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Some rules shouldn’t depend on anyone remembering them. Automatic checks run by themselves, every time, around your coworker’s work.

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What they do

A permission rule decides whether your coworker may do something. An automatic check runs something at the moment it happens. Three moments are available: The distinction that matters: a before check can prevent the action. The other two happen alongside the work.

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When you’d use one

  • Log every outbound email to a shared record, so there’s an audit trail
  • Block anything that mentions a customer name you’ve flagged as sensitive
  • Tidy up temporary files at the end of every task
  • Notify a channel whenever a task finishes, so nobody has to check
  • Run your own validation before anything is filed
  • Stop an action that would touch a system outside working hours

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Checks or permission rules?

Reach for the simpler one first. Most people never need checks. Permission rules cover the common cases, and they’re far easier to reason about. Checks are for when you have your own logic — something that has to look at the content of what’s happening rather than just its type.
If you find yourself writing a check to block something, try a permission rule first. Rules are declarative, easier to audit, and can’t have a bug in them.

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Where they live

On the coworker’s Files tab, in the file labelled Automation.
If the file can’t be understood, it’s ignored entirely — checks switch off rather than breaking your coworker’s tasks. A mistake here costs you the checks, not the work.Worth knowing, because it means a broken file fails quietly. If a check has stopped running, this is the first thing to look at.

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Good to know

Checks belong to a coworker, so each can have its own. A coworker handling customer data can carry checks that a research coworker has no need for.
Test a new check on a coworker doing low-stakes work before putting it on one that matters. A before check that’s too aggressive blocks legitimate work, and that’s easier to notice somewhere harmless.

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Common questions

Most people don’t. Permission rules cover the usual needs. Checks earn their place when you have a rule with your own logic in it, or a compliance requirement to log something.
A little, because something extra runs. A before check on a frequent action is the one to keep light.
A before check that fails stops the action. The others don’t halt the task — your coworker carries on and the failure is visible in the conversation.
Yes — that’s the point of a before check. It inspects the action and can refuse it.
Usually the file can no longer be understood after an edit, which switches checks off silently. Check the Automation file first.

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Next steps

Permission rules

Try this first.

Approvals

What pauses by default.

Thorough review

Quality rather than policy.

Files overview

Where the Automation file lives.