Shape Data With Utility Actions

Overview

Utility actions are the small, deterministic steps that make automations boring in the best way. Reach for them to do math, format or shift a date, pull a field out of JSON, convert a CSV, clean up text, encode or hash text, or generate a QR code. Simple work costs no AI call.

TL;DR: Taskade utility actions do the everyday plumbing inside automations. They cover math and summaries, date formatting and date math, JSON shaping, text cleanup, CSV conversion, QR codes, base64, hashes, and HMAC signatures. They run instantly, return the same answer every time, and cost no AI credits. See the full Automation Actions reference.

The utility toolkit

Utility actions group into families. Mix and match them between any trigger and action.

Names below match what you see in the step picker, so you can search for them directly.

When to use a utility instead of AI

Utilities are deterministic, instant, and free of AI credits. Reach for them when:

• The transform is well-defined (math, formatting, extraction, conversion).
• You need the same answer every run.
• You want to keep credits low on the hot path.

When the step needs reasoning, summarization, or judgment, reach for Ask AI.

Math and summaries

Calculate handles arithmetic on two numbers. The summarizer family works over a list. Sum totals an order. Average finds a mean. Count Unique Values counts distinct entries. Min / Max returns the high and the low. Reach for them whenever a step needs a number instead of a sentence.

Dates, JSON, and lookups

Format Date converts any date into the format your next step expects. Get a Field from Data reads a known key by dot-path. Get Multiple Values (JSONPath) runs a full expression like $.orders[?(@.total > 100)] for nested or filtered data. Lookup Table maps a key to a value, perfect for status-to-label and code-to-name translations.

You no longer need one of these actions to make a whole record readable. Drop {{ trigger.task }} straight into a field and it arrives as JSON on its own. When you want one value out of a payload, not the whole thing, reach for Get a Field from Data or Get Multiple Values (JSONPath). See Inline Filters for how that rendering works and where it stops.

Date math

Add or Subtract Time moves a date forward or back by years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, or seconds. For example, it sets a due date 3 days from now. Days, weeks, months, and years keep the clock time across daylight saving changes in the timezone. Time Between Dates counts the time from a start date to an end date in one unit, such as days until a deadline. The result is negative when the end date is before the start date. Start or End of Period returns the start or the end of the day, week, month, or year that a date falls in, such as midnight tonight in a timezone.

Text cleanup

The text family covers the work you used to do by hand. It includes Change Capitalization, Find and Replace Text, Match Text with a Pattern (Regex), Split Text into a List, Trim Extra Spaces, Join Text, and Find Text. Slugify Text turns "Spring 2026 Sale" into spring-2026-sale for a clean URL. Strip HTML pulls the tags out of an email body, and the Markdown converters move content between rich text and Markdown.

Data and files

CSV to List turns a spreadsheet export into rows your automation can loop over, and List to CSV does the reverse for downloads and reports. Generate QR Code produces a scannable code for tickets, check-ins, and links. Transform Array Into String joins a list into one clean block of text.

Need to save a document as a PDF? That is the Save File as PDF action on the Google Drive connector, not a utility. It runs through your connected Drive rather than the credit-free utility pack.

Encode and hash

Base64 Encode turns text into base64, for example for a Basic auth header or an API field that asks for base64. Base64 Decode turns base64 back into text. It fails when the input is not base64.

Hash Text turns text into a fixed-length fingerprint with SHA-256, SHA-1, SHA-512, or MD5. The same text always gives the same hash, and you cannot turn a hash back into the text. Use it as a checksum or as a key to find duplicates.

Create HMAC Signature signs text with a secret key, with HMAC-SHA256 by default. Use it to call an API that asks for a signed request, or to examine the signature of an incoming webhook. Compare the result with the signature that the sender gives.

Combine them

Most automations chain two or three utilities together. A common pattern for an operator running a business inside Taskade:

Webhook (new order) → Get Multiple Values (JSONPath) → Sum (line items)
  → Format Date → Generate QR Code (pickup code) → Add Task (to fulfillment project)

Related guides

• Utility Helpers Deep Dive. Runnable examples for the JSON, date, and text helpers.
• Inline Filters. Transform a value where you use it, and how whole records render between steps.
• HTTP Webhook Trigger (Pro+). Pair with Get Multiple Values (JSONPath) for incoming payloads.
• Ask AI Action. When you need reasoning instead of a fixed transform.
• Filter Data. Conditional flow control.
• Branch Action. Multi-path automations.