Rules (Automation)

WeKan Rules automate your board: when something happens (a trigger), WeKan runs a action. This is WeKan's equivalent of Trello's Butler.

Open Rules from the board sidebar → Rules. The Rules page is a fullscreen page below the top bar (it used to be a small popup).

How a rule works

A rule links one trigger to one action:

When a card is moved to list "Done" → then mark the card complete.

Triggers and actions both support a wildcard * meaning "any" (for triggers) or "the card's current value" (for actions).

Managing rules

On the Rules page you can:

• Add a rule: type a title, pick a trigger, then pick an action.
• View a rule's trigger/action in plain language.
• Edit (rename) a rule inline.
• Delete a rule.
• Select all / Unselect all rules, and Delete selected.
• Export selected (or all) rules — see Import / Export below.
• Switch to Workflow view — a drag-and-drop visual editor. Drag a trigger and an action into the builder (When … → Then …) and add the rule, or drag an action onto an existing rule to change what it does. Existing rules are shown as connected When → Then nodes you can delete. This is similar to a Jira workflow.
  • The palette offers the parameter-free / "any" variants (e.g. "Card is created", "Move card to top", "Archive card", "Every day at 09:00"), so a rule can be built entirely by dragging. Parameterized rules (a specific list, label, member, or schedule time) are still created with the form builder on the List view.

Triggers

Event triggers

• Board: card created / moved (to or from a list) / archived / unarchived.
• Card: label added/removed, member added/removed, attachment added/removed.
• Checklist: checklist added/removed/completed, item checked/unchecked.

Scheduled triggers (time-based)

Evaluated by a server cron job every minute:

• On a schedule: once on a date, every day, every weekday, every week (pick a weekday) or every month (pick a day of month), at a chosen time, optionally limited to cards in a named list.
• Due date: when a card's due date is set, is approaching (N days before), or is overdue (N days after), at a chosen time.
• Card aging / time-in-list: when a card has been in a list for N days.

Button triggers (manual)

• Card button: appears on the card detail; runs the action on that card when clicked.
• Board button: appears in the board header; runs a board-level action on demand.

Actions

• Board: move card to top/bottom (of its list or a named list/board), archive / unarchive, add swimlane, create card, link card, sort a list (by due date / name / created / modified), move all cards from one list to another.
• Card: set/update/remove a date, set a date relative to now ("+N days"), add/remove label, add/remove member, remove all members, set color, mark complete / incomplete.
• Checklist: add/remove checklist, check/uncheck all, check/uncheck an item, add a checklist with items.
• Mail: send an email.

Variables

Action text fields support Trello-Butler-style variables in {name} form, substituted when the rule runs. They work in the email subject/body, the created card name, and created checklist/swimlane names:

Example email body: Card {cardname} (#{cardnumber}) moved on {datetime} by {username}. Unknown {tokens} are left unchanged.

Example: archive completed cards after 90 days

This common "process" works out of the box with a scheduled card-aging trigger plus the archive action:

When a card has been in list "Completed" for 90 days (checked daily) → then archive the card.

Create it on the Rules page (Scheduled triggers → "card in list for N days"), or via the REST API.

Import / Export

Click Import / Export on the Rules page.

• Export to JSON — lossless; each rule embeds its full trigger and action.
• Export to CSV — round-trippable (common fields as columns, the rest as a JSON cell).
• Import from JSON / CSV — paste a previously exported file.
• Export selected — if you have selected rules, only those are exported.
• Import target — choose which workspace and board the imported rules go into (the workspace selector filters your boards by your personal workspaces; defaults to the current board). This applies to every importer in the dialog (JSON, CSV, Trello Butler and visual workflows).

Importing visual workflows (n8n / Node-RED)

The Import / Export dialog can import a visual workflow exported from n8n or Node-RED (auto-detected, or pick the format). The workflow graph's trigger→action edges are mapped to WeKan rules by recognizing trigger-like and action-like nodes (schedule/cron → scheduled rule; webhook/trigger → "card created"; archive/move/complete/email/create-card actions). Nodes that can't be mapped are reported. The rules are created in the board you selected under Import target.

These formats are arbitrary-integration graphs, so the mapping is best-effort. Importing rules/workflows with a whole board is supported for WeKan→WeKan (see below); n8n/Node-RED bring workflows only, into a chosen existing board.

Importing a whole board with its workflows (WeKan → WeKan)

A WeKan board export already contains its rules/triggers/actions, so importing a board brings its workflows and all other data with it:

• In the UI: All Boards → New → Import → From WeKan.
• Over REST: POST /api/boards/import with { "board": <export JSON> } (python3 api.py importboard EXPORT.json).

Migrating all boards + workflows + rules from another WeKan

python3 api.py migratefromwekan REMOTE_URL REMOTE_USER REMOTE_PASS logs in to a remote WeKan, lists that user's boards, exports each (full JSON incl. rules), and imports each into your WeKan via POST /api/boards/import. The remote fetch is done by the client/script (not the server), so no arbitrary-URL fetch happens server-side.

Importing rules from Trello

Trello's board export does not contain Butler rules/automation (confirmed: the Trello importer never receives them). So rules cannot be imported automatically from a normal Trello export. The Import / Export dialog offers a best-effort importer: paste your Butler command text and WeKan maps the recognizable subset (for example "when a card is added to list X, move the card to the top") and reports the lines it could not map.

Importing rules from Jira

Jira board/data import lives under All Boards → New → Import → Jira (see Jira import). If the Jira JSON includes an automationRules array in the WeKan { title, trigger, action } shape, those rules are imported with the board (best effort).

Jira import

WeKan can import boards from Jira, similar to Trello:

1. All Boards → New → Import → From Jira.
2. Paste the JSON from the Jira Cloud REST issue search (GET /rest/api/2/search) or an equivalent { "issues": [ … ] } object.
3. Map Jira assignees to WeKan users, then import — or click Import without mapping members (map later) to import immediately and map members afterwards. (The same option is available for Trello and WeKan imports.)

Jira statuses become lists (the workflow columns), each issue becomes a card (title [KEY] summary, description, due date, created/updated dates), Jira labels become board labels, and assignees become card members. An optional automationRules array is imported as WeKan rules.

REST API

Manage rules over REST (see also api.py addrule / editrule / removerule / listrules / getrule):

POST/PUT bodies embed the trigger and action inline:

{
  "title": "Archive after 90 days",
  "trigger": { "activityType": "scheduledTrigger", "scheduleKind": "aging",
               "listName": "Completed", "days": 90, "atTime": "03:00" },
  "action":  { "actionType": "archive" }
}

python3 api.py addrule BOARDID 'On create -> top' \
  '{"activityType":"createCard","listName":"*","swimlaneName":"*","cardTitle":"*","userId":"*"}' \
  '{"actionType":"moveCardToTop","listName":"*","swimlaneName":"*"}'

Related

• IFTTT and Rules
• Cards, Swimlanes
• REST API