---
title: "Create and manage automations"
url: "https://helpdesk.kontainer.com/article/create-and-manage-automations/"
type: "article"
category: ["Admin settings", "Highlighted features"]
tags: ["Admin users only", "DAM"]
language: "en"
published: "2026-10-08T12:15:06+00:00"
updated: "2026-10-08T12:15:06+00:00"
summary: "Set up automations that move, tag, copy or notify about files in your Kontainer DAM for you, and manage them from the Automations overview."
---

# Create and manage automations

Automations take care of repetitive work in your Kontainer DAM for you. They can move new uploads into the right folder, add files to an album, update a field when something changes, and much more. You set an automation up once, and Kontainer runs it either straight away when something happens or on a fixed schedule.

This guide shows you how to create an automation step by step, and how to manage it afterwards from the Automations overview.

## Open Automations

1. Click Resources in the left-hand menu.
2. Under DAM, click Automations.

This opens the Automations overview, which lists all your automations.

![The Automations overview in Kontainer, listing an automation with its folder, trigger, action, status, last run and next run, with the Create New button highlighted.](https://helpdesk.kontainer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/automations-overview.png?v=1791456322)

## Create an automation

Click Create New in the top-right corner. The form has five sections, which you work through from top to bottom.

![The complete New automation form with its five sections: Details, What it acts on, When it runs, What it matches and What it does, followed by the Save button.](https://helpdesk.kontainer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/automations-when-and-what-it-matches-scaled.png?v=1791456360)

### 1. Details

1. Enter a Name that says what the automation does, for example "Move product shots to Webshop". This makes it easy to find again in the overview.
2. Optionally, add a Description. This is useful if your colleagues also manage automations.
3. Leave the Active switch off for now. New automations start paused, so you can test them before they touch any files.

The Summary box describes your automation in plain words, for example "When a file is added, move it to a folder", and updates as you fill in the form. Use it to double-check that the automation does what you intend.

### 2. What it acts on

Choose whether the automation works on Files or Folders. Files is selected by default and covers most needs.

If you select Folders, the automation works on folders as a whole rather than on individual files. It will then either run at set times or when the folder as a whole is updated. You also get a different set of actions to choose from (see "5. What it does").

### 3. When it runs

Under Run type, choose how the automation starts:

| Run type | What happens | Use it when |
| --- | --- | --- |
| When something changes | The automation runs straight away when a specific event happens. | You want things handled immediately, for example new uploads. |
| Scheduled | The automation runs Every hour, Every day or Every week. | You want to wait until files are ready, for example until all metadata has been added. |

If you choose "When something changes", use Starts on to pick which events start the automation. File added is selected by default. You can remove it, or add one or more of these events:

- Any change
- Fields changed, Tags changed, Description changed, Metadata changed or Consent changed
- Renamed or Replaced
- Folder fields changed
- Moved, Added to album or Removed from album

If you choose Scheduled, pick how often it runs under Repetition.

### 4. What it matches

Here you decide exactly which files or folders the automation handles.

1. Under Folders, search for and select the folders the automation should watch.
2. Under Criteria, click Add filter to narrow things down, for example to specific file types or to files with a particular field value. Everything in one row has to match. You can add more rows and choose AND or OR between them. Filters work just like they do in smart folders, see [A Guide to Smart Folders](https://helpdesk.kontainer.com/article/a-guide-smart-folders/).
3. Click Test to see what the automation would act on right now. Nothing is changed.

To start over, click Clear filters.

> Tip: Always click Test before you save. If too many files match, add more filters. If nothing matches, check your folders and filters.

### 5. What it does

Under Action, choose what happens to everything the automation matches. Each automation performs one action.

| Group | Actions for files | Actions for folders |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Organise | Move, Add to album, Copy, Move to trash | Move |
| Metadata | Set field, Rename, Set description | Set field, Clear field, Rename |
| Delivery | Activate CDN | Not available |
| Notifications | Notify | Notify |

After you choose an action, fill in the settings that appear for it. For example, with Move you:

1. Choose the Destination folder to move to.
2. Under "If the name is already taken there", decide whether to Leave the existing file or Replace it.

