# monday.com Cross-Board Automation Limitations Canonical: https://www.taskrhino.ca/monday-com-automations/cross-board-limitations/ > monday.com cross-board automation limitations, including column mapping, status syncing and data transfer issues, with practical workarounds for each. Published: 2026-02-26 Updated: 2026-10-29 Author: Rakesh Patel Categories: BoardBridge **Key takeaways** - Classic cross-board recipes AND their conditions; OR logic, else branches and date rules like “more than 30 days away” need the workflow builder (If/Else, Smart condition). - Dependency, Link to Item and Time Tracking columns can’t be mapped across boards; users also report Location columns not copying. - Dropdown columns can’t be the column change trigger in match automations. - On Pro, a board can connect to 20 other boards, and each board holds 10,000 linked items (100,000 on Enterprise), with a warning at 8,000. - Community reports say a change made by one automation doesn’t fire another board’s automations; a workflow chains the steps in one run. You need one automation: When a vendor confirms on the Vendor Confirmations board, create a travel item on the Travel board — but only for outbound travel, only for confirmed vendors, and only if the event date is more than 30 days away. **With classic monday.com automations, teams typically build:** 1. One automation to create the travel item (but it fires for ALL confirmations, not just outbound) 2. A second automation to delete the item if it’s not outbound (workaround) 3. Manual filtering for the 30-day date rule 4. Separate automations for different scenarios **Several automations to handle one logical workflow** — where one workflow with If/Else and a Smart condition for the date could do it, from the Standard plan. ## Cross-Board Automations Have Restrictions Here’s what teams need: **One trigger → Actions across multiple boards:** - Vendor confirms → create item on Travel board AND Production board - Status changes on Board A → update status on Board B AND send email - Item created → copy to Board B with conditions (only if Type = “VIP”) **With compound conditions:** - Status = “Confirmed” AND Type = “Outbound” → create travel item - Status = “Approved” AND Priority = “High” AND Budget > $10,000 → escalate **What monday.com offers:** **Cross-board “create item” automation with these limitations:** 1. **AND-only conditions** — you can add several conditions, but there’s no else branch outside the workflow builder 2. **Dropdown not supported in match automations** — you can’t use dropdown changes as the match trigger 3. **Limited column types transfer** — Dependency, Link to Item and Time Tracking columns can’t be mapped (users also report Location) 4. **No documented group choice** — community answers say created items land in the top group, so routing by condition needs move automations or workflow branches **The result:** Teams on [classic recipes](https://www.taskrhino.ca/monday-com-automations/) often build many separate automations for scenarios that one workflow with branches could handle. Key stat 10,000 linked items is the most one board can hold below Enterprise (100,000 on Enterprise); monday.com warns at 8,000. ## What monday.com Users Are Saying **Thread: [Match automations need dropdown menus as column change trigger](https://community.monday.com/t/match-automations-need-to-be-able-to-select-dropdown-menus-as-the-column-change-trigger/68422)** monday.com’s “match” automations only support specific column types as triggers. **Dropdown columns are excluded** from the column change trigger selector. **Thread: [Create item in another board — location column not copying](https://community.monday.com/t/create-item-in-another-board-automation-and-location-column-not-copying/112470)** — April 2025 > “When I try to create an item via automation from 1 board to a second board, location columns on the source board don’t appear to be supported to copy to the second board.” — **julDH14 (Julie H)**, April 1, 2025 **No monday.com staff response.** **Thread: [Automation by column change does not work if the change was by automation](https://community.monday.com/t/automation-by-column-change-does-not-work-if-the-change-was-by-automation/69289)** — October 2023 > “when an item is created in the board NEW an automation is activated to connect the item…On the board CURRENT there is an automation that suppose to be activated by column change…It does not get activated by the change that happens with the automation.” — **elromlu**, October 26, 2023 **An implementation consultant replied** that Board B’s automations triggered by that column change don’t fire when another automation made the change. monday.com’s docs don’t state this as a rule, so test chained automations before relying on them. **Thread: [Moving items with subitems to another board via automation doesn’t carry subitems columns](https://community.monday.com/t/moving-items-with-subitems-to-another-board-via-automation-doesnt-carry-subitems-columns/84973)** The thread reported subitem columns arriving empty. monday.com’s documentation says subitems move with the item, and subitem values carry over when the column type and title match on both boards ([monday.com Help Center](https://support.monday.com/hc/en-us/articles/360011393900-Cross-board-automations)). **Thread: [Create an automation to create multiple items based on column](https://community.monday.com/t/create-an-automation-to-create-multiple-items-based-on-the-column/52662)** — March – November 2023 > “when status changes to done. It should duplicate this item but it duplicate it multiple times according to the number in another column” — **Eystar**, March 1, 2023 > “items get continually created until I go in and turn off the automation” — **kdawkins**, November 8, 2023 monday.com staff (BiancaT) suggested creating separate automations for each numerical value — **“a bit tedious to set up.”