Automation basics
Understand the general concepts and best practices of automation in Atlassian cloud products.
Changes to how automation rules are counted in Jira Cloud
From November 1, we are changing the way automation rules will be counted and billed in Jira Cloud. You'll be able to preview these changes in-product from October 1. To read more, see the announcement on our website.
Triggers in Confluence automation
Automation is an admin feature available in Confluence Premium and Enterprise.
Rules always begin with a trigger component. The trigger is the catalyst that sets your rule in motion.
In Confluence, that might be a product-based event like “when a new page is published”, or it might be a time-based event like “when it’s Tuesday at 10am”.
If you're in Space automation, the rule runs each time the triggering event happens in the space you’re in. If you're in Global automation, it will execute each time the triggering event happens in any space in your Confluence site — or the spaces you specify.
Confluence triggers
These triggers are specific to automation for Confluence and can be used to automate spaces (Space automation) and sites (Global automation).
Pages and blogs
Page archived
This trigger runs your rule each time a page is archived.
“Page” in this context is a distinct content type from “blog”. Blogs can’t be archived.
Page commented
This trigger runs your rule each time an inline or page comment is added to a page.
This doesn’t include when an existing comment is edited.
Page copied
This trigger runs your rule each time a page is copied (but not necessarily published).
Since a copied page is a draft, this trigger isn’t compatible with actions that impact published pages, like Add comment.
Page deleted
This trigger runs your rule each time a page is deleted, i.e., sent to the trash.
“Page” in this context is a distinct content type from “blog”. A “Blog deleted” trigger does not exist at this time.
Page edited
This trigger runs your rule each time edits to an existing page are published.
“Page” in this context is a distinct content type from “blog”. A “Blog edited” trigger does not exist at this time.
Page labeled
In its default state, this trigger runs your rule each time any label is added to a page.
You have the option to configure it by selecting specific labels from a dropdown. If you add more than one label, the rule will trigger each time any one of those labels are added.
Page moved
This trigger runs your rule each time a page is moved.
“Page” in this context is a distinct content type from “blog”. A “Blog moved” trigger does not exist at this time.
Page owner changed
This trigger runs your rule each time the ownership of any page is transfered.
The page’s author is the owner by default. But the current page owner, or a space or Confluence product admin, can transfer a page’s ownership to anyone who has permission to edit it. Blog ownership can’t be transferred.
Page published
This trigger runs your rule any time a new page is published.
This doesn’t include pages created as drafts or subsequent updates when the page is edited. “Page” in this context is a distinct content type from “blog”.
Page status changed
This trigger runs your rule each time the content status of a page changes to a status you specify (for example, “ready for review”).
Content statuses are specific to each space. So, if you’re in Global Automation, the trigger can’t provide status selections until you set and save the rule’s Scope (in rule details) to a specific space or spaces. Once the scope is saved, both Suggested and Custom statuses will surface as options.
In order to use this trigger, content statuses must be enabled. Space admins can control them in Space Settings > Manage space.
Attachment added to page
This trigger runs your rule each time an attachment (for example, an image) is added to a page.
Attachment deleted from page
This trigger runs your rule each time a page attachment (for example, an image) is deleted, i.e. sent to the trash.
Task created
This trigger runs your rule each time a task is assigned to someone on any page.
You have the option of configuring it by selecting specific users or groups from a dropdown. Otherwise the rule will be triggered any time a task is assigned to anyone. Tasks are assigned by mentioning someone in an action item.
Task status changed
This trigger runs your rule each time the status of a task on any page changes.
You have the option of configuring it by specifying the status as Complete (i.e. checked) or Incomplete (ie. unchecked) in a dropdown. Otherwise the rule will be triggered any time a task on a page is checked or unchecked.
Blog commented
This trigger runs your rule each time an inline or page comment is added to a blog post.
This doesn’t include when an existing comment is edited.
Blog labeled
In its default state, this trigger runs your rule each time any label is added to a blog post.
You have the option to configure it by selecting specific labels from a dropdown. If you add more than one label, the rule will trigger each time any one of those labels are added.
Blog published
This trigger runs your rule any time a new blog post is published.
This doesn’t include blogs created as drafts or subsequent updates when the blog is edited.
Attachment added to blog
This trigger runs your rule each time an attachment is added to a blog.
Attachment deleted from blog
This trigger runs your rule each time a blog attachment is deleted, i.e. sent to the trash.
User mentioned
In its default state, this trigger runs your rule if any user or group is mentioned on a page or blog post (including in a comment).
You have the option to configure it by selecting specific users and/or groups from a dropdown. If you add more than one, the rule will trigger each time any of your selections are mentioned.
Spaces
(Global automation only)
Space archived
This trigger runs your rule any time a space is archived.
Space created
This trigger runs your rule any time a new space is created.
General triggers
If you’ve used automation for Jira, you’ll recognize some of the same general triggers like Scheduled and Incoming webhook. You’ll configure them in the same way, but they won’t currently function across products. This is on our roadmap.
Scheduled
Scheduled
This trigger runs your rule at a recurring time that you set.
Use the dropdowns to add Basic configuration, or use cron expressions in the Advanced tab to control nuanced timing down to the second.
Cron expressions are composed of a string of values, separated by spaces, to denote Second, Minute, Hour, Days of the month, Days of the week, Year.
Unlike in Jira, the Scheduled trigger doesn’t support queries in Confluence.
If a scheduled rule fails to execute (serves a Failure status in the automation audit log) 10 times in a row, it automatically disables.
Integrations (third-party)
Incoming webhook
This trigger executes your rule when an HTTP POST is sent to a specified webhook URL.
A webhook is a way for a third party to trigger an automation rule.
When configuring this trigger, you’ll receive a unique URL that you can either add to the third-party application’s outgoing webhook configuration, or make an HTTP POST request from your custom scripts.
You can use the {{webhookData}} smart value to reference the custom data provided by the webhook in your rule.
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