A task template is a rule that creates tasks automatically when something happens in Orbit, for example when a tour is planned or a shipment is booked, or regularly on a schedule. You set it up once, and Orbit creates the right task, for the right person, every time.
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Much recurring work follows a pattern. Every tour needs a vehicle check, and one customer wants its pallets exchanged on every delivery. A task template describes that pattern: when Orbit creates a task, for which tours, stops or shipments, what it says, who does it and by when. Each task then carries the details of the tour, stop or shipment it belongs to. For what a task is and how it is worked, see Tasks.
Other work follows the calendar instead, such as a monthly check of every vehicle or a yearly insurance certificate from every carrier. A template on a schedule creates such a task for each vehicle, carrier or carrier user at the times you set.
Key highlights:
The trigger sets the moment Orbit creates a task. It also decides which object the task belongs to.
| Trigger | When Orbit creates a task | The task belongs to |
|---|---|---|
| Tour created | Once per tour, as soon as it is created or imported | The Tour |
| Tour assigned | On every assignment to a carrier, including a reassignment | The Tour |
| Each stop of a tour | Once per stop, when the tour is planned | The Stop |
| Tour completed | When an operator completes the tour, not on arrival at the last stop | The Tour |
| Shipment created | Once per shipment, as soon as it is created | The Shipment |
| On a schedule | At every occurrence of the schedule, once per object | A Vehicle, a Carrier or a Carrier User |
With Each stop of a tour, Orbit does not wait for the driver to arrive. It creates one task per matching stop as soon as the tour exists, so the driver sees the work before getting there. Orbit checks the tour again when it is assigned, whenever its stops change and when a tour property that a condition uses changes. An added stop gets its task, and a stop that leaves the tour takes its open task with it. Cancelling or deleting the tour removes its open stop tasks, and resetting a cancelled tour brings them back. A stop task stays with its stop when the stop moves to another position, and each template creates at most one task per stop.
A stop task exists from the moment the tour is planned, and the driver can open it from then on. With Each stop of a tour you also choose the point of the stop at which Orbit Cockpit and Orbit Connect bring the task up by themselves. The setting is called Shown to the driver and sits below the trigger, in the When step of the editor.
| Shown to the driver | When the task comes up |
|---|---|
| On arrival | As soon as the arrival at the stop is recorded |
| Before loads and proofs | When the driver starts to leave the stop, before loads are marked or scanned and before proofs such as a signature are captured |
| After loads | When the driver has marked or scanned the loads and before a signature, photo or other proof is captured. A scan proof belongs to the load step and comes before the task |
| Right before departure | After every other step at the stop, directly before the departure is recorded |
A stop template starts with On arrival selected. The choice decides only when the task comes up. It does not limit when the task can be opened or completed, and a blocking task holds the departure whichever point you choose. Orbit Connect has no steps for loads and proofs, so it brings up all points before the departure when the tour leaves the stop.
Orbit Cockpit brings up After loads tasks only in the departure flow. A proof the driver starts by hand does not bring them up, and the tasks then come up at the latest at the check before the departure is recorded. A blocking task the driver closes leaves the driver at the stop with the marked and scanned loads kept, so nothing is marked or scanned twice.
A template On a schedule does not wait for something to happen in Orbit. It creates its tasks at fixed times, and each task belongs to a vehicle, a carrier or a carrier user instead of a tour. Tasks from a schedule never hold up a tour.
You set the schedule in the When step, below the trigger:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Rhythm | Daily, Weekly on the weekdays you select under On, or Monthly on a day from 1 to 31 or on the Last day |
| At | The time of day, with the Time zone beside it. Europe/Berlin is preselected, and daylight saving time is followed |
| Period | Optional. The first and the last day of the schedule. Without them, the schedule starts now and has no end. The last day counts until 23:59 |
If a month lacks the chosen day, for example the 31st, there is no occurrence that month. Below the settings, Next occurrences lists the next three dates and times, so you can check the schedule before you save. In the template list, the trigger column shows the schedule in words, such as Weekdays at 06:00 or Monthly on the last day at 18:00.
On a schedule template, the second step of the editor is For what instead of Only when. Under Refers to, choose Vehicle, Carrier or Carrier user, and then one of two ways:
| Refers to | A set covers |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | The active vehicles of the carrier you choose, or of every carrier when you leave All carriers in place |
| Carrier | Every active carrier |
| Carrier user | The active carrier users of the carrier you choose. Choosing a carrier is required |
Under Conditions, you narrow a set down by fields of its object. You can combine up to 20 conditions and require all of them or any one of them.
| Refers to | Fields |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | Number plate, Vehicle class, Make, Model, Fuel type |
| Carrier | Name, Region, Country, City, ZIP code |
| Carrier user | Name, Role, Email, Nationality |
Your own properties are not available in these conditions.