** Definition **Match automation:** a cross-board template that connects items on two boards when they share the same value in a column. **Official monday.com documentation confirms** ([Cross-board automations – monday.com Support](https://support.monday.com/hc/en-us/articles/360011393900-Cross-board-automations)): **Unsupported column types for cross-board mapping:** - Dependency - Link to Item - Time Tracking Dropdown is unsupported only in match automations. Community users also report Location columns not copying ([monday.com Community](https://community.monday.com/t/create-item-in-another-board-automation-and-location-column-not-copying/112470)) and unreliable dropdown triggers ([monday.com Community](https://community.monday.com/t/automations-to-add-or-remove-a-drop-down-item-between-boards/95379)). **Need help with cross-board automations?** Book a free 30-minute call with a certified monday.com partner. [Book a Free Call](https://calendly.com/rp-spaceo/call-with-rakesh-est-timezone) ## How to Work Around These Limits in monday.com ### 1\. Conditions: AND in Recipes, OR and Dates in Workflows **Scenario:** Vendor confirms → create travel item, but only for outbound travel and only if the event is more than 30 days away. 1. **Trigger:** status changes to “Confirmed” 2. **Condition:** Type is “Outbound” (a custom automation’s “and only if” condition does this) 3. **Date rule:** Date is more than 30 days away (needs a workflow Smart condition; a classic recipe can’t compare dates) 4. **Action:** create an item on the Travel board All conditions must be true for the action to fire. Learn more about [monday.com compound conditions](https://www.taskrhino.ca/monday-com-automations/if-then-conditional/) with status and dropdown. A worked example is in our guide to [auto-creating items on another board when a status is confirmed](https://www.taskrhino.ca/monday-com-automations/status-auto-create-items/). **Native monday.com:** Classic recipes need a separate automation per Type value; a workflow can do it with If/Else and a Smart condition for the date rule. ### 2\. One Trigger → Multiple Board Actions **Scenario:** Vendor confirms → create travel item AND production item AND notify the logistics team. **Native monday.com:** One custom automation can include several actions across boards, or you can chain them in a workflow. See [one trigger, multiple actions](https://www.taskrhino.ca/monday-com-automations/one-trigger-multiple-actions/) for how the actions run. To start the change from a button instead, see [updating a status on another board with a button click](https://www.taskrhino.ca/monday-com-automations/button-update-status-another-board/). ### 3\. Conditional Group Routing **Scenario:** Create travel items in different groups based on type. **Native monday.com:** monday.com doesn’t document choosing a group when a recipe creates an item. Add a “move item to group” automation on the target board for each group, or route in a workflow with multi-branch conditions. See [targeting a specific group](https://www.taskrhino.ca/monday-com-automations/target-specific-group/). ### 4\. Column Types That Don’t Transfer Dependency, Link to Item and Time Tracking columns can’t be mapped, and users report Location columns not copying. Add the column to both boards before mapping, and test values after the first run. Learn more about [monday.com data transfer between boards](https://www.taskrhino.ca/monday-com-automations/data-transfer-between-boards/) with proper column formatting. For which column values copy and which don’t, see [column copying between boards](https://www.taskrhino.ca/monday-com-automations/column-copying-between-boards/). Wondering whether BoardBridge fits a workflow like this? [Ask us](https://www.taskrhino.ca/contact-us/). **Need help structuring your monday.com boards?