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.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 theData Field
whose value you want to pull.
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.”
Common Smart Value Examples
Here is a quick reference for some of the most common Smart Values you will use.Referencing the Triggering Object
This is the most frequent use case. Theobject
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.
Referencing the Current User
ThecurrentUser
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.
Referencing Related Objects (Advanced)
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. TheProject
has anObject Picker
field with the keyclient_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.
object
-> assignee
-> name
to insert {{object.assignee.name}}
into the email body.]