ToDo Lifecycle connects what happens to a to-do — or time passing on one — to automated actions. When a to-do is completed, declined, or has been running longer than it should, the system carries out the actions you configure.
Where to find it: Admin Panel → ToDo Lifecycle
Each Lifecycle Rule reads like a sentence: when [trigger], and the to-do matches [filter], and its linked ticket matches [ticket filter], then run [actions] in order.
Fires the moment something happens to a to-do. You can select one event or several:
| Event | Fires when |
|---|---|
| Created | A to-do is created |
| Started | A to-do is set to In Progress |
| Completed | A to-do is marked complete |
| Cancelled | A to-do is cancelled |
| Deferred | A to-do is deferred |
| Woke from deferred | A deferred to-do returns to Pending |
| Returned to pending | An in-progress to-do is put back to Pending |
| Accepted | A tech accepts an assigned to-do |
| Declined | A tech declines an assigned to-do |
| Rescheduled | A scheduled to-do's time changes |
Automatic transitions do not fire rules. When a to-do closes because its linked ticket closed, no rule runs. Rules respond to what people and agents do, not to the ticket cascade.
Fires when a to-do has been sitting in a state for longer than you allow. There is no event for this, so the system checks every minute.
| Condition | Fires when |
|---|---|
| Ran longer than its Duration | An in-progress to-do has been running past its estimated duration, plus your offset |
| Past its scheduled end | An open scheduled to-do is past its scheduled end, plus your offset |
| Past its scheduled start | An open scheduled to-do is past its scheduled start, plus your offset |
| After it was created | An open to-do has existed longer than your offset |
You set the offset in days, hours, and minutes.
Each elapsed rule fires once per to-do. It will not fire again every minute. If the to-do later stops matching the rule and then matches again, it becomes eligible once more.
"Ran longer than its Duration" only applies to to-dos that are actually in progress. A to-do a tech deliberately paused or deferred is not running late, so it is left alone. The other three conditions measure age or schedule, so they apply to any open to-do.
Filters narrow which to-dos the rule applies to:
Leave a filter blank and it applies to all values.
Some combinations are locked automatically, because they could never match. Rules on Deferred and Woke from deferred are locked to floating to-dos, since scheduled to-dos cannot be deferred. Rules on Past its scheduled start and Past its scheduled end are locked to scheduled to-dos, since floating to-dos have no scheduled time.
Pick a saved Ticket Filter to require something of the ticket behind the to-do — its priority, its type, its queue, or anything else the filter can express.
Because a to-do can be linked to more than one ticket, choose how to match:
A to-do with no linked ticket never passes a ticket filter. It is skipped, not failed.
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Set to-do rank | Changes the to-do's rank |
| Change to-do status | Start, Complete, Cancel, or Reopen the to-do |
| Send webhook | Posts to a URL you provide |
| Apply helpdesk action | Runs a saved Helpdesk Action against every ticket linked to the to-do |
| Notify user | Sends a notification with a title and message you write |
Actions run in the order they appear in the rule. Drag them to reorder.
Turning a rule off pauses its automation. The rule and all its actions stay saved. Turning it back on resumes it — the rule does not catch up on to-dos that changed while it was off.