** Book a free 30-minute call with a certified monday.com partner. [Book a Free Call](https://calendly.com/rp-spaceo/call-with-rakesh-est-timezone) ## Real-World Example: Vendor Confirmation Workflow **Vendor Confirmations Board:** - Vendor: “Alex Johnson” - Status: “Confirmed” - Type: “Outbound” (Dropdown) - Date: March 15, 2027 - Destination: “Chicago” **When status changes to “Confirmed”:** **In one workflow:** 1. Is Type = “Outbound”? → Yes 2. Is Date more than 30 days away (Smart condition)? → Yes (assuming today is before Feb 13, 2027) 3. → Create item on Travel board 4. → Create item on Production board 5. → Notify the logistics team **Classic monday.com recipes:** You’d build: - Automation 1: Status “Confirmed” → create item on Travel (fires for ALL confirmations unless you add an “only if” condition on Type) - Automation 2: Status “Confirmed” → create item on Production - Automation 3: Status “Confirmed” → notify the logistics team - Manual filtering or workarounds to handle the Date rule ## Cross-Board Trigger Chaining **Scenario:** Item created on Board A → updates Board B → triggers action on Board C. **Native monday.com:** Community reports say a change made by one automation doesn’t fire another board’s automations; monday.com doesn’t document this either way. Workflows sidestep it by chaining the steps in one run. TaskRhino tip Don’t rely on one automation’s change to fire the next board’s automation: test the chain on a copy of your boards, or build the whole chain as one workflow. See the [monday.com status change cross-board trigger](https://www.taskrhino.ca/monday-com-automations/status-change-cross-board-trigger/) guide for more details. **Example flow:** 1. Vendor confirms on Confirmations board 2. → The workflow creates an item on the Travel board 3. → The same workflow creates the Production board item 4. → It notifies the team All in one workflow run, so nothing depends on one automation triggering another. ## Limitations You Should Know **OR logic and date rules need a workflow.** Classic recipes AND their conditions; If/Else and Smart conditions live in the workflow builder. **Subitem values need matching columns.** monday.com says subitems move with the item, and subitem values carry over when the column type and title match on both boards. **Connect Boards has plan limits.** A board connects to 1, 5, 20 or 200 other boards (Basic, Standard, Pro, Enterprise) and holds 10,000 linked items (100,000 on Enterprise). Need these workarounds built? We set them up as part of our [monday.com customization services](https://www.taskrhino.ca/monday-com-customization/). **Need Help With Your monday.com Setup?** TaskRhino has implemented monday.com for 110+ teams. Get a free consultation. [Schedule Free Consultation](https://calendly.com/rp-spaceo/call-with-rakesh-est-timezone) ## Frequently Asked Questions **How can I add conditions like outbound travel type or event date >30 days to a monday.com cross-board automation when creating items from Vendor Confirmations to Travel board?** ### Classic cross-board automations combine conditions with AND but have no else branch, so teams often fall back on workarounds like creating all items and deleting the wrong ones. The workflow builder handles it natively: If/Else conditions on item values, and a Smart condition for rules like a date more than 30 days away. **Why does my cross-board automation create duplicate Travel items every time a vendor confirmation status changes, and how to prevent it?** ### The “When status changes to something” trigger fires only on the label you pick, but an item that moves back to Confirmed fires it again, and “when column changes” triggers fire on every change. Add a guard: have the automation also set a “Travel Created” status, with an “and only if” condition that it isn’t set yet, so the item is created once. See [preventing duplicate items](https://www.taskrhino.ca/monday-com-automations/preventing-duplicate-items/) for more patterns. **What are the Connect Boards column limits impacting my vendor-to-travel automation, and how to structure around the 20-board restriction?** ### The number of boards one board can connect to depends on the plan: 1 on Basic, 5 on Standard, 20 on Pro and 200 on Enterprise (up to 60 per column). Each board also holds 10,000 linked items (100,000 on Enterprise) and 750 per cell. To stay under the 20-board limit on Pro, connect each vendor or travel board to one hub board instead of to every other board, and mirror the values you need on the hub. **Can monday.com automations conditionally create Travel items only for confirmed outbound vendors with dates over 30 days, without delete workarounds?** ### Yes, with the workflow builder: If/Else conditions can check status and travel type together, and a Smart condition can test a rule like a date more than 30 days away, so only qualifying items are created. Classic recipes combine conditions with AND but have no else branch. **How to avoid hitting 10,000 item linkage limits when automating frequent vendor confirmations to Travel board items?** ### Only connected items count: each automation run that creates an item and connects it adds a link on both boards. A board holds 10,000 linked items (100,000 on Enterprise) and 750 per cell, and warnings appear at 8,000 (80% of the limit). On busy boards, archive or disconnect old connections before the limit, and spread links across boards rather than one hub that collects every confirmation. **Why can’t I use formula columns or date comparisons as conditions in cross-board automations for vendor-travel workflows?** ### Formula columns can’t trigger monday.com automations, and for a rule like “event date more than 30 days away” you need the workflow builder’s Smart condition rather than a classic recipe. In the workflow, the Smart condition sits before the Create item step, so one workflow replaces the separate automations.