# Auto-schedule new Airtable briefs into Motion tasks

> When a new client brief or intake row lands in Airtable, create an auto-scheduled Motion task, write the task ID back to the row, and post a heads-up to Slack.

- Workflow type: code
- Services: Airtable, Motion, Slack
- Categories: Operations, Personal Productivity
- Published: 2026-07-11

## What it does

- Watches your Airtable client-intake or creative-brief table for new rows.
- Creates a matching Motion task with title, details, duration, priority, and a hard deadline, all auto-scheduled onto the assignee's calendar.
- Writes the new Motion task ID back into the same Airtable row so every brief stays traceable to the work.
- Drops a confirmation into your ops Slack channel with the requester name, priority, deadline, and a link to the task.

## What you'll need

- An Airtable base with an intake or brief table that includes columns for the request, details, estimated minutes, priority, and deadline.
- A Motion account with the workspace you want new tasks created in.
- A Slack workspace and the channel you want confirmations posted to.

## Prompt

Build a code-based workflow that turns new rows in an Airtable client-intake or creative-brief table into auto-scheduled Motion tasks, with a confirmation posted to Slack. This should be fully deterministic column-to-field mapping, no LLM reasoning.

Trigger: Airtable poll on new_record for the intake table. Let me pick the base, table, and view during setup. Use airtable.list_records as the poll data source.

For each new record, run these steps in order:

1. Map the Airtable row to a Motion task payload: task name from the Brief or Request column; description from the Details column, passed through as GitHub-flavored Markdown; duration as an integer number of minutes from the Estimated minutes column; priority from the Priority column, mapped to one of ASAP, HIGH, MEDIUM, or LOW (fall back to MEDIUM if the value is missing or doesn't match); autoScheduled as an object with deadlineType HARD, startDate = today, and the Deadline column value as the deadline. Send the workspaceId I pick at setup.

2. Call motion.create_task with that payload and capture the returned task id and URL.

3. Call airtable.update_record on the same record and write the Motion task id back into a Motion Task ID column (create the mapping at setup) so the row is traceable to the task.

4. Call slackbot.send_a_message to the ops channel I pick at setup. Include the task title, the requester name from the Requester or Owner column, the priority, the deadline, and a link to the task in Motion.

Skip rules: if the Deadline column is empty, send autoScheduled = null and still create the task. If any required field is missing (title or duration), log the row and skip it without failing the whole batch. Do not retry a row that already has a Motion Task ID written back.

Let me configure at setup time: the Airtable base, table, and view; the exact column names for Brief/Details/Estimated minutes/Priority/Deadline/Requester/Motion Task ID; the priority value mapping; the Motion workspace; and the Slack channel.

## How to customize

- Swap in your own Airtable columns and priority values so the mapping matches how your team already names things.
- Change which Slack channel receives the confirmation, or route different request types to different channels.
- Set your own defaults for briefs that skip a field, like a fallback priority or a soft deadline instead of a hard one.

## FAQ

### Does this work on Motion's free plan?

Motion's API access lives on the paid tiers. Task creation and auto-scheduling used here work on Team, Business, and Enterprise plans.

### What happens if a row is missing priority or a deadline?

You set the defaults when the workflow is configured. A missing priority falls back to whatever value you picked (Medium is a common choice), and a missing deadline turns off auto-scheduling for that task instead of failing the row.

### Can I run this for more than one Airtable table?

Yes. Set up one copy per intake table (creative briefs, client requests, sales handoffs, etc.), each pointing at its own Motion workspace and Slack channel.

### Will Motion actually put the task on someone's calendar?

Yes. Motion auto-schedules the task on the assignee's calendar based on the deadline, duration, and priority you send, and reshuffles automatically when higher-priority work shows up.

### Does the Slack message include a link to the task?

Yes. The confirmation includes the requester name from the Airtable row, the priority and deadline, and a direct link to open the new task in Motion.

Use this prompt in General Input: https://www.generalinput.com/prompts/auto-schedule-new-airtable-briefs-into-motion-tasks