If you're working on an automation that's been running in the background, you may miss a pending update if you need to switch from Todoist Automations to work on something else. Notifications solves this by alerting you the moment the automation needs attention: a run failed, your balance is running low, or it's waiting for your answer to continue.
Turn on email or push notifications
In Todoist Automations, you can choose which alert you want to receive notifications for, and if you want it as an email, push notification, or both.
- Click your avatar at the bottom-left corner.
- Select Settings.
- Click the Notifications tab.
- Turn on Push notifications to receive real-time notifications in your browser and operating system.
- Select Allow when your browser asks for permission.
- Turn on Email to receive notifications at your account email address.
On Apple devices, push notifications only work after you install Automations to your home screen from Safari. Here's how to set it up:
- Open Safari on your Apple device.
- Log in to Todoist Automations at https://automations.todoist.com.
- Tap the Share icon in the Safari toolbar.
- Tap View More > Add to Home Screen.
- Check if Open as Web App is turned on.
- Tap Add.
- Tap to reopen Automations from your home screen.
- Tap the sidebar icon.
- Tap your avatar and select Settings.
- Tap the Notifications tab.
- Turn on Push notifications to receive real-time notifications in your browser and operating system.
- Select Allow when your browser asks for permission.
- Turn on Email to receive notifications at your account email address.
Once you've turned push notifications on, you can send yourself a test notification, see which devices are registered, or troubleshoot delivery problems from the same Channels section. Devices lists every device receiving your notifications, when each was last active, and lets you revoke any you no longer use.
If alerts still aren't coming through, check your device and browser notification settings directly. On the Notifications tab, the Trouble receiving? section expands a short list of help articles for enabling notifications on macOS, Windows, and Google Chrome.
Choose your alerts
Automations sends three kinds of alerts, and you can control push and email separately for most of them.
| Alert | Sent when |
|---|---|
| Failure alerts | An automation run fails |
| Pending questions | An automation pauses and needs your answer to continue |
| Low balance alerts | Your balance is running low, and again once it no longer covers a run |
Failure alerts and Pending questions each have their own Push and Email switches further down the Notifications page, marked Recommended. That's a suggestion rather than a requirement, so you can turn both off if you want.
Low balance alerts also have their own Push and Email switches, but Email stays on for this one and can't be turned off, because these are payment notifications.
Answer a pending question from a notification
In some browsers, like Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge on your desktop computer or Android device, you can answer a pending question directly from the notification.
If you're using other browsers like Firefox or Safari, or a pending question has more than two options, tapping the notification opens Todoist Automations itself, and you can answer from there instead.
Pending action notifications may show part of the question's text, so check if your lock screen is visible to others.
Get notified from inside an automation
Beyond the alerts above, you can ask the chat assistant to add a push notification as a step inside any automation. For example: “When this automation finishes, send me a push notification with a summary.”
Push notifications from your automations are delivered to any device where you use Automations and have notifications turned on.
This works independently of the alerts above. Turning off push or email in Choose your alerts won't stop an automation that's set up to notify you directly. Edit or remove that step from the automation instead.
Remove push notifications from your automation
If you no longer want the automation to send a push or email notification, follow these steps:
- Click your automation.
- Click Change in chat. You can also select the chat bar at the bottom of your screen.
- Use natural language to instruct Automations to remove the push or email notification step.
Fix notification problems
If your browser blocked notifications, allow notifications for Automations in your browser's site settings. Then return to Settings > Notifications and turn Push notifications back on.
If push notifications aren't supported in your browser at all, switch to a Chromium-based browser, such as Chrome or Edge, or install Automations as an app.
If alerts still aren't coming through, check your device and browser notification settings directly. On the Notifications page, Trouble receiving? links straight to each one.
Get in touch
Ready to stay in the loop? Open Automations, go to Settings > Notifications, and set your preferences for push and email alerts.
If you're having trouble setting up your notifications, get in touch with us.