Confluence Databases - Automate from values

Question

Hi everyone!

We've set up a Confluence Database that should contain a list of our internally used tools. Including records of when these were analyzed etc. 
In some instances a review is required every X period.

you'd be tempted to schedule an automation rule, to get a list of values and check to create a work item 
However, i'm not finding a way to 'query' the date in the automation.

anyone an idea?

Tomislav Tobijas · Answer

Ah yes @Kevin Gérard ... unfortunately, there isn't a seamless way (nor I'm sure if there's a workaround for this). We're waiting for a similar thing, and there are a couple of feature requests that are basically what you're looking for:

* CONFCLOUD-78237: Automation integration with Confluence Databases 👈
* CONFCLOUD-77878: Please add a "Databases" component to Confluence Automation, like Triggers, Actions

Another thing that would be great and which would potentially be a workaround is this: CONFCLOUD-77328: Allow Manipulation of Confluence Databases using the REST API

You could take a look at comments, as maybe something could come out of that, but I wouldn't put my hopes up 🫤

Cheers,
Tobi

HEMANT SAINI · Answer

Hi Kevin

Ran into the same limitation. Confluence Automation does not let you query or loop through Database rows based on a date field yet. The automation triggers are still pretty basic for Databases compared to Jira.

Two workarounds that people are using right now:

1. Jira Automation plus Confluence Databases
If you have Jira connected, create a scheduled Jira Automation rule. Use Send web request to the Confluence REST API to pull Database entries, filter for dates in your code, then create the Jira work item. Not ideal, but it works. You will need the databaseId and the REST endpoint for Confluence Databases.

2. Manual filtered view plus scheduled reminder
Create a saved Database view that filters for Next Review Date is before now. Then use a Confluence Automation rule to send a scheduled Slack or email with a link to that view every Monday. Your team clicks through and creates tasks from there. It is not fully automatic, but it keeps the review from slipping.

Atlassian has a feature request open for date based Database automation. Worth voting and watching CONFCLOUD-78644.

If you only need a few tools reviewed per month, option 2 is the fastest to set up. If you have 100 plus rows, option 1 with Jira Automation scales better.

Hope that helps. Curious if anyone else found a native way.