Trigger mirror automations based on all mirror statuses being something

Platform discussions monday apps & integrations
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Have you ever struggled to automate a status on a summary board because you had to wait for all items in a mirrored status column to be marked as “Done”? You’re not alone. This is a common limitation of native monday.com automations[https://community.monday.com/t/mirror-status-is-aggregate-of-status-from-multiple-item-mirror-automation-based-on-all-mirror-status-being-something/33655]. While they can notify you of individual status changes, they can’t evaluate aggregate conditions like “when ALL mirrored statuses are a certain value” or “when SOME mirrored statuses meet a criterion.” Additionally, they can’t check if a specific number or percentage of mirrored statuses meet a condition before updating another column. This gap can hinder your workflow, but understanding it can help you find better solutions.

The manual way

You have to visually check the mirrored column, see that every single item is “Done,” and then manually change the status on the main item. This is slow and prone to human error, especially for large projects with hundreds of sub-tasks and connected items. The existing functions available in the formula column are inadequate, as they do not allow for the inclusion of multiple mirrored values.

A better way

By combining monday.com’s native automations with Formula Pro, you can build the perfect automation that solves this exact problem.

This workflow utilizes a Formula Pro’s custom recipe and custom function to evaluate the condition. The results are then projected into a column that can be interpreted by monday.com native automations, such as status or text columns. This allows for seamless integration with other automations or email notifications.

How does this work?

Given a scenario where you have a high level board (Board A) that aggregates the task status from another board (Board B)

Step 1: Set up the Board

Make sure you have a mirror column on your Board A that is pulling the Status column from your board B. Then, add a new destination STATUS column (let’s call it “Project Status”) to board A.

Step 2: Setup recipe and build the formula on Board A

In the Automation Center, search for Formula Pro. If you haven’t installed it yet, you can add it to your board and get started for free using this link. Next, search for the recipe When mirror column changes, execute formula and project result to column linked with connect board ↔️.

https://vimeo.com/1122693192?share=copy

Then enter the following formula and choose your mirrored column, the connect column it’s linked with and your Project Status destination column. This makes the data actionable and accessible for native monday automations.

  • IF(ALL_MIRROR_STATUSES_MATCH_CONDITION({Mirrored Status}, "Done"), "Complete", "In Progress")

Explanation:

  • ALL_MIRROR_STATUSES_MATCH_CONDITION is a custom Formula Pro function that checks if all the values in a mirrored status column meet a specific condition. Some more functions are: AT_LEAST_ONE_MIRROR_VALUE_MATCHES_CONDITION , SOME_MIRROR_VALUES_MATCH_CONDITION, HALF_MIRROR_VALUES_MATCH_CONDITION, NO_MIRROR_VALUES_MATCH_CONDITION , PERCENTAGE_OF_MIRROR_VALUES_MATCH_CONDITION .

  • {Mirror Status} is the mirrored column from Board 1 that contains the statuses of the individual items.

  • "Done" is the status label you are checking for.

  • "Complete" and "In Progress" are the text strings that the formula will output into a separate Text or Status column, which is the key to enabling the next step.

Step 3: Setup native monday.com automation on Board A

Set up a native monday.com automation on your board:

  • When Project Status changes to 'Complete', then set Overall Status to 'Finalized'

This three-step process eliminates the need for manual checks, ensuring that your overall project status is always accurate and updated in real time. It’s a game-changer for project managers and operations leads who need to manage complex, multi-board workflows without the headache of manual data entry and verification.

Here it is in action:

Are you frustrated with the limitations of mirror status aggregate automation? Discover the potential of advanced automations that were once out of reach. Utilize robust custom functions such as SKIP, PASS, IFERROR, IFNA, COUNTIF, SUBTRACT_DAYS, SUBTRACT_MINUTES, and CLEAR. Get started with our free tier, offering 120 automations each month.

Has this been a frustration for you too? Share your toughest mirror status aggregate automation challenges below!

Got questions or need a hand setting it up? Book a call

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Mirror status is aggregate of status from multiple item - Mirror Automation based on ALL mirror status being something
Workaround for automation for mirror columns connected to multiple boards?
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This is a great workaround for the current limitations of mirror automations! You’re absolutely right that native monday.com automations can’t natively “wait until all mirrored statuses equal X.” Leveraging Formula Pro to compute whether all mirrored statuses match a condition, writing the result to a column, and then triggering a native automation off that column is clever and elegant. It effectively bridges the gap between aggregate logic (which formulas can handle) and event-driven automations (which native automations are good at).

1 Like
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Hi @mattewwade06 ,

Indeed, that is precisely what we had in mind.

Have you had the opportunity to utilize it? Did you find it helpful? Were you able to run into any issues? Do you have any questions or suggestions?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

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yes I’ve had the chance to try it out and it’s been really helpful! The setup works smoothly, and so far I haven’t run into any major issues. It definitely adds flexibility where the built-in automations fall short. I’ll keep testing and let you know if I spot anything that could be improved. Thanks again for sharing this approach!