Overview

Case Management supports two complementary automation systems:

The first connects Case Management to Element451's Workflows and Rules module, enabling communications, cross-module actions, and engagement journeys triggered by Alert and Case activity.
The second is a dedicated Automation Rules engine built specifically for Alert and Case handling—routing records, assigning staff, escalating signals, and creating follow-up work automatically at the moment of creation.

Together, they cover both the operational and the relational sides of automation. They are not mutually exclusive—Automation Rules can enroll a contact in a Workflow as one of their actions, so you can use Rules for routing and Workflows for the resulting student communication.

This article walks through both engines and then compares them side-by-side so you know when to use each.

Workflows Module

Case Management is integrated into Element451's Workflows and Rules module—meaning alert and case activity can both trigger automated workflows and be created by them. This allows your team to build fully automated intervention pipelines around student risk signals.

Triggers

Triggers enroll contacts into a Workflow when a specific event occurs. The following triggers are available for Case Management:

Alert Created

Enrolls a contact into a Workflow when a new alert is created for them. You can configure which alert types or priorities should trigger enrollment, allowing you to route different alerts to different workflows.

Case Created

Enrolls a contact into a Workflow when a new case is created for them. Use this to kick off onboarding workflows for the case — such as sending a welcome communication to the student, notifying subscribers, or creating initial tasks for the assigned staff member.

Alert Status Updated

Enrolls a contact into a Workflow when the status of one of their alerts changes. This trigger fires only on a status change, not on other edits to the alert, and supports scoping conditions such as alert priority and status, so you can target specific transitions (for example, an alert moving into In Progress or Escalated to Case).

Case Status Updated

Enrolls a contact into a Workflow when the status of one of their cases changes. Like the alert version, it fires only on a status change, not on broad case updates, and supports scoping conditions such as case type, priority, and status.

Joined Segment

Enrolls a contact into a Workflow the moment they enter a segment. When combined with a segment built from alert or case filter properties, this trigger enables population-based automation that responds to changes in a student's alert or case status over time.

Actions

Actions are steps within a Workflow or Rule that create or modify records. The following actions are available for Case Management, and can be used with any trigger—not just alert and case triggers.

Create Alert

Creates a new alert for the enrolled contact as a step in a Workflow or Rule. Use this to automatically generate alerts when other platform signals indicate a student may need attention — even if no one manually flagged them.

Create Case

Creates a new case for the enrolled contact as a step in a Workflow or Rule. Use this to automatically open accountable work records when a trigger condition is met, ensuring no at-risk student falls through the cracks because a case was never opened.

Getting Started with Workflows + Rules →

Automation Rules

Automation Rules are a dedicated, trigger-based automation engine built specifically for Case Management. They let you handle routine Alert and Case work automatically — instead of manually assigning reviewers, setting priorities, escalating to Cases, or creating follow-up Tasks, you can build rules that fire as soon as an Alert or Case is created and apply the actions you choose.

Every rule follows the same pattern—Trigger → Conditions → Actions. The Trigger fires the rule. Conditions narrow which records the rule applies to. Actions are what the rule does when those conditions are met. You can stack multiple conditions and multiple actions on a single rule.

Alerts and Cases each have their own Automation Rules page, with vocabulary and capabilities scoped to that record type.

Where to Find Automation Rules

Automation Rules live inside Case Management Settings, with separate pages for Alerts and Cases.

Navigate to Engagement > Case Management.
Click the ⋮ (more menu) at the top right of the page and select a settings option to open Case Management Settings.
In the settings sidebar, expand Alerts or Cases, then click Automation Rules.

📌 Note: Alert rules and Case rules are configured independently. A rule you build on the Alerts page does not affect Cases, and vice versa. For configuring the underlying Alert and Case fields these rules act on, see Alert Settings and Case Settings.

The Rules List

Both Automation Rules pages share the same layout. The list shows every rule you've created for that record type.

