manage AI access).