Tasks FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about Tasks.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
Tasks Overview.
Setup
Do I need to configure anything before tasks start working?
Enable the Tasks app from the Apps Marketplace — it is disabled by default and requires a licence. Once enabled, the defaults let managers and admins create, assign, and complete tasks immediately. Optional features — smart assignment, recurring tasks, SMS alerts, daily digests, and completion verification — are all off by default and must be turned on in the Tasks settings page.
Who can access which parts of Tasks?
There are three levels of access:
- Admins, super admins, and HR admins can do everything, including deleting tasks, managing templates, accessing analytics, importing tasks, and changing settings.
- Tasks app administrators (designated per user in the Apps Marketplace) have the same capabilities as admins except changing settings, which requires a business admin, super admin, or HR admin role.
- Managers can create and assign tasks (when the Allow all managers to assign tasks setting is on, which it is by default), and can view team analytics. Whether managers can author templates depends on the Who can manage templates setting — the default is Admins only.
- Employees can view and work on their own assigned tasks in the My Tasks view, create personal tasks (when Allow self-assignment is on, which it is by default), and see their personal analytics.
Permissions and access
Why can’t a manager assign tasks to other people?
The Allow all managers to assign tasks setting is on by default, but an admin may have turned it off. When off, only admins and Tasks app administrators can assign. Check the Tasks settings page under Permission Settings and re-enable it if needed. The error message the manager sees is: “Only administrators can assign tasks. An admin can enable manager assignment in Tasks settings.”
Why can’t a manager create or edit templates?
Template management is controlled by the Who can manage templates setting, which defaults to Admins only. Change it to Managers and admins in the Tasks settings page under Permission Settings to let managers author and edit templates.
Can employees create their own tasks?
Yes, when the Allow self-assignment setting is on (the default). When off, only managers, admins, and Tasks app administrators can create tasks. Employees always see and work on tasks assigned to them, regardless of this setting.
Day-to-day
How do recurring tasks work?
Set a template’s recurrence to Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Every Shift. A background job runs every 15 minutes, checks for recurring tasks whose next occurrence is due, and creates a new task instance from the parent — copying all fields, checklist items, and assignment rules. For weekly recurrence you can pick specific days of the week. The original task stays open as the recurring parent; each generated instance is independent and tracks its own status.
How does smart assignment decide who gets the task?
When Enable smart assignment is turned on in settings (off by default), a new task with no explicit assignee is routed to the person with the fewest active tasks (pending, in-progress, or overdue). If the task has a location, users who have been assigned tasks at that location are preferred. If you set a Maximum concurrent tasks per user cap (options: 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20), anyone at or above the cap is skipped. If no one has capacity, the task stays unassigned.
What can the AI Tasks agent do?
From the Ask AI sidebar, the agent can list, create, assign, complete, cancel, reopen, and escalate tasks in plain language — 10 tools in total. Every write action shows a diff preview and asks for confirmation before saving. Read-only actions (listing and viewing details) need no confirmation. The agent respects the same permission rules as the UI: employees can only act on their own tasks, and assigning to others requires the same manager/admin gate. An admin can turn the agent off entirely from the Tasks Agent card in Tasks settings.
Can I delegate a task to someone else?
Yes, if the admin has enabled the Allow task delegation setting (off by default) in the Permission Settings card. When enabled, an assignee can delegate their task to another team member from the task detail view. Completed and cancelled tasks cannot be delegated.
What happens when a task is escalated?
When a task is escalated — manually or by auto-escalation — it is flagged, the escalation reason is recorded, and the assignee’s manager (or the task creator, if no manager is set) is notified by in-app notification and email. Auto-escalation of critical overdue tasks is a separate setting: enable Auto-escalate critical tasks and choose how long after the due date to trigger it (15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, or 4 hours; default is 1 hour).
When something looks wrong
“I completed the task but my manager says it still shows as pending”
If Enable task verification is turned on in settings, completing a task triggers a verification request to the manager — the task shows as completed but is separately flagged for review. The manager must verify it. This is distinct from the task status itself; check whether verification is enabled and whether the manager has a pending verification notification.
“I can’t complete this checklist task — the button is greyed out”
A checklist task auto-completes only when every checklist item is checked off. If individual items require a photo or notes (set per item when the task or template was created), those must be provided before the item can be checked. Look at which items are still incomplete and whether they have a photo or notes requirement icon.
“My employee says they can’t see their tasks”
Three things to check: (1) the Tasks app must be enabled for your business; (2) if you use Access Management audience rules on the Tasks app, the employee must be in the included audience; (3) for personal task creation specifically, the Allow self-assignment setting must be on.
“An overdue task didn’t trigger an SMS”
SMS alerts fire only for Critical-priority tasks, and only when three conditions are met: your business has SMS enabled, the Enable SMS notifications setting is turned on in Tasks settings (off by default), and the individual user has not opted out of SMS for tasks in their notification preferences.
Templates and imports
How do industry starter templates work?
Go to Templates and choose Load Industry Defaults. Pick from 11 industries: Healthcare, Retail, Manufacturing, Hospitality, Food & Beverage, Education, Technology, Finance, Transportation, Construction, and Professional Services. Each pack creates a set of ready-to-use templates with checklist items, priority levels, and recurrence patterns pre-filled. Existing templates with the same title and category are skipped — your customisations are never overwritten.
Can I import tasks in bulk?
Yes. The Import tab (visible to managers, admins, and Tasks app administrators) uses the Smart Import engine — paste rows or upload a CSV file to create tasks in bulk.
Integrations
Can tasks be created automatically from a Forms submission?
Yes. A form template can include task rules that fire when a submission reaches a specified status (submitted, approved, or rejected). Rules can evaluate field values, submitter role, department, and location. The generated task’s title and description support field placeholders (e.g. {{field_name}}), and assignment can route to the submitter, their manager, the form owner, a department head, a location manager, a specific user, or a role-based pool. Both the Tasks app and the form’s Tasks integration toggle must be enabled.
How do AI Notepad meeting action items become tasks?
When a meeting is processed by AI Notepad, it extracts action items. If the Create tasks automation is enabled, each action item becomes a task — with the attendee matched to a business user as the assignee, the action text as the title, and any mentioned deadline as the due date. Duplicate tasks for the same meeting are prevented automatically.
Licensing and limits
Does Tasks require a licence?
Yes. Tasks requires a licence and is opt-in per tenant. An administrator enables it from the Apps Marketplace; it is disabled by default until then.
Are there limits I should know about?
| What | Limit |
|---|---|
| Task title | 255 characters |
| Category name | 100 characters |
| Document attachment size | 10 MB per file |
| Allowed document formats | PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, plain text, CSV, and images (PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP) |
| Comment length | 5,000 characters |
| Escalation reason | 1,000 characters |
| Concurrent task cap per user | No limit, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 (admin-configurable) |
| Auto-archive window | 7, 14, 30, 60, or 90 days after completion (default 30) |
| Due-date reminder lead time | 1, 2, 4, 8, 24, or 48 hours before due (default 2) |
| Digest delivery time | 6:00 AM, 8:00 AM, 9:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 5:00 PM, or 6:00 PM in your business timezone (default 8:00 AM) |
More help
- Tasks Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers Tasks questions from these articles.