Column	Description
Name	The rule's name (set in the side sheet Title field).
Description	Free-text description from the side sheet; shows — if empty.
Actions	Comma-separated summary of every action configured on the rule (e.g., Update Reviewer, Update Resolution).
Last Updated	When the rule was last edited.
Enabled	Inline toggle to switch the rule on or off without opening it.

Creating a New Rule

Two entry points open the same rule side sheet:

The + icon button at the top right of the table
The + Add Rule button at the bottom of the list

Row actions

Click the ⋮ (more menu) at the end of any rule's row to:

Edit — open the rule in the side sheet
Delete — remove the rule

Creating a Rule

Clicking +, + Add Rule, or Edit opens a side sheet that takes up most of the screen. The side sheet is structured top to bottom around the same pattern: Title → Settings → Trigger → Conditions → Actions.

Title: At the top of the side sheet, the Title field defaults to Alert Rule on the Alerts page or Case Rule on the Cases page. Click into the field and replace the default with a descriptive name (for example, "Auto-assign high-priority attendance alerts"). This is the name shown in the rules list.
Settings:
- Enabled — Toggle that controls whether the rule runs. On by default. You can also flip this from the list view without opening the rule.
- Description — Optional free-text field for explaining what the rule does. Shows in the Description column on the list view (or — if empty).
Trigger:
- Alerts: The Trigger field is prefilled and read-only: Alert Created. Each Alert rule evaluates whenever a new Alert is created.
- Cases: Choose between two triggers:
  - Case Created — the rule evaluates whenever a new Case is created.
  - Case Status Updated — the rule evaluates whenever a Case's status changes. You can optionally scope it to one or more specific statuses, so the rule fires only on the transitions you care about.
Conditions: Conditions are optional filters that narrow which records the rule applies to. If you add no conditions, the rule applies to every Alert or Case that fires the trigger.
- Adding a Condition:
  - Click + Add Condition
  - Select a condition type from the menu (see the Conditions Reference below).
  - You can stack multiple conditions on a single rule.
- 📌 Note: Conditions are evaluated at the moment the trigger fires. A condition based on segment membership can be misleading here, because the student may not have entered the segment yet when the record that qualifies them is created. To act on a count, use a condition that reads the count directly, such as Total Open Alerts. See Open a Case when a student reaches three or more alerts in the Examples below.
Actions: Actions are what the rule does when its trigger fires and its conditions are met.
- Adding an Action:
  - Click + Add Action.
  - Each action renders as its own card with an Action dropdown at the top, action-specific fields below, and a trash icon to remove it.
  - You can add multiple actions to a single rule—they appear comma-separated in the Actions column on the list view. See the Actions Reference below for the full list.
Save: Click Save at the top right of the side sheet to commit the rule. Save stays disabled until required fields are filled in (Title, at least one valid Action, plus any required fields on each action—such as a Due Date on Update Due Date). Click the X at the top left to close the side sheet without saving.

Conditions Reference

The condition types available depend on whether you're on the Alerts or Cases page.

Alert Conditions

Condition	What it does
Segment Reference	Apply the rule only when the Alert's contact matches an existing saved segment.
Segment Builder	Build an inline segment in place instead of referencing a saved one.
Date Condition	Filter on a date field or relative date.
Alert Property	Filter on the Alert's own fields (Type, Priority, Reviewer, etc.).

Case Conditions

Condition	What it does
Segment Reference	Apply the rule only when the Case's contact matches an existing saved segment.
Segment Builder	Build an inline segment in place instead of referencing a saved one.
Date Condition	Filter on a date field or relative date.
Case Property	Filter on the Case's own fields (Type, Priority, Status, Assignee, etc.).
Related Alert	Branch the rule on properties of an Alert linked to the Case.

🧠 Good to Know: When you stack multiple conditions on a rule, all of them must be true for the rule to apply.

