TL;DR: Two complementary patterns for keeping parent and subitem statuses in lockstep — push parent status changes down to all subitems, AND roll up to the parent automatically when every subitem reaches a target status. Together they enable hands-off project status workflows.
What this does
Two recipes work together — pick one or both depending on whether you want top-down, bottom-up, or both directions.
Top-down: parent status → all subitems
Recipe:"When item's status changes to something, change all subitems status to something."
When the parent's status flips to your trigger value, every subitem's status updates to your target value. Example: parent → On Hold, all subitems automatically become On Hold.
Bottom-up: all subitems done → parent done
Recipe:"When the status of all subitems is something, change the parent item's status column to something."
The moment every subitem reaches your trigger status, the parent's status updates. Example: when ALL subitems hit Done, the parent flips to Done too. The parent stays in its previous state until the last subitem completes.
When to use these
Top-down: project-level decisions (cancel, hold, archive) should propagate to every task
Bottom-up: parent should never need manual status updates — it reflects the rollup of subitem completion
Both: full hands-off status management — leadership controls top-down, completion rolls up bottom-up
Before you start
A Status column on the parent item
A Status column on the subitem (can be the same labels or different)
Decide trigger values (parent state that triggers the sync) and target values (state to set)
Set it up — top-down
Open Automate → Create on your board.
Copy this recipe and find it in your board's automation center: "When item's status changes to something, change all subitems status to something." Click Use Template.
Copy this recipe and find it in your board's automation center: "When the status of all subitems is something, change the parent item's status column to something." Click Use Template.
Configure: subitem required status (when all match), parent target status.
Click Create automation.
Test that it works
Top-down:
Change the parent's status to your trigger value.
Confirm every subitem's status updated to the target value.
Bottom-up:
Set every subitem's status to the trigger value (e.g. all to Done).
Confirm the parent's status flipped to the target value automatically.
Common gotchas
Status values are case-sensitive. "Done" ≠ "done".
Bottom-up requires ALL subitems to match. One subitem in a different state blocks the sync. Subitems can be a different label group as long as the trigger value exists in the subitem column.
Loops are possible. If you set up both directions with conflicting logic (parent → subitems → parent), automations can fire in unexpected sequences. Test before deploying.
Empty subitems break bottom-up. A subitem with no status set won't satisfy "all subitems are X" — fill missing values or remove stale subitems.
For two-condition triggers (parent moves to X AND another condition is true), see the related smart-rule recipes — there's a variant "When item's status changes to something and this status is something, change its subitems status to something."