Relationship attributes allow you to define connections between people, assets, and service items. These connections unlock intelligent automation, contextual approvals, and dynamic form behavior, allowing you to reflect real-world relationships directly within Atomicwork.
Whether you’re routing a request to a consultant, escalating a change to an asset’s business owner, or selecting a device for software installation, relationship attributes help streamline processes across IT and business functions.
With relationship attributes, you can:
Link employees or agents to service items and assets
Link assets to other assets (e.g. backup servers or dependencies)
They can then be used in workflow conditions or triggers, to automate approvals, and as placeholders.
Configuring relationship attributes
You can configure relationship attributes in service items or assets.
Service items
To add a people or asset relationship to a service item:
Navigate to Settings > Your workspace > Catalog and click on the Services tab
Select the service item you want to modify or create a new one by clicking on Add Form.
Under Attributes specific to this form, click on Add attribute.
Enter a display name, select Relationship under Attribute type and choose People, Assets or Agents.
Choose access settings for the attribute as needed and click on Add.
After adding the required attributes, click on Update or Publish at the top right to save the service item.
Assets
To link assets to people or other assets:
Navigate to Settings > Assets and click on Types and attributes.
In the Attributes tab, click on Add at the top right.
Enter a display name, select Relationship under Attribute type and choose People or Assets.
Choose which assets the attribute applies to and whether it is required when creating an asset.
Click on Create.
Using relationship attributes in workflows
Once configured, relationship attributes can be used in workflows to:
Define triggers: Initiate a workflow when a relationship changes (eg. Infra contact updated).
Route requests: Assign to agent groups based on selected consultant.
Trigger approvals: Send to a report owner or infra contact linked to an asset.
Insert placeholders: Automatically include the name or email of a linked person or asset in a webhook or notification.
For example, if a user raises a request to decommission a server and the selected server has an "Infra Contact" relationship defined in the asset attributes, the workflow can automatically identify the associated Infra Contact and route the approval request directly to that individual.
To configure this in a workflow:
Navigate to Workflows in your workspace and create a new workflow for the relevant service item (e.g. "Server Decommissioning").
Set the trigger to Request is created, and choose Server Decommissioning as the matching service item.
Add an Approval action and create a new approval policy.
Under Who do you want to add, select the Service tab and find the configured service item.
You’ll see all people relationships associated with the asset linked to that service item listed. Choose the person to whom the approval should be routed.
Click on Add, then Publish to activate the workflow.
Any time the service request is raised, Atomicwork will dynamically resolve the person linked to the selected asset and ensure the approval goes to the correct individual.
Using relationship attributes as placeholders
You can reference any attribute of a linked person or asset from the relationship field, like a person's email, an asset's serial number, or a user's department as placeholders in webhooks and workflow actions. These values will be exposed through the Insert placeholder dropdown within the workflow action configuration.
In your workflow, add an action like Trigger webhook or Send email.
Click into a text or input field that supports dynamic values.
Click through to the relationship field from the dropdown, then choose the associated attribute you want to insert.
This makes workflows adaptable to user input—ensuring the right contact, identifier, or resource detail is always used without hardcoding logic.
Object | First level relationship | Can it be used as a placeholder? | Can it be used in approvals? |
Request, service item or linked assets Example configuration: Service item with attribute ‘Whose calendar?’ | People Example value: Jane Doe | Yes Example placeholders: | Yes Jane will receive the approval if the service item is requested |
Request, service item or linked assets | Asset Example value: | Yes Example placeholders: | No, because you can’t send an approval to an asset. |
Relationship attributes form the backbone of contextual service delivery in Atomicwork. By modeling how people, assets, and services relate to one another, you can build workflows and automations that are accurate, scalable, and deeply aligned with how your organization operates.