BoldDesk provides powerful automation capabilities that help support teams reduce manual work and maintain complete visibility across ticket workflows. One of the most effective automation actions is Add Activity, which allows you to automatically create tasks linked to tickets when specific conditions are met.

What Is Activity Automation in BoldDesk?

Activities in BoldDesk represent actionable tasks associated with tickets. Automating activity creation ensures:

• Transparency: Every action is logged for easy tracking.
• Accountability: Assigned tasks keep agents responsible.
• Efficiency: Reduces repetitive manual steps and speeds up resolution.

Use Cases

• Automatically create follow-up tasks for new tickets.
• Generate urgent activities when ticket priority becomes High or Critical.
• Create escalation tasks when tickets are reassigned to senior agents.
• Assign approval or review tasks when ticket status changes.
• Automate onboarding and service fulfillment activities.
• Create investigation tasks for incident or support requests.
• Generate cross-team handoff tasks based on ticket category changes.
• Assign due-date-driven tasks to support SLA compliance.
• Create quality assurance or post-resolution review tasks.

Understanding the Add Activity Action

The Add Activity action is available in Create Trigger and Update Trigger automations. It applies only to Task-type activities and requires specific mandatory fields.

Key Rules for Activity Automation

• Maximum of 5 activities per rule.
• Mandatory fields: Subject, Description, Status, and Priority.
• Subject length: ≤255 characters.
• Assignee must be an agent; Contact can include agents and contacts.
• Due date can be set in days or hours.

Email Notifications: If the activity has an assignee or the ticket has an agent, BoldDesk automatically sends an email notification upon activity creation.

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating an Automation Rule in BoldDesk

Follow these steps to configure an automation rule that creates activities:

1. Navigate to Admin → Ticket Automation → Update Triggers/Create Triggers.
   

   
   
   

2. Create a New Rule

   • Click Add Rule at the top of the screen.

   • Enter a Rule Name and Description for easy identification.
     

     
     
     

3. Define Conditions. Specify the conditions under which the rule should execute (for example, ticket status update, priority change, Ticket Type).
   
   

   
   
   

4. Configure Actions

   • In the Action section, select Add Activity.

   • Activity type defaults to Task.

   • Fill in Subject and Description.

   • Status defaults to Open; Priority defaults to Normal.

   • Optionally, set Assignee, Due Date, and other fields.
     

     
     
     

5. Save the Rule. Click Add to finalize and activate the rule.

Viewing Automated Activities in BoldDesk

Once the rule executes:

• Open the relevant Ticket.

• Navigate to the Activities tab to view the created activity.
  

  
  
  

To see full details:

• Go to the Activity Module.

• Select the activity and click History for a complete audit trail.
  

  
  
  

Best Practices for BoldDesk Activity Automation

• Use clear, descriptive subjects for better tracking.
• Assign tasks to the right agent for accountability.
• Set realistic due dates to avoid SLA breaches.

Troubleshooting

Add Activity did not create an activity

Check the following:

• The rule exists under the correct trigger type (Create Triggers vs Update Triggers).
• The ticket event is a ticket update event supported by Update Triggers (examples: reply added, note added, field/property updates, feedback added).
• The rule conditions actually match the ticket update that occurred.
• The rule attempts to create no more than 5 activities.

Unable to configure or save Add Activity

Verify Add Activity field requirements:

• Subject is provided and is ≤ 255 characters.
• Description, Status, and Priority are set (mandatory).
• Assignee (if set) is an agent.

Expected automation based on activity completion does not occur

Activity completion and activity status changes do not trigger automation in BoldDesk. Use ticket-based conditions/events instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What does the Add Activity action do in BoldDesk automation?
   Add Activity automatically creates a Task-type activity linked to a ticket when a Create Trigger or Update Trigger rule matches.

2. Where can I use Add Activity in BoldDesk?
   Add Activity is available in Admin → Ticket Automation → Create Triggers and Admin → Ticket Automation → Update Triggers.

3. How many activities can one automation rule create?
   A rule can create a maximum of 5 activities.

4. Which fields are required to create an activity using Add Activity?
   Subject, Description, Status, and Priority are mandatory.

5. What are the default values for automated activities?
   Status = Open and Priority = Normal by default.

6. Can Add Activity create non-task activities?
   No. Add Activity supports Task-type activities only.

7. Will agents receive notifications when an activity is created by automation?
   Yes. BoldDesk sends an email notification if the activity has an assignee or the ticket has an agent.

8. Can I run automation when an activity is completed or when activity status changes?
   No. BoldDesk does not support activity-based triggers or automation based on activity status changes.

Related Articles

1. How to Run an Automation at Scheduled Intervals
2. Automation Rules in BoldDesk: Boost Productivity with Triggers