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From Static to Dynamic: What are Smart Values?

A static automation is limited. Sending the same generic email (“A task was completed”) every time isn’t very helpful. To make your automations truly intelligent, they need to be aware of the context in which they run. Smart Values are the key to this. They are special placeholders you can use in your automation actions that are dynamically replaced with real data from your 🧊 Objects when the rule runs.
Think of them like mail merge fields in an email campaign. You write Dear {{customer.name}}, and the system automatically fills in the correct name for each recipient. Smart Values bring this power to every part of your automation.

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The Basic Syntax: {{object.field_key}}

Smart Values use a simple “dot notation” syntax wrapped in double curly braces.
  • {{object...}}: This refers to the 🧊 Object that triggered the rule.
  • ...field_key}}: This refers to the unique key of the Data Field whose value you want to pull.

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Example: From Static to Dynamic

Imagine you want to send a message when a task is assigned.
  • Static Action: Send Message: "A new task has been assigned." (This is not very useful as it lacks context.)
  • Dynamic Action with Smart Values: Send Message: "Hi {{object.assignee.name}}, you've been assigned a new task: '{{object.name}}'. The priority is {{object.priority}}."
  • The Resulting Message: “Hi Jane Doe, you’ve been assigned a new task: ‘Draft Q3 Report’. The priority is HIGH.”

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Common Smart Value Examples

Here is a quick reference for some of the most common Smart Values you will use.

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Referencing the Triggering Object

This is the most frequent use case. The object keyword refers to the 🧊 Object that started the automation.
  • {{object.name}}: The name or title of the 🧊 Object.
  • {{object.key}}: The unique key of the 🧊 Object (e.g., TASK-123).
  • {{object.creator.name}}: The full name of the user who created the 🧊 Object.
  • {{object.assignee.email}}: The email address of the user in the ‘Assignee’ field.
  • {{object.any_custom_field_key}}: The value from any of your custom fields.

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Referencing the Current User

The currentUser keyword refers to the user who performed the action that triggered the rule (e.g., the person who changed the status).
  • {{currentUser.name}}: The full name of the user who triggered the rule.
  • {{currentUser.email}}: The email address of that user.
If your 🧊 Object has an Object Picker field, you can use dot notation to traverse the relationship and pull data from the referenced 🧊 Object.
  • Scenario: An automation runs on a 🧊 Project Object. The Project has an Object Picker field with the key client_company that references a 🧊 Client Object.
  • Smart Value: {{object.client_company.name}} will be replaced with the name of the client company.
  • Deeper Reference: {{object.client_company.account_manager.name}} will be replaced with the name of the account manager from the referenced 🧊 Client Object.
[Guidejar Placeholder: A tutorial showing a user building a ‘Send Email’ action. They click a ’+ Insert Smart Value’ button, which brings up a helper menu. They navigate through object -> assignee -> name to insert {{object.assignee.name}} into the email body.]

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What’s Next?

You can now create automations that are not only powerful but also personalized and context-aware. The final step is to learn how to manage your rules and ensure they run reliably.