Reporting Cycle Automation
Report Forge supports automating recurring reporting tasks — scheduled output generation, automatic delivery on approval, and cron-based export schedules. This reduces manual steps for report owners and ensures outputs are distributed consistently.
Access: Workspace Settings → Automation (Workspace Admin only). Per-blueprint automation: Blueprint settings → Automation.
Automation types
| Type | Trigger | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled export | Time-based (cron) | Generate and deliver an output on a schedule |
| Trigger on approval | Edition approval event | Automatically generate and deliver output when an edition is approved |
| Trigger on edition created | Edition creation event | Notify a distribution list or create tasks when a new edition is created |
Scheduled export
When to use
- Reports with a fixed distribution schedule (e.g. every Monday at 08:00, last day of each month)
- Reports that must be delivered even if the report owner is unavailable
- Compliance reports that require evidence of timely delivery
Creating a scheduled export
- Open the blueprint → Blueprint settings → Automation → + Add automation.
- Select Scheduled export.
- Configure:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Output template | Which output template to generate |
| Schedule type | Weekly, Monthly, Custom (cron) |
| Delivery time | Time of day (workspace timezone) |
| Edition selection | Most recent approved edition (default) / Most recent closed edition / Specific edition by name |
| Delivery target | Email addresses, SharePoint folder, or webhook endpoint |
| Output format | PDF, Excel, Word, or CSV |
| File name pattern | Token-based filename (e.g. {{blueprint_name}}_{{edition_period}}_{{date}}) |
- Click Save automation.
Schedule configuration
Weekly:
- Select day(s) of the week.
- Set delivery time.
Monthly:
- Select day of the month (1–31, or "last day").
- Set delivery time.
- If the selected day does not exist in a month (e.g. 31st in February), the export runs on the last day of that month.
Custom (cron): Use standard cron syntax for fine-grained scheduling:
| Cron expression | Meaning |
|---|---|
0 8 * * 1 | Every Monday at 08:00 |
0 9 1 * * | 1st of every month at 09:00 |
0 17 L * * | Last day of every month at 17:00 |
0 8 * * 1,3 | Every Monday and Wednesday at 08:00 |
Cron expressions use the workspace timezone.
Trigger on approval
When to use
- Immediate delivery is required as soon as an edition is approved — no waiting for a scheduled window
- Client-facing reports where the client expects same-day delivery after approval
- Compliance submissions with strict delivery SLAs
Configuration
- Open the blueprint → Blueprint settings → Automation → + Add automation.
- Select Trigger on approval.
- Configure:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Output template | Which output template to generate |
| Delay after approval | 0 minutes (immediate) to 60 minutes |
| Delivery target | Email, SharePoint folder, or webhook |
| Output format | PDF, Excel, Word, or CSV |
| Include cover note | Pre-defined email body text for email delivery |
The delay allows reviewers a brief window to correct an approval made in error — set to 10–15 minutes for sensitive distributions.
Delivery targets
Email delivery
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Recipients | Fixed email addresses or a distribution list |
| CC | Additional recipients (e.g. project admin) |
| Subject | Token-based subject line |
| Body | Pre-defined cover note text |
| Include output as | Attachment (default) or link |
SharePoint folder delivery
Outputs are saved directly to a SharePoint document library folder.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Connection | An active SharePoint data connection (see Data Connections Admin) |
| Site | The SharePoint site |
| Library | The document library |
| Folder path | Path within the library (supports tokens: /{{project_name}}/{{year}}/) |
| File name | Token-based filename |
| Overwrite existing | Overwrite if a file with the same name exists / append timestamp suffix |
Webhook delivery
Sends the output as a base64-encoded payload to a webhook endpoint. Used for custom integration with document management systems or downstream applications.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Endpoint URL | The webhook URL to POST to |
| Secret | HMAC signature secret (for payload verification) |
| Payload format | JSON with base64-encoded file content |
Monitoring automations
Automation run log
- Go to Workspace Settings → Automation → Run log.
- The log shows:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Timestamp | When the automation ran |
| Blueprint | Which blueprint triggered it |
| Edition | Which edition was exported |
| Output template | Which template was used |
| Delivery target | Where it was sent |
| Status | Success / Failed / Skipped |
| Details | Error message (on failure) or file size (on success) |
Failure handling
If an automation run fails:
| Failure type | Cause | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| No approved edition found | No edition is in Approved/Closed status | Approve an edition or check the edition selection setting |
| Email delivery failed | Recipient email bounced or SMTP error | Check recipient addresses; review workspace email settings |
| SharePoint delivery failed | Auth failure or folder not found | Re-authenticate the SharePoint connection; verify folder path |
| Webhook delivery failed | Endpoint returned non-2xx response | Check the webhook endpoint; review the run log for HTTP error code |
| Output generation failed | Invalid template expression or missing data | Review the output template for broken expressions |
Failed automations do not retry automatically. Re-run manually from the Run log → click the failed run → Re-run.
Alert notifications
Workspace Admins receive an email notification for:
- Scheduled export failures
- Trigger-on-approval failures after 3 consecutive failures
Automation best practices
- Test before enabling: Create a test edition, approve it, and verify the automation runs correctly before relying on it for production distribution.
- Use the delay on approval: Set a 10-minute delay for client-facing distributions — this gives reviewers a brief window to catch errors.
- Don't duplicate manual distribution: If a report owner already manually distributes outputs, automation should replace that step, not add a parallel distribution channel.
- Monitor the run log monthly: Check for silent failures — automations that consistently run but produce empty or stale outputs.
- Coordinate with SharePoint admins: If delivering to SharePoint, ensure the destination folder exists before the first run.
Related
- Data Connections Admin — managing SharePoint connections for delivery
- Batch Edition Operations — bulk export for retrospective audit packs
- Notification Management — notifications triggered by edition approval
- API Access — programmatic output triggers via API