Actions Reference

Different actions are available on each page, reflecting the different fields available on Alerts vs. Cases.

Alert Actions

Action	What it does
Update Reviewer	Assign a Reviewer. Supports Selected, Rotational, or Balanced assignment across users, teams, the Contact's Assignee, or a Network Role (see Assignment Behavior below).
Update Priority	Change the Alert's priority.
Update Resolution	Update the Alert's resolution status.
Update Due Date	Set or update the Alert's due date—either an exact date or a number of days from when the rule runs.
Create Case	Spin up a new Case from the Alert. The action now exposes the full set of Case fields—Case Name, Assignee, Subscribers, Due Date, Privacy, Description, and Case Template—matching what you can set when creating a Case manually. Assignee and Subscribers also accept the Contact Assignee and Network Role tokens.
Enroll in Workflow	Enroll the Alert's contact in a Workflow.
Enroll in Bolt Agent Job	Trigger a Bolt Agent Job for the Alert.

Case Actions

Action	What it does
Update Assignee	Assign an owner. Supports Selected, Rotational, or Balanced assignment across users, teams, the Contact's Assignee, or a Network Role (see Assignment Behavior below).
Update Priority	Change the Case's priority.
Update Status	Move the Case to a different status.
Update Related Alerts	Set the resolution on every Alert linked to this Case. Paired with the Case Status Updated trigger, this closes a Case and its related Alerts in one step instead of leaving staff to update the Alerts by hand.
Update Type	Change the Case Type.
Update Due Date	Set or update the Case's due date—either an exact date or a number of days from when the rule runs.
Add Subscriber	Add a Subscriber to the Case. Accepts specific users and teams, plus the Contact Assignee and Network Role tokens.
Remove Subscriber	Remove a Subscriber from the Case. Accepts specific users and teams, plus the Contact Assignee and Network Role tokens.
Mark as Private	Mark the Case as Private.
Create Task	Create a Task linked to the Case. The action supports both internal and contact tasks, along with subtasks, subscribers, and Task Templates, mirroring the Create Task action in Workflows.
Enroll in Workflow	Enroll the Case's contact in a Workflow.
Enroll in Bolt Agent Job	Trigger a Bolt Agent Job for the Case.

Assignment Behavior

When you add an Update Reviewer action on the Alerts page or an Update Assignee action on the Cases page, you'll see an Assignment Behavior dropdown with three options. This controls how the rule chooses among the users or teams you've selected in the Reviewer / Assignee field.

Behavior	What it does
Selected (default)	Assigns to the specific user(s), team(s), Contact Assignee, or Network Role chosen.
Rotational	Rotates assignment across the chosen pool, one record at a time, in order.
Balanced	Balances load across the chosen pool, sending each new record to whoever currently has the lightest open workload.

🔁 Dynamic assignment tokens: Beyond specific users or teams, the Reviewer/Assignee field supports two tokens that resolve per record based on the student:

Contact Assignee — assigns to whoever owns the contact in Element451.
Network Role — assigns to whoever holds a given network role for that student. For example, routing a grade alert to that student's Academic Advisor, or a financial case to their Financial Aid Counselor.

When you select a token, you can also set a fallback that receives the assignment if the token cannot resolve, for example when a contact has no assignee or when no one holds the chosen network role. The fallback can be a specific user or another token. If the fallback is itself a token and it cannot resolve either, no one is assigned and the record is left unassigned.

These same tokens are available on Alert and Case Templates and when creating an alert or case manually, not just in rules.

Because these resolve dynamically, one rule routes every record to the right person without naming individuals. See Network: Connect Contacts with Internal Users to set up roles.

✨ Pro Tip: Use Balanced when you have a team that should share work evenly. Use Rotational when you want round-robin assignment regardless of current load.

