The "WIP Limit is Exceeded" Rule

In this article:
1. How to Create the Rule?
2. How to Set Up and Enable the Rule?
3. Practical Examples of Using the 'WIP Limit is Exceeded' Rule

This Business Rule will trigger a predefined action (create, move, update, send a notification, call web service) whenever the WIP limit in a predefined set of columns/cells is exceeded. Selecting a lane adds all the cells in that lane to the set.

To better understand this rule, you can check our guide on WIP limits and how to configure them.

1. How to Create the Rule?

Only users with "Account Owners" or "Manage Business Rules" privileges can create business rules. Go to your Administration panel at the top right of your screen → open the Business Rules tab → select the WIP limit is exceeded rule.

Note: Use the Add new rule button at the upper right side of the panel if there is a set of predefined rules in your account.

2. How to Set Up and Enable the Rule?

The "WIP limit is exceeded" configuration panel has the following fields and properties:

In the Name and Description fields, you can change the name of the rule and describe the scenario you will achieve with it. This way you can create an overview of your active business rules, as upon creation, every automation is present in the Business Rules panel. 

You can share the rule with other users (e.g. Workspace Manager), if necessary. In this case, they will be able to edit/disable/enable the rule.

In general, Business Rules are a sort of "point-and-click" programming language that can help you automate any process. Each Business Rule has three main properties: When; And; Then.

1. WHEN

Here you define a board and position for which you wish to set up the rule.

Click on Not Set → select a board from the board name dropdown menu and a position from the board minimap (you can select a cell or an entire column/swimlane by clicking on its name).

Click on "or" to add extra positions and optimize the scope of the rule. Use the delete sign to remove a position.

2. AND

There are no applicable filters for this rule.

3. THEN

Select an action to be triggered.

Click on Add new action under the type of action you wish to be triggered → select your preferred action if there are several options → click on Add → choose the value from the dropdown or click on Not set to configure it. You can add more than one action per type by repeatedly clicking on Add new action and configuring it.

The following actions can be triggered:

1) Create cards or subtasks — The following types of cards can be created:

Click on add new action and use the supporting panel to select the type of cards you want to create i.e. a new card, a child card, a parent card, relative card, or a subtask.

Note that you can create multiple cards/subtasks and the cards can be rearranged in order to be created in the desired sequence - simply drag and drop a card in order to rearrange it before or after another.

Note that subtasks cannot be rearranged within the rule configuration, so in case you have a subtask among the cards that are to be created, you would not be able to move a card on the subtask's position. 

2) Update the card details — The following card details can be updated when the WIP limit is exceeded

Select a regular field or a custom field that you have created and added to the corresponding boards in your Workspaces and click on Add. Choose the value from the dropdown or click on Not set to configure the action.

Practical tip: When the WIP Limit of position "X" on board "Y" is exceeded → set a color of the card. 

Define the color during the configuration process. 

3) Move the card — choose where to move the card. Select a board from the dropdown and a position from the board minimap (you can select a cell or an entire column/swimlane by clicking on its name).

4) Send notifications — The system will notify a user of your choice when the WIP limit is exceeded. Create a template for the notification, which is to be sent, and click on Save Message.

• In the To:/Cc: field → use the "add internal users" dropdown which opens a list of all users in your account including: Self, Owner, Watchers, Contributors, and Reporter. Select and add the user/s you wish to be notified. The "add custom field" option is used in the following case: if you have a custom field with an email address and the created card contains this custom field, the notification will be sent to this email address.
• The subject of the notification email contains by default: the text "WIP limit exceeded by card" and the card ID. You can modify the title by clicking on "add card fields" and selecting your preferred field/s or you can remove all fields and write a custom title.
• Email body: you can either keep the predefined text or modify it by deleting and creating new text.

Practical tip: When the WIP limit for the position "X" on board "Y" is exceeded → the system will automatically send an email notifying a user (e.g. Workspace Manager).

5) Invoke web service — Click on Add new action to add a call to external web service → click on Not Set to configure the parameters.

You can configure the following options:

• Name – a human-readable identifier for the web service call
• URL – the address of the endpoint service
• Method – which HTTP method should be used for the call (available options are POST, GET, HEAD, PUT, DELETE, OPTIONS, PATCH)
• Authentication – NONE or BASIC authentication supported for the moment
• HTTP Body – Whether you want to send the payload as raw JSON-encoded values, directly in the HTTP body
• Parameters – parameters to be sent to the endpoint service
• Headers – custom headers to be sent to the endpoint service

To send the parameters in the body of the web service call -> activate the checkbox.

Additionally, the POST, PUT, DELETE, and PATCH requests send an additional parameter – ‘kanbanize_payload’ that contains information about the card that has been created or moved. The payload is in the following format:

{
“trigger” : “taskCreated”,
“timestamp” : “2015-03-04T14:19:38+00:00”,
“card” : {
“taskid” : “35156”,
“title” : “”,
“description” : “”,
“tcolor” : “#34a97b”,
“priority” : “Average”,
“size” : null,
“owner” : “testAdmin”,
“deadline” : null,
“typeName” : “”,
“tags” : “”,
“extLink” : “”,
“reporter” : “testAdmin”,
“createdAt” : “2015-03-04 14:19:33”,
“columnname” : “Requested”,
“lanename” : “Default Swimlane”,
“boardName” : “my board”,
“customFields” : [
],
“boardid” : “131”
}
}

When the payload is received by the endpoint, the content of “kanbanize_payload” can be parsed and the required actions can then be performed by the external system.

Click on the green plus sign to add a parameter. Select a field you wish to set as a parameter and click on Apply. When you have configured your parameters, use the Test Settings button to send a pre-scanned request for testing and debugging purposes only. Click on Save Service to save the configuration.

For more detailed information, please check our API documentation.

To enable the rule, click on the Save button.

3. Practical Examples of Using the 'WIP Limit is Exceeded' Rule

Whenever the WIP limit is exceeded in a particular board or column, there is a good chance there is something preventing cards from being finished. This is where this business rule comes in handy. You can set up actions to happen whenever the limit is exceeded, such as sending notifications to the Board manager, creating a task for fixing the work roadblock on the manager's board, and other scenarios.

Here is a common scenario when this rule is used:

Whenever the WIP Limit is exceeded in the In Progress column, notify the Board Manager.

The notification can be done using the built-in notification service or you can use the custom web service call to post a message to an external application (e.g. Slack).