Track when Document Changes

Platform discussions
1

Hi all,

Any idea how to trigger an automation when a Monday document changes? Not the column itself (this would only trigger on removal or addition of a document).

What I need is to update a column with a date and time when a Monday document is edited.

I cannot use a formula to extract this, as the document column is not available in the “Columns & labels” dropdown.

Grateful for any inspiration/suggestions.

Thank-you.

2

I don’t think there is a a native “when a Monday Doc is edited” trigger. Edits to a Workdoc don’t change the item’s column value, so automations and the Last Updated column won’t fire, and the Doc column isn’t exposed to formulas.

Workable options:

  • Light manual workaround

    • Add a Status (or Button) column, e.g., “Doc edited?”

    • Automations:

      • When status changes to “Edited,” set Date/Time column to now.

      • Optional: When status changes to “Edited,” after 1 minute change status back to “—” (so it’s ready for the next edit).

    • Editors click the status/button after they finish editing the doc.

  • Use an external doc that supports file-modified triggers

    • Store the document in Google Drive or OneDrive/SharePoint instead of a Monday Doc.

    • Use Make/Zapier/Power Automate:

      • Trigger: File modified in a specific folder.

      • Find the related Monday item (by a stored file ID, a mapping table, or matching names).

      • Action: Update the item’s Date/Time column to now (and optionally post an update).

    • This is fully automatic once set up.

  • Custom build (only if you can code)

    • As of now there’s no official Workdocs “edit” webhook. A common approach is to avoid Workdocs for this requirement and use external file systems with proper change events. If you must stay in Monday, the best you can do programmatically is a manual trigger or a process change.

If you’re open to switching to Google Drive or OneDrive, I can outline exact steps in Make/Zapier/Power Automate for your setup. If you stay with Monday Docs, the manual status/button + automation reset is the most reliable workaround today that I’m aware off!

3

Hi Clarey.

I’m really grateful for such a comprehensive reply, thank-you.

My board is being used to track testing, with the test steps held in the Doc. They are formatted in tables, so this is really the only option.

I think asking a user to trigger an automation by setting a status for that purpose is solved by asking the user to enter a date in the “Last Updated” column. I want to remove this potential for user error, particularly as it is protecting an audit trail

Unfortunately, it just highlights the limitations of Monday, again.

Appreciate your thoughts and ideas.

4

Hi Tim, Sorry, trying to understand what is changing in the doc, could the test steps not be subitems under the main item perhaps with a tracked audit log and date capture that they can’t edit?