### 6. Save and switch on

1. Click Save. The automation now appears in the Automations overview as Paused.
2. When you are happy with it, open the three dots (…) menu on its row and click Resume, or open it with Edit and switch Active on.

## The Automations overview

The overview shows the status of every automation at a glance:

| Column | What it shows |
| --- | --- |
| Name | The name you gave the automation. |
| Runs on folder | The folders the automation watches. |
| Trigger | When it runs, for example "When something changes" with the event underneath, such as File added. |
| Action | What the automation does, for example Move. |
| Status | Whether the automation is running or paused. |
| Last run | When it last ran, or "Never" if it has not run yet. |
| Next run | When it will run next. Paused automations show "Not while paused". |

## Manage an automation from the menu

Click the three dots (…) at the end of an automation's row to open its menu.

![The Automations overview with the three-dot menu open on an automation and its options highlighted: Edit, Preview, Run now, Resume, Run history, Duplicate and Delete.](https://helpdesk.kontainer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/automations-row-menu-open.png?v=1791456663)

| Option | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| Edit | Opens the automation so you can change its settings. |
| Preview | Shows how many items match the automation right now, without running it. A quick way to check that your filters still catch what you expect. |
| Run now | Runs the automation straight away, without waiting for its trigger or schedule. |
| Pause / Resume | Stops the automation temporarily, or starts it again. A paused automation does nothing until you resume it. |
| Run history | Shows a log of the automation's previous runs. Use it to check that the automation works as expected. |
| Duplicate | Creates a copy of the automation. See below. |
| Delete | Removes the automation permanently. |

### Duplicate an automation

Duplicate copies the criteria, trigger, schedule and action of an automation into a new automation called "[original name] (copy)".

![The Automations overview with the three-dot menu open on an automation, showing Edit, Preview, Run now, Resume, Run history, Duplicate and Delete, with Duplicate highlighted.](https://helpdesk.kontainer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/automations-row-menu.png?v=1791456449)

The copy is always saved as paused, so it cannot touch any files before you have adjusted it. Open it with Edit, make your changes, give it a new name and then resume it.

Duplicate is the quickest way to:

- Make several things happen to the same files. Each automation has one action, so duplicate it and change only the action, for example from Move to Notify.
- Add the same files to more than one album.
- Reuse a good set of filters on a different folder.

## Show Flow: see how your automations work together

When you have several automations, one can set off another. For example, one moves files into a folder and a second automation reacts to files being moved there. Two automations can also undo each other, for example if one moves files from folder A to B and another moves them back again.

Click Show Flow at the top of the overview to see how your running automations start or undo each other. Paused automations are not included. If nothing is linked, you will see a message saying that none of your running automations start or undo each other.

> Tip: Check Show Flow whenever you add or resume an automation, so you do not end up with automations working against each other.

## Example: Sort new uploads automatically

Your photographers upload everything to a folder called "Incoming", and product images need to end up in "Products".

1. Details: Name it "Move product images from Incoming".
2. What it acts on: Files.
3. When it runs: When something changes, starts on File added.
4. What it matches: Select "Incoming" and add a filter for your image file types. Click Test.
5. What it does: Move, with "Products" as the destination folder and "Leave the existing file" if the name is already taken.
6. Click Save, then click Resume in the … menu to start it.

Want the photographers to be told when their images have been moved? Duplicate the automation, change the action to Notify and resume the copy.

## Other languages

- [Dansk](https://helpdesk.kontainer.com/da/article/opret-og-administrer-automations/index.md)
- [Deutsch](https://helpdesk.kontainer.com/de/article/automationen-erstellen-und-verwalten/index.md)
- [Español](https://helpdesk.kontainer.com/es/article/crear-y-gestionar-automatizaciones/index.md)
- [Français](https://helpdesk.kontainer.com/fr/article/creer-et-gerer-des-automatisations/index.md)
- [Nederlands](https://helpdesk.kontainer.com/nl/article/automations-aanmaken-en-beheren/index.md)
- [Svenska](https://helpdesk.kontainer.com/sv/article/skapa-och-hantera-automations/index.md)

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