# Every trigger, and what it carries

**Category:** [Project Manager](https://help.totalctrl.app/hc/totalctrl/totalctrl-help-center/en-US/categories/project-manager)
**Updated:** 2026-08-19

## When a task changes

- **A task is created** — fires however it was added: the board, the table, the API, or another rule.
- **A task's status changes** — moving between columns, however it was moved. Carries the previous and new column names.
- **A task is completed** — it crossed *into* a column marked as done.
- **A task is reopened** — it moved back *out* of a done column.
- **A task's assignee changes** — assigned, reassigned or unassigned.
- **A task's priority changes**.
- **A task's due date changes** — set, moved or cleared.
- **A custom field changes** — carries the field's name, so you can react to one field in particular.
- **A task moves to another group** — between sections in the table, or swimlanes on the board.
- **A task is made a subtask** — put under a parent, moved to a different parent, or promoted back to top level.
- **A label is added** / **a label is removed**.

## When a date arrives

- **A task is due soon** — two days before the due date.
- **A task is due today**.
- **A task becomes overdue** — the first day it is late.

## Two things worth knowing about the date triggers

**They fire at the moment, not while the state lasts.** "Became overdue" fires once, on the first day a task is late — not every day it stays late. A task that has been overdue for three months does not fire.

**They do not fire retroactively.** Switching a rule on today does not send every already-overdue task through it. Only tasks that reach the moment after you create the rule will trigger it.

**They use the assignee's timezone.** "Due today" means today where the person doing the work is, and they fire from 08:00 in that person's morning. An unassigned task uses whoever created the project.

Completed tasks are skipped: a done task is never due, and never late.

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## Related Articles

- [Subscribing to project events with webhooks](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/project-automation-webhooks)
- [Project Manager overview](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/project-manager-overview)
- [Working with Tasks](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/working-with-tasks)
- [Conditions: reacting to one value](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/project-automation-conditions)
- [Why isn't my automation running?](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/project-automation-troubleshooting)

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