Below the conditions, the editor counts the objects that match right now, for example 38 vehicles match right now. Orbit reads the set again at every occurrence, so a vehicle added next week gets its task from the next occurrence on, and an object that is set to inactive drops out.
Each object gets one task per occurrence. The next occurrence creates a new task even when the task from the previous one is still open, and the older task shows as overdue once its due date has passed.
An occurrence creates at most 500 tasks. If more than 500 objects match, it creates none at all. The editor warns you while you build the set: More than 500 match right now. An occurrence would create no task. Narrow the conditions. After an occurrence that created nothing for this reason, the editor shows a notice that starts with No tasks were created on and the date. The notice disappears with the next occurrence that creates tasks, or when you save the template.
A template for one specific object stops itself when that object is deleted or set to inactive. At the next occurrence it creates no task and turns itself inactive. The template list then shows it as Deactivated. The editor names the object and the date under Template deactivated and tells you what to do, and the status at the bottom reads Deactivated automatically on with the date. Choose another object under For what, or activate the object again, then activate the template.
A set behaves differently. When the carrier a set refers to is deleted or set to inactive, the set is empty: the template stays active and creates no tasks, and the count reads 0 vehicles match right now. As soon as the set has active members again, the template creates tasks for them.
Without conditions, a template creates a task for every tour, stop or shipment its trigger covers. Conditions, under Only when in the editor, narrow this down. A schedule template has its conditions in the For what step instead, as described under What Each Task Is For.
A condition compares a field with a value. A template on Each stop of a tour with the condition City equals Lyon creates tasks only at stops in Lyon. You can combine up to 20 conditions and require all of them or any one of them.
The fields depend on the trigger and are grouped under Stop, Tour and Shipment: the stop's company, city and position, the tour number, status, driver and vehicle class, the shipment's pickup and delivery addresses, and more. Your own properties are listed by their names in the same groups: tour properties under Tour for every tour trigger and for Each stop of a tour, shipment properties under Shipment for Shipment created. Every other field, such as the carrier, is listed by its technical name under More fields.
A condition on a property offers the comparisons that fit the property's type:
| Property type | Comparisons |
|---|---|
| Text | contains, does not contain, begins with, does not begin with, ends with, does not end with, equals, does not equal |
| Numeric | less than, less than or equal to, greater than, greater than or equal to, equals |
| Checkbox | equals, does not equal, compared with True or False |
| Select | equals, does not equal, does not exist, exists |
For a Select property, you pick the value from the property's options. A Select property without options is not listed. Multiselect, Tags and Document properties are listed but cannot be chosen: conditions cannot check them yet.
A property without a value on the tour or shipment counts as empty. Every comparison that starts with "does not", does not exist included, matches it. The comparison equals and number comparisons such as less than never match it. A checkbox that was never ticked has no value either, so to catch every tour without a tick, use does not equal True rather than equals False.
Orbit checks a property condition when you save the template. A condition on a property that does not exist, that is not used on tours or shipments, or that compares with a value the property does not offer cannot be saved.
Orbit checks the conditions at the moment it would create the task. If a condition cannot be checked, Orbit creates no task.
Review Required or Tour Completed, gets no new stop tasks from a property change.Conditions only decide whether Orbit creates a task. A task that exists stays when its conditions stop matching, for example when the property is set back or the template's conditions change. Delete the task by hand if it is no longer needed.
A property that a template's conditions use cannot be deleted, removed from tours or shipments, or lose a Select option that a condition compares with. Orbit refuses the change and names the task templates that use the property, so you can change their conditions first. Templates you are not allowed to see are only counted, and deleted templates do not count.
Each template sets the Task name and an optional Description that the assignee sees, and can carry a form to fill in on completion. Without a form, the assignee confirms the task. Forms are described in Task Forms.
Task names, descriptions and form texts can contain placeholders in double curly braces. Orbit replaces them with real data when it creates the task. A task name such as Check pallets for {{ tour.displayName }} becomes Check pallets for T-10482.
