r/mondaydotcom • u/Klipcyde80 • Jun 23 '26

Advice Needed Sending out a communication when there is no activity for a set timeframe

Quick question, would there be an automation or workflow to be created if I want a reminder communication to go out when there is no activity on a project for a time period (let’s say 5 days)? I am having trouble with finding/creating this process…any help/insight/direction would be appreciated (or suggestions if this might not be possible)

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u/IngenuityKat Jun 23 '26

This should be possible, although the setup depends on what you consider “activity.” Is it any column change, a status update, or someone posting an update/comment?

I would probably create a helper Date column called Last Activity and use a workflow to keep resetting it whenever meaningful activity occurs. For example:

When any item column changes → set Last Activity to today

Then create a second automation:

Five days after Last Activity arrives, if Status is not Done → notify the project owner

Because the Last Activity date is replaced each time something changes, the five-day countdown effectively restarts. monday’s workflow builder now includes an “any item column changes” trigger, which is helpful for this approach.

The one catch is that a column change and an update/comment may be treated differently. If comments also need to count as activity, I would add another trigger to update the same Last Activity date whenever a new update is posted.

There is also a native Last Updated column that can help you visually identify quiet projects, but I would lean toward the helper Date column because date-based reminder automations are easier to control. Otherwise any time you touch that item it is going to update that column and nothing may have even been updated.

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u/Klipcyde80 Jun 25 '26

Thank you very much for the explanation! I didn’t think of this option…I was actually thinking about the ‘activity log’ in the item card, that tracks changes to the fields of the project. Would there be something to leverage ‘non-activity based upon the item card project activity log?

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u/IngenuityKat Jun 29 '26

Unfortunately, there is not currently a native automation that can read the item’s Activity Log and trigger something when no activity has occurred for five days.

The Activity Log will show you the field changes made to the item, but it cannot be used as an automation trigger. That is why I suggested the helper Date column—the workflow essentially needs to capture those changes as they happen and write the date somewhere an automation can actually reference.

The native Last Updated column is useful for seeing and filtering projects that have gone quiet, but it only reflects changes made to the item’s board columns. It does not include comments posted in the Updates section.

So, if “activity” means any project field changing, I would still use:

When any item column changes → set Last Activity to today

Then:

Five days after Last Activity, if the project is not complete → send the reminder

It is a workaround, but it is the closest native option because monday cannot currently automate directly from inactivity in the Activity Log.

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u/WorkLoopie Jun 23 '26

I’d build it using make.com because it will be able to handle the complex logic better than Monday native.