Confluence automation

Confluence automation is a feature that can help teams manage their content at scale. When space or app admins create and enable automation flows, Confluence automation works behind the scenes to complete routine functions that would otherwise have to be done manually. For example, flows can automatically:

• Create new content in the correct format.

• Send team updates on work progress.

• Remind people about incomplete tasks.

What can Confluence automation do?

Automation, generally speaking, does what it sounds like: It automates routine functions that would otherwise wait for a person to do them.

In Confluence, this might mean automating workflows like:

“When new pages or live docs are created in this space, message this Slack channel.”
“When a person from this group creates new pages or live docs, add this label.”

Depending on how your team uses Confluence (for collaborative work or as a knowledge base), automating certain functions may be more useful than others. Here are four key areas we expect automation to be especially helpful:

Integrating tools

• Send automated work updates to team Slack and MS Teams channels

• Connect third-party apps and services using the webhook trigger

Tracking the content lifecycle

• Enforce publishing processes and keep content up to date

• Make related content more discoverable by managing and auto-adding page or doc labels

Keeping spaces organized

• Set up new spaces with a consistent page tree structure

• Auto-create team documents, like meeting notes, in a standard location in the page tree

Staying informed

• Meet deadlines and keep teams connected with automated reminders and notifications to

  • Complete assigned tasks

  • See when work progresses without having to manually check or ask for updates

Flows

Flows are automated workflows constructed in an “If This, Then That” format.

Confluence admins can create and enable flows that function at the global level. Space admins can create and enable flows for individual spaces. (And while you may not think of yourself as an admin, if you have a personal space you’re an administrator of your space!)

Learn how to create flows in Confluence automation.

Flow steps

Each flow is made by combining different types of steps: triggers, conditions, branches, and actions. Think of steps as the building blocks of a flow. (If you’ve used automation in other non-Atlassian apps, you may have also seen this described as the ingredients that make a recipe.)

Triggers

(WHEN this happens…)
Flows always begin with a trigger step. The trigger is the catalyst that sets the execution of your flow in motion.
See a list of available triggers in Confluence.

Conditions

(IF certain conditions are met…)
Condition steps are optional. They limit the scope of your flow. For example, you could add a User condition so that “when new pages or live docs are published”, the flow only runs if the pages or live docs were published by a specific user.
See a list of available conditions in Confluence.

Branches

(FOR EACH [object]…)
Branch steps are also optional. They expand the execution of your flow by adding a secondary path (a branch). The branch is a sequence of conditions and/or actions that run in isolation from the rest of the flow — but are applied to every instance of an object. For example, you could branch the flow for each task (task being the object) so that “when new pages or live docs are published”, you receive a Slack message (an action) for every task on pages or live docs that’s assigned to you (the task criteria). This would happen in addition to actions added to the primary path of the flow chain.
See a list of available branches in Confluence.

Actions

(THEN do this thing…)
Flows always end with an action step. Actions are what you want the flow to do, that is, what you want to happen after it executes successfully.
See a list of available actions in Confluence.

Flow builder

When you select the Create flow button, a flow builder opens where you can build a new flow from scratch (instead of starting with a flow template). It guides you to add and configure steps, starting with a triggering event. Each step you save will appear in a flow chain on the left.

Flow template

Templates can be found in the Templates tab within automation. A flow template functions similarly to a page or doc template: It provides a starting point with appropriate steps pre-selected and arranged in a flow chain. Select each step in the flow chain to configure and save it.

Flow chain

When you view a flow or flow template, the flow chain is an ordered list of steps on the left. These are the instructions (the chain of events) for your flow. Once the flow is enabled, steps will run in the order they appear from top to bottom. Drag and drop to reorder them. Hover and select the X to remove them.

Flow summary

There’s a link above the flow chain to edit Flow details like the name, description, and flow actor. You can also troubleshoot an existing flow by viewing execution data in its audit log. Together the flow details, flow actor, audit log, and flow chain summarize all the information about a particular flow.

Flow actor

When your flow performs an action, it’s performed on behalf of the individual (or group) listed as the flow actor. For example, if your flow ultimately sends an email – the name of the flow actor appears in the “From” line. In Confluence, the flow actor defaults to the person who created the flow. If you’re creating flows for another team, this can be changed (in Flow details) so that actions appear to originate from the appropriate team member or group. (In Jira, the flow actor can also be set generically as “Jira automation”, but this isn’t currently an option in Confluence.)

Smart values

When you configure steps to add to your flow, you may be prompted with an option to use smart values. They can look a little intimidating, but using them is easier than you might think.

Smart values are dynamic variables that make your flow more flexible. They serve as placeholders where information gets plugged in, depending on context.

For example if you build a flow that notifies people when their pages or live docs are edited, you might include smart values to dynamically plug in:

• the name of the contributing editor(s)

• the date

• the title of the edited page(s) or live docs

See a list of available smart values in Confluence.

Learn more about Confluence Cloud automation.