Summary
Automations enable you to automate actions in Planhat, using the general structure of "if x happens, do y"
Within Planhat's Apps Library, you can choose from a large selection of Automation Templates, which are pre-built but customizable, so you can tailor them to your specific needs
When configuring Templated Automations, you use a simple "sentence structure" UI, and together with the pre-configured elements, this makes them quick and easy to set up
If it's not possible to achieve what you want using a Templated Automation (e.g. because you have an unusual or advanced use case), you can build a Custom Automation instead - either from scratch or by converting a Template (see next bullet point)
For some Automation Templates, you can choose to make a fully customizable Automation by converting it into a Custom Automation
Who is this article for?
Planhat Users who are building Automations for their organization (e.g. Tech/Ops)
Series
This article is part of a series on Automations:
Templated Automations ⬅️ You are here
Article contents
This is a technical deep-dive article
Read on if you'd like to learn how to set up Templated Automations.
If you would simply like a general introduction to Automations, check out our overview article here.
What are Templated Automations and why use them?
In our Automations Overview article, we explain how using Automations is one way in which actions can be automated in Planhat. Automations have the general structure of "if x happens, do y", and can either be simple or more complex if required.
Planhat includes a library of pre-built (yet customizable) Automation Templates for you to choose from, to make your own Templated Automations. As they are partially pre-configured for you, they are the quickest and easiest type of Automations to set up.
There are a wide range of Automation Templates available for you to choose from, within the Apps Library in the App Center of in upgraded Planhat (ws.planhat.com).
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If you click on one of these Automation Templates to open it up, you'll see that the UI is a "sentence" structure (example shown below), which is easy to understand. You'll also see that Automation Templates have many elements that can be configured by you - so even though they are Templates, they can still be customized and personalized - they are interactive rather than being something fixed and static.
📌 Important to note
When you are creating an Automation for your Planhat tenant, you should always choose a Templated Automation (rather than building a Custom Automation) if at all possible.
This means that if you want to build a new Automation, you should start by searching the Apps Library to see if there is a Template that meets your needs (we explain how below), only considering a Custom Automation if there isn't a suitable Template available.
Using a Templated Automation is quicker and easier for you, whereas Custom Automations, whilst being incredibly powerful, are more complex to set up.
See also the next point ...
In November 2025, we introduced functionality that allows you to convert applicable Automation Templates into Custom Automations (rather than the usual Templated Automations) - we discuss this further below. The key use cases / advantages are:
You can look "behind the scenes" and understand exactly what an Automation Template is doing - e.g. for inspiration (which is particularly useful for AI prompts)
You can fully customize the Automation - meaning if a specific Automation Template is almost what you need but not quite, you can edit it as necessary, rather than needing to create a Custom Automation completely from scratch
How to set up a Templated Automation
Go the App Center, one of the Global Tools for admins accessible in the top gray bar of your Planhat tenant:
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Click "+ New app" in the top right:
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This opens up the Apps Library:
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To help you find the Template you need, you can either browse the Automation Templates via the categories on the left-hand side, and/or use the search box in the top right:
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Click on your choice of Automation Template to open it up - for example:
Go through your Automation Template and adjust all relevant parts. For instance, in the example pictured above, you can choose a different Company filter from the dropdown menu, change "equal to" to "less than" or "more than" etc., change the number in the next box, and so on. All the boxes (and the checklist shown in the screenshot above) can be edited. You can also edit the title if desired
Once you've finished configuring your Automation Template, click "Save" in the top right (shown in the screenshot above)
Your new Templated Automation will display within your App Center:
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🚀 Tip: check our our separate article on the App Center for more on how to manage Apps here, such as using labels.
🚀 Tip
In some Automation Templates, you will see a box for a custom message, including << >> dynamic references, such as in the example shown below; you can read all about these replacement codes in custom messages in our separate article here. You can also learn about how to format Slack messages sent from Automations in our article here.
How to create a Custom Automation from an Automation Template - to view details or for additional customization
As we've just gone through above, you can customize an Automation Template within the Template itself (via dropdowns etc. within the sentence structure), and then save it as a Templated Automation.
From November 2025, it's also possible to create a Custom Automation from an Automation Template. Rather than a sentence structure, in Custom Automations you see/configure the details of each individual step (in a flow chart). This gives you the ability to further customize the Automation (without needing to create a Custom Automation completely from scratch), as well as understand how it works "behind the scenes", which can be helpful for inspiration when creating other Custom Automations.
At time of writing, this functionality is available for some (but not all) Automation Templates. You can identify applicable ones via the "Customize" button (shown below).
To convert from an Automation Template to a Custom Automation:
As per the standard instructions above, go to the App Center, open up the Apps Library, and click on your choice of Automation Template
For applicable Automation Templates, you will see a "Customize" button in the top right - click this and the Automation will convert into a Custom Automation (second screenshot) instead
As usual with Custom Automations, you can click on each of the steps in the flow chart (as well as the trigger at the start) to open up its details in the side panel. This means you can:
View the details - this is particularly useful in "Use AI" steps, as you can see the prompts we are using (example shown below), which can give you inspiration for your own prompts
Make changes where you would like to customize the Automation to further suit your specific needs - e.g. adjusting an AI prompt if desired
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Click "Save" to create the Custom Automation. As with Templated Automations, it will then be listed in your App Center
📌 Important to note
The conversion from Automation Template to Custom Automation is one-way: once you have clicked "Customize", you can't click a button to convert it back to a Templated Automation (although you can still go to the Template in the Apps Library, of course)
You only have the option to click "Customize" before you save your individual Automation. If you open an Automation Template in the Apps Library, configure it via the sentence-structure UI and save it as a Templated Automation, you can't then open up the saved Templated Automation and convert it into a Custom Automation
Additional resource
You can watch a video on AI-specific Templated Automations here: