Welcome to Unito! Building your first flow can be done in just a few steps. Here's your full guide to getting it done.
In this article:
- Unito's flow-creation framework
- Add your tool accounts
- Pick a flow direction
- Set your rules
- Map your fields
- Review and launch your flow
Unito's flow-creation framework
A Unito flow represents the connection between your tools and tells Unito how to keep your work items in sync. Unito supports integrations for dozens of apps and tools, while you build flows in the Unito interface.
What do I do with a flow?
Consider which work items you want to sync from one block of work to another. Are you trying to export progress updates into a spreadsheet? Collaborate in real-time between tasks and tickets? Create a shared calendar based on action items or milestones?
Whatever your use case, Unito can help you achieve it with a flow.
What's a work item? Unito syncs work items. These include tasks, tickets, spreadsheet rows, contacts, calendar events, issues, forms, etc. Here's a full list of supported work items.
What's a block of work? Work items are contained in blocks of work. These include projects, spreadsheets, repositories, lists, epics, calendars and more.
A flow is comprised of:
- One or two tools connected to Unito.
- Projects, spreadsheets, calendars, etc. (referred to as blocks of work).
- A flow direction that tells Unito where to automatically create and sync data based on your manual activity in the other app or tool.
- Rules which tell Unito how to filter data from syncing.
- Customizable field mappings that let you pick and choose which data points to sync between work items with automated updates.
The workflow designer
If you prefer working in a visual space, you can add your flows to Unito's Workflow Designer, which lets you see how your flows interact with each other.
Add your tool accounts to a flow
The first step is adding your tools, accounts, and blocks of work to a flow.
From the Unito dashboard, click +Create flow, then Start here.
On the next screen, +Add a tool to this flow and choose your tool from the dropdown menu.
If you haven't added your tool to Unito before, you'll have to go through a quick authorization process. It takes just a minute and a few clicks.
Next, pick the tool account you want to use, then the blocks of work that contain your work items.
Here's an example of a completed set of connected tools:
Pick a flow direction
Flow direction determines where Unito creates new work items automatically. Directional arrows indicate a source and destination for work item creation.
In the example below, the 2023 Roadmap Initiative project is the source and the Shareholder Report sheet is the destination.
With a one-way flow direction, work items from your source tool will appear in the destination. In a two-way flow, work items will be created by Unito in both connected accounts.
On the Choose your flow direction screen, you can click on the arrow that matches your use case.
Read more about Flow direction.
Set rules to filter work items from syncing
Rules tell Unito how to filter specific work items from syncing (or not) based on selected fields.
All rules follow the same structure:
First you'll see a series of IF / AND triggers which determine whether or not a work item will sync. Any work items that match the conditions of your rules will be created in the destination block of work by Unito.
Below that is the THEN / AND action, which tells Unito what should happen to the newly created work item(s) in the destination block of work.
In the above example, Unito will only sync tasks from the 2023 Roadmap Initiatives project to the Shareholder Report spreadsheet if they are:
- open (e.g., not completed, deleted or archived);
- created after the date mentioned;
- include any of the statuses: Closed, Delayed, In Review.
Those tasks will then appear as new spreadsheet rows that Unito will keep updated in real-time based on field mappings.
You could set a rule so only work items assigned to a specific person sync with Unito. Rules can also be used to filter work items with or without a certain label or tag.
Here are some of other ways you can try using rules with Unito:
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Excluding work items based on a specific field;
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Including or excluding work items in specific lists or sections;
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Only syncing work items assigned to a specific person;
Read more about setting rules in Unito.
Map your fields
Field mappings determine how your work items sync together on a field-to-field level.
Do you want to sync titles? Descriptions? Comments? Assignees? This is where that happens.
You can even sync each pair of fields in different directions to control where and how changes in one work item can affect the other.
By default, Unito can automatically match up similar fields or you can manually set your own field mappings.
For example, Trello lists are automatically paired to Asana sections, dates in Jira will be matched with due dates in ClickUp, and so on.
Here's an example of a completed table of field mappings.
The directional arrows indicate a source and destination field for changes. In a one-way sync direction, any changes to the source field will appear in the destination. In a two-way sync direction, changes in either paired field will appear in the other.
Click + Add mapping to apply additional field mappings.
Pick a field in one work item and Unito will automatically narrow the list down to the fields it can actually be mapped to.
Remember that some fields — like the description footer — can be mapped to multiple fields, while others can only be mapped once. If the field you want to map is in the later category, you'll either have to delete it by clicking the bin icon beside the mapping or re-map it.
You can set up your fields to sync changes in both directions while making sure new work items only get created in one direction. This is called a one-way create, two-way update flow. It can be useful for agency work, reporting, and more.
Read more about field mappings.
Review and launch your flow
Once you've finished setting up your flow, it's time to launch! When you click Launch you'll see a pop-up similar to this:
You have the option to toggle Auto Sync on or off. This determines whether or not Unito will automatically create and sync work items, or if you'd rather do so manually.
Flow safeguard: The default setting for all new flows includes a condition to only sync work items created after the flow's own creation date (e.g., today if you're building a flow as you read this guide).
This safeguard is designed to protect your historical work items and allow you to test your flow before syncing everything. That way you can make sure Unito is syncing what you want it to sync and nothing else.
You can remove this safeguard by selecting the bin icon beside created by in your rules:
Once your flow is launched, your work items will start syncing right away!
If you run into any issues, just click on the chat bubble in the bottom right and we'll answer any questions you have.
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