Documentation - Cadence IP

How automations work

The trigger, conditions, and actions pipeline

Every automation follows a three-stage pipeline:

1. Trigger

An event occurs: a deadline approaches, a step changes, an email arrives, or a scheduled date is reached.

2. Conditions

Optional filters check whether the automation should fire: is the matter at a specific step? Does a field contain a particular value?

3. Actions

One or more actions execute: send an email, create a task, generate a document, change the step, or update a field.

Automations are configured per matter type. Navigate to Settings → Matter Types → [Your Type] → Automations and click + New Automation.

Multiple actions per automation

A single automation can have multiple actions. For example, when the step changes to "ISR Received", you might want to send an email to the applicant AND create a follow-up task AND generate a cover letter — all from one automation.

Trigger types

Events that start an automation

The trigger determines when the automation fires. Choose the trigger type that matches the event you want to respond to.

Matter lifecycle triggers

Trigger	Fires when
matter_created	A new matter of this type is created. Use for welcome tasks, folder creation, initial notifications.
matter_closed	A matter moves to an end step. Use for archiving notifications, final invoicing, wrap-up tasks.
matter_opened	A previously closed matter is re-opened (moved back from an end step). Use for re-activation workflows.

Step and field triggers

Trigger	Fires when
step_changed	A matter moves to a specific step (or any step). Configure which step triggers the automation. Commonly used for "when matter reaches Examination, send report to applicant".
field_changed	A specific field value changes. Useful for triggering actions when an Application Number is entered or a status field is updated.

Date-based triggers

Trigger	Fires when
relative_to_date	A configured offset from a date field is reached. E.g., "30 days before Convention Deadline". The most common trigger for deadline reminders.
relative_to_task	A configured offset from a task's due date is reached. Use for task deadline reminders.
recurring	Fires on a recurring schedule (e.g., every month, every quarter). Useful for periodic reviews or renewal reminders.

External and activity triggers

Trigger	Fires when
email_received	An incoming email is matched to a matter of this type. Use for auto-replies, task creation on new correspondence, or step changes.
document_uploaded	A document is uploaded to a matter. Use for notification emails, review task creation, or step advancement when key documents arrive.
invoice_paid	An invoice on the matter is marked as paid. Use for payment confirmation emails or advancing to the next step after payment.
progress_stalls	No activity has occurred on the matter for a configured number of days. Use for stale matter alerts to the responsible attorney.
action_link	A recipient clicks a specific action link in a previously sent email. Use for one-click approvals or confirmations from clients.
manual	Triggered manually by a user from the matter page. Use for on-demand workflows like "Generate filing package" or "Send status update".

Timing configuration

Control when actions fire relative to the trigger

For date-based triggers (relative_to_date, relative_to_task), you configure the timing offset:

Direction — Before or After the date
Offset — A number of days, weeks, or months
Source field — Which date field to calculate from

Common timing patterns

30 days before Convention Deadline — first reminder to file national phase entries
14 days before Convention Deadline — urgent follow-up if no instructions received
7 days before Acceptance Deadline — final reminder to respond to examination report
0 days after Filing Date — same-day confirmation email to applicant
1 month after Grant Date — renewal reminder setup

For event-based triggers (step_changed, field_changed, email_received, etc.), actions fire immediately after the event occurs. There is no timing offset for these triggers.

When are date-based automations evaluated?

The system evaluates date-based automations daily. If the current date matches the calculated trigger date (source date minus or plus the offset), the automation fires. Ensure your date fields are populated early so automations have time to schedule.

Conditions

Filter which matters an automation applies to

Conditions let you narrow when an automation fires. Without conditions, the automation applies to every matter of the configured type. With conditions, only matters matching your criteria will trigger the actions.

Field conditions

Operator	Description
equals	Field value exactly matches the specified value
contains	Field value contains the specified text (partial match)
empty	Field has no value set

Step conditions

Operator	Description
is	Matter is currently at the specified step
is_not	Matter is not at the specified step (useful for excluding closed matters)

Combining conditions

Multiple conditions can be combined using AND or OR logic:

AND — All conditions must be true for the automation to fire
OR — At least one condition must be true

Condition examples

"Send convention deadline reminder" only when step is not "Completed" AND step is not "Abandoned" — prevents reminders for closed matters
"Send examination report" only when Country field equals "AU" — limits the automation to Australian matters
"Create urgent task" only when Acceptance Deadline is not empty — ensures the deadline exists before creating the task

Action types

What happens when an automation fires

Actions are the work that gets done when the trigger fires and conditions are met. Each automation can have one or more actions that execute in sequence.

Communication actions

send_email

Send an email using a template to recipients defined by role. Supports CC/BCC, attachments from matter files, and AI-generated content.

send_sms

Send an SMS to a contact in a specific role. Requires Twilio configuration. Ideal for urgent deadline reminders.

show_email_popup

Display an email compose popup pre-filled with template content. The user reviews and sends manually. Great for correspondence that needs a human touch before sending.

show_field_popup

Prompt the user to fill in specific field values. Useful for gathering data at a particular workflow stage before proceeding.