Editing, Enabling, and Deleting Rules

Edit — Click the rule row's ⋮ (more menu) and choose Edit to reopen the side sheet.
Enable / Disable — Flip the Enabled toggle in the list view to pause or resume a rule without losing its configuration.
Delete — Click the rule row's ⋮ (more menu) and choose Delete.

🚨 Important: Deleting a rule cannot be undone. If you want to pause a rule temporarily, disable it instead.

Examples

Auto-assign new high-priority alerts to a specific reviewer

Create an Alert rule with a single Alert Property condition (Priority = High) and an Update Reviewer action set to your advising lead. Every new high-priority Alert will be assigned automatically.

Route alerts to each student's Academic Advisor

Create an Alert rule with an Update Reviewer action and set the Reviewer to the Network Role token for Academic Advisor. Each new Alert is assigned to whoever holds that role for the student—no need to name individuals or build a rule per advisor.

Escalate alerts for first-year students to a Case

Create an Alert rule and combine a Segment Reference condition (First-Year Students) with a Create Case action. Alerts for that population will spin up a Case automatically.

Set a 7-day due date on new advising cases

Create a Case rule, add a Case Property condition (Type = Advising), and an Update Due Date action with Due Days = 7.

Distribute incoming cases evenly across the advising team

Create a Case rule, add an Update Assignee action, set Assignment Behavior = Balanced, and choose your advising team. Each new Case will go to whichever team member has the lightest workload.

Open a Case when a student reaches three or more alerts

What does not work: an Alert Automation Rule whose condition is a segment of students with three or more alerts. The rule evaluates the moment the third alert is created, before the student has entered that segment, so it does not fire.

Recommended: a Workflow with an Alert Created trigger, a Total Open Alerts condition of 3 or more, and a Create Case action. The condition reads the count directly, so it is accurate at the moment the alert is created. Use a Workflow rather than a Rule: with an operator like greater than, a Rule runs again on every additional alert once the student is over the threshold, while a Workflow enrolls the student only once.

Alternative: a Workflow with a Joined Segment trigger and a Create Case action, which fires when the student enters the segment.

The two triggers differ in what they link. Alert Created → Create Case links the triggering alert to the new case automatically. Joined Segment → Create Case has no triggering alert, so the case is created with no related alerts and any you want on it must be linked by hand.

Bolt Agent Jobs

Job Triggers

Beyond the Enroll in Bolt Agent Job action described above, a Bolt Agent Job can also enroll contacts on its own. The job builder includes built-in Alert Created, Alert Status Updated, Case Created, and Case Status Updated triggers, so a Job pulls in any contact who gets a qualifying alert or case, or whose alert or case changes status, with no Automation Rule or Workflow required. Each of these triggers has a Repeatable toggle, so the same job can respond again the next time that student gets a qualifying alert or case.

Use a Job trigger when the enrollment logic belongs to the Job itself. Use the Enroll in Bolt Agent Job action in Automation Rules or Workflows when enrollment is one step in a larger routing or communication flow. No matter which path enrolls the contact, the Job enrollment is automatically related to the Case and appears on its Jobs tab, and the job's activity appears on the alert or case timeline so you can see what the agent did without leaving the record.

For the full trigger list and setup, see Creating a Bolt Agent Job. For all the ways Bolt works across Case Management, see Bolt AI in Case Management.

Job Actions: Create Alert and Create Case

A Bolt Agent Job can also create alerts and cases on its own. Add a Create Alert or Create Case action to a job, and the agent can flag a concern for staff when it notices one during outreach. For example, it can flag a student who mentions a financial hardship, or one who says they can't get to class.

These work differently from the Create Alert and Create Case actions in Workflows. You don't fill in the alert or case fields ahead of time. The agent drafts the record from the student's record, its conversations with the student, and the action's Instructions.