Tour triggers provide tour, Each stop of a tour provides tour and stop, and Shipment created provides shipment. A schedule template provides its object as vehicle, carrier or carrierUser, and occurrence, whose occurrence.date is the scheduled time. Some useful placeholders:
| Placeholder | Shows |
|---|---|
{{ tour.displayName }} | The tour number |
{{ tour.vehicleNumberPlate }} | The vehicle's licence plate |
{{ stop.number }} | The stop's number on the tour, starting at 1 |
{{ stop.address.companyName }} | The company at the stop |
{{ shipment.displayName }} | The shipment number |
{{ shipment.dropoff.address.city }} | The delivery city of the shipment |
{{ vehicle.numberPlate }} | The number plate of the vehicle a schedule task is for |
{{ carrier.name }} | The name of the carrier a schedule task is for |
{{ carrierUser.name }} | The name of the carrier user a schedule task is for |
Two formatting helpers turn timestamps into readable text:
formatDate shows a date as 2026-03-24, or as 24.03.2026 with formatDate: "de". Example: {{ tour.latestStart | formatDate }}, or {{ occurrence.date | formatDate }} for the day of a schedule's occurrenceformatTime shows a time as hours and minutes, such as 14:30. Example: {{ stop.timeTo | formatTime }}Both helpers show Central European time. This also applies to a schedule in another time zone, so close to midnight the date shown can differ from the day in the schedule's own time zone. The Form tab lists every field you can use under Available data.
Orbit fills in placeholders once, when it creates the task, and does not update them if the tour or stop changes later. A field without a value shows as empty. A placeholder for an object the trigger does not provide, such as shipment on a tour trigger, cannot be saved.
On the tour, stop and shipment triggers, every task from a template goes to the same fixed assignee, set under Assign to: a whole organisation, a team or a single user on the Operator or Carrier side. A new template starts with your whole operator organisation. Drivers see a task in Orbit Cockpit when it is assigned to their carrier, their team or themselves.
A schedule template can also take the assignee from each task's own object. The Assign to menu lists these choices first, under Per object, and the fixed assignees below them, under Fixed assignee:
| Refers to | Per object |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | The vehicle's carrier |
| Carrier | The carrier itself |
| Carrier user | The carrier user's carrier or The person itself |
With a set that spans several carriers, each carrier then receives the tasks for its own vehicles or people. A schedule template you create with Add Task Template starts with The vehicle's carrier.
The Due setting decides when each task falls due. You enter an amount and a unit (minutes, hours or days), and choose what it counts from under Relative to:
A schedule template offers these choices instead:
Three switches control how a task behaves:
Under Generate document, a template can name a document template from the Document Engine. When a task is completed, Orbit creates a PDF from it and files it with the task and the object the task belongs to: its tour or shipment, or for a schedule template its vehicle, carrier or carrier user. Completion does not wait for the document.
The document template may use only the completed task and the trigger's own object: the tour for tour and stop triggers, the shipment for Shipment created, and the carrier or carrier user for a schedule template on carriers or carrier users. A schedule template on vehicles provides the task alone. Orbit refuses to save a pairing that asks for more, such as a carrier on a tour trigger. Proof of delivery templates are not offered.
A template is either Active, Inactive or Deleted:
A schedule template that stopped itself because its object is gone shows as Deactivated until you activate it again. See When the Object Is Gone.
Duplicate creates an inactive copy with "(Copy)" added to its name, without the key. If the form checks entries against an external endpoint, enter its credentials again in the copy.
The optional Key, such as pallet-handover, is a fixed identifier for integrations. It cannot be changed after creation, and a deleted template keeps it, so it never passes to another template.
Open Settings and select Task Templates.
Select Add Task Template.
Under Template, enter a Template name and, if you work with integrations, a Key.
Under When is a task created?, select a trigger. On a schedule starts weekly on Monday at 06:00 for all vehicles, with each task assigned to the vehicle's carrier. You adjust this in the editor.
Under What does the form start with?, select No form, Checklist or Photo proof with comment.
Select Create and edit. The template is saved as inactive and the editor opens.
The editor has two tabs. Rule holds the template in six steps: When, Only when, Which task, For whom and by when, Behavior and After completion. On a schedule template, the second step is For what. Form holds the form, described in Task Forms.
Set the conditions, task name, assignee, due date and behaviour on the Rule tab. On a schedule template, also set the schedule under When and the objects under For what.
Check the preview on the right. It shows the task with sample data, its due date and assignee, and whether the conditions match. You can fill in the form there to test it.
Turn the switch at the bottom to Active.
Select Save.