Document and task actions

generate_document

Generate a document from a DOCX template with all variables replaced. Optionally convert to PDF. The document is saved to the matter's files.

create_task

Create a new task on the matter with a title, description, due date, and optional assignment. Due dates can use offsets (e.g., 7 days from now).

complete_task

Mark a specific task as complete. Useful for automatically closing tasks when the workflow moves past them.

create_folders

Create a predefined folder structure in the matter's file system. Set up folders for "Correspondence", "Official Documents", "Drafts", etc.

Workflow actions

change_step

Move the matter to a different step. This can trigger further automations if other automations use the step_changed trigger.

update_field

Set a field to a specific value. E.g., set "Status" to "Under Examination" when the step changes to Examination.

update_date

Set a date field to a calculated value (today, today + offset, or a specific date). Useful for recording when an event occurred.

assign_role

Assign a contact to a role on the matter. Can use a default contact or prompt the user to select one.

Billing action

generate_invoice

Generate an invoice from a template with pre-configured line items, payer role, and Xero codes. Useful for automatic billing when a step is reached (e.g., generate filing fee invoice when matter is filed).

Approval gates

Human review before automated actions execute

Any automation can have Approval Required enabled. When an automation with approval fires, the actions are queued for human review rather than executing immediately.

1

Automation triggers

The trigger fires and conditions are met, but instead of executing, the actions are placed in the Approval Queue.

2

Review in the queue

The approval queue (accessible from the sidebar) shows pending actions with a preview of what will happen. For emails, you can see the rendered content. For tasks, you can see the title and due date.

3

Approve or reject

Approve to execute the actions, or reject to discard them. You can also edit email content before approving.

When to use approval gates

Enable approval for automations that send external communication (emails to clients or foreign associates) until you are confident the templates and conditions produce the right output. Internal automations like task creation and step changes can usually run without approval.

Automation recipes for IP practices

Ready-to-use automation patterns

Recipe 1: Convention deadline reminder

Email the applicant 30 days before the convention deadline to request national phase filing instructions.

Trigger

relative_to_date: 30 days BEFORE "Convention Deadline"

Conditions

Step is NOT "Completed" AND step is NOT "Abandoned"

Actions

send_email: "Convention Deadline Reminder" to Applicant role

Recipe 2: ISR received workflow

When the step changes to "ISR Received", automatically send the ISR report to the applicant and create a follow-up task.

Trigger

step_changed: to "ISR Received"

Conditions

None

Actions

1. send_email: "ISR Report" to Applicant
2. create_task: "Review ISR and prepare advice" due in 14 days

Recipe 3: Examination direction deadline reminder

Remind the attorney 14 days before the deadline to request examination on an AU standard patent.

Trigger

relative_to_date: 14 days BEFORE "Direction to Request Examination"

Conditions

Step is "Filing" OR step is "Formalities" (examination not yet requested)

Actions

1. send_email: "Examination Direction Reminder" to Attorney
2. create_task: "Request examination or seek extension" due in 7 days

Recipe 4: New matter setup

When a new matter is created, automatically create the folder structure and a welcome task for the responsible attorney.

Trigger

matter_created

Conditions

None

Actions

1. create_folders: Correspondence, Official Documents, Drafts, Prior Art
2. create_task: "Review new matter and confirm details" due in 3 days

Recipe 5: Stalled matter alert

Alert the attorney if no activity has occurred on a matter for 30 days. Prevents matters from falling through the cracks.

Trigger

progress_stalls: 30 days

Conditions

Step is NOT "Completed" AND step is NOT "Abandoned"

Actions

1. send_email: "Stalled Matter Alert" to Attorney
2. create_task: "Review stalled matter and take action" due in 7 days

Errors and troubleshooting

Diagnosing when automations don't fire as expected

When an automation does not behave as expected, check these common causes:

Automation did not fire

Check that the trigger type matches the event. A step_changed trigger only fires when the step actually changes, not when the matter is opened.
Verify conditions are met. If a condition requires the step to be "Examination" but the matter is at "Filing", the automation will not fire.
For date-based triggers, ensure the source date field is populated. Empty date fields produce no trigger date.
Check that the matter is not at an end step. Some triggers exclude closed matters by default.

Email was not sent

Check that the recipient role has a contact assigned with a valid email address.
Verify your SMTP settings are correctly configured and the test connection succeeds.
If the automation has approval enabled, check the Approval Queue — the email may be waiting for review.

Variables not replaced

Ensure the variable syntax is correct: $field.Name for email templates, ${field.Name} for document templates.
Check that the field name in the variable exactly matches the field name in the matter type configuration (case-sensitive).
If the field has no value, the variable will be replaced with an empty string.

Automation fired unexpectedly

Review conditions. If no conditions are set, the automation fires for every matter of the type.
Add step conditions to exclude closed or abandoned matters.
Check if a cascading effect is occurring: automation A changes the step, which triggers automation B.

Cascading automations

Be careful with automations that trigger other automations. If automation A changes the step to "Examination" and automation B triggers when the step changes to "Examination", both will fire. This is powerful but can create unexpected chains if not planned carefully. Test with approval gates first.