Field	How it's set
Name	Written by the agent as a short, staff-facing summary of the concern.
Description	Written by the agent for staff. It is never addressed to the student.
Type, Status, Priority	Chosen by the agent from the options configured in your Alert or Case Settings. New alerts default to an open status such as Triage, and new cases default to To Do or In Progress.
Reviewer (alerts) / Assignee (cases)	The users in the job's Assign Conversation To setting. If none are set, the job's Approvers.
Related Case (alerts only)	The agent links the new alert to one of the student's open cases when the alert is clearly about the same issue.
Courses (alerts only)	Set when the alert type supports courses and a specific course is clearly relevant.
Due Date (cases only)	Set only when the instructions or the student's record point to a concrete deadline.
Private (cases only)	Off, unless your instructions call for it.

Subscribers are not added, and job-created alerts don't get a due date. A job-created alert or case behaves like any other, so it fires your Alert Created and Case Created Automation Rules and Workflow triggers. Use those to add subscribers, set due dates, or route the record.

Steering the agent: Use the action's Instructions to tell the agent when to create a record and how to fill it in. For example: "Only create an alert when the student reports a barrier to attending class. Use the Attendance type and Medium priority." When your instructions conflict with the defaults above, the agent follows your instructions.

🚨 Important: Allow Self-Approval is turned on by default when you add a Create Alert or Create Case action, so the agent creates records without staff review. To have staff approve each alert or case before it's created, open the action's Self-Approval tab and turn the toggle off. We recommend testing on a small segment before activating the job for a large audience.

🧠 Good to Know: The agent can see the student's open cases and the alerts linked to them, and it's instructed not to open a duplicate case for the same issue. It can't see alerts that aren't linked to a case, so use your instructions to limit when it creates new alerts.

📌 Note: To see what the agent created, open the contact's enrollment in the job. The action history shows the alert or case name, description, and the agent's reasoning, with a View Alert or View Case button. The enrollment isn't added to the new case's Jobs tab automatically. To show it there, relate the enrollment from the case's Jobs tab.

When to Use Each Engine

Both tools can automate actions when an Alert or Case is created, but they serve different purposes.

Automation Rules and Workflows + Rules are not mutually exclusive — Automation Rules can enroll a contact in a Workflow as one of their actions, so you can use Rules for routing and Workflows for the resulting student communication, all triggered by the same event.

Side-by-Side Comparison

	Automation Rules	Workflows
Best for	Routing and handling alerts/cases—assignment, prioritization, escalation, task creation	Cross-platform automation—student communications, creating alerts/cases from external signals
Configured in	Case Management Settings > Alerts/Cases > Automation Rules	Data + Automations > Automations
Triggers	Alert Created, Case Created, Case Status Updated	Alert Created, Case Created, Alert Status Updated, Case Status Updated, Joined Segment, form submissions, and more
Actions	Update reviewer/assignee (Selected, Rotational, or Balanced; supports Contact Assignee and Network Role tokens), priority, status, type, resolution, due date; update related alerts; add/remove subscribers; mark private; create case or task; enroll in Workflow or Bolt Agent Job	Send communication, create alert or case, update contact properties, enroll in Workflow, execute webhook, and more

Choosing Where to Build

Use Case	Recommended Approach
Auto-assign reviewers based on Alert type or student segment	Automation Rules
Route alerts or cases to each student's network role (e.g., Academic Advisor)	Automation Rules
Auto-escalate Alerts to Cases when conditions are met	Automation Rules
Resolve related Alerts when a Case closes	Automation Rules
Auto-assign Cases to specific teams based on type	Automation Rules
Create follow-up Tasks when a new Case is created	Automation Rules
Trigger a Bolt Agent Job when a Case is created	Automation Rules
Open a Case when a student reaches an alert threshold, such as three or more	Workflows + Rules module (Alert Created trigger with a Total Open Alerts condition)
Coordinate Case actions with email campaigns or other platform workflows	Workflows + Rules module
Have an agent flag a concern it notices while reaching out to a student	Bolt Agent Job (Create Alert or Create Case action)

Automating Case Management