If you change the trigger, Orbit removes the settings that no longer apply, such as the conditions, the stop window due date, the Shown to the driver choice, a per-object assignee or the Time on the scheduled day due date, and tells you so. If someone else saved the template while you were editing, Orbit asks you to reload it before you can save.
Spaceport Shipping Co. delivers groceries across Lyon, and ACME Ltd wants its empty pallets exchanged on every delivery. Julia, an operator, creates a template on Each stop of a tour with the condition Company equals ACME Ltd, the task name Pallet exchange at {{ stop.address.companyName }}, stop {{ stop.number }} and the Checklist form. She assigns it to the carrier Orion Industries, sets it due 30 minutes after the end of the stop window, turns on Blocks departure from the stop and links a pallet receipt document template. When Max plans a tour with two ACME stops, both get their task straight away. Mohammad, the driver, completes the checklist at each stop before driving on, and each pallet receipt is filed with its task and the tour.
Spaceport Shipping Co. also wants every refrigerated truck of its carriers checked once a month. Julia creates a second template On a schedule, sets Monthly on day 1 at 07:00 and, under For what, picks All vehicles that match with the condition Vehicle class equals Reefer 7.5 t. The editor reads 12 vehicles match right now. She names the task Cooling check {{ vehicle.numberPlate }}, assigns it to The vehicle's carrier and sets it due at 17:00 on the scheduled day. On the first of every month, each carrier finds one task per truck, such as Cooling check B-NL 2041, and a truck that joins the fleet in between gets its task from the next month on.
The Orbit API manages task templates under the same rules:
GET /v5/tasktemplates lists templates, including deleted ones only with status=deleted.POST /v5/tasktemplates creates a template, active unless you send "status": "inactive".GET, PATCH and DELETE /v5/tasktemplates/{templateId} read, change and delete a template. Send expectedVersion with a change to refuse it if the template changed in the meantime.POST /v5/tasktemplates/{templateId}/restore restores a deleted template as inactive.tour.properties.<property ID> on the tour triggers and shipment.properties.<property ID> on shipment-created. A condition the property cannot answer is refused with 400.tour-stop. Only a template on this trigger accepts placement, with on-arrival, before-handling, after-loads or before-departure in the order of the table under When a Stop Task Comes Up. Without it, tasks come up on arrival.{ "type": "schedule" } with a cadence, a time, a timezone, optional startsAt and endsAt, a reference to one object or a set, and for a set optional conditions. Only a schedule template accepts the assigneeRule { "type": "relative" } with relation carrier-of-object or object-itself, and the dueDateRule { "type": "time-of-day" }.autoDeactivation and capSkip are read-only. Orbit sets autoDeactivation when a schedule template stops itself, and capSkip when an occurrence matched more than 500 objects.POST /v5/tasktemplates/reference-preview counts how many objects a set and its conditions match right now.Every task from a template carries its templateId and, if set, its templateKey. A stop task also carries the placement it was created with. See the Orbit API Reference for the full schema.
No. Orbit fills in each task when it creates it. Your changes apply to tasks created from then on. This includes the point at which a stop task comes up.
Check that the template is Active and saved, and that its conditions match. The preview tells you whether the conditions match its sample data. Events that happened before the template was active do not create tasks. For a schedule template, also check its Period, the count under For what and the notices at the top of the editor.
Not on the tour, stop and shipment triggers: there, the assignee is the same for every task. To give drivers of several carriers the same task, create one template per carrier and add a condition on the carrier under More fields. A schedule template can assign each task to the carrier of its vehicle or carrier user, see Assignee.
The next occurrence creates a new task anyway. Each occurrence has its own task, and the older one shows as overdue once its due date has passed.
The one object it refers to was deleted or set to inactive, so the template stopped itself. The editor names the object and the date. Choose another object, or activate the object again, and then activate the template.
Nothing. Conditions only decide whether Orbit creates a task, so the task stays, whether it is open, completed or skipped. Delete it by hand if it is no longer needed.
For Each stop of a tour, yes: Orbit checks the stops again when a tour property that a condition uses changes, unless the tour has finished all its stops (status Review Required or Tour Completed). The other triggers check their conditions only at their moment, so a property set later does not create their task.
A task template uses it in its conditions. The message names the templates; remove the property from their conditions first.
Orbit removes the task if it is still open. Tasks that were already completed or skipped stay on record.
The document template uses an object the task cannot provide. Adjust it in the Document Engine so that it uses only the task and the object the template provides.