SOPs
Overview
An SOP — standard operating procedure — describes a repeatable process: how onboarding runs, how a sign-off is done, what to do in an incident.
Two properties separate an SOP from a knowledge article, and both are why they exist separately at all:
- An SOP can be mandatory reading and then requires a read receipt. That makes it evidenced
who knows the process — not merely that it is written down somewhere.
- An SOP can be applied: the process is laid onto a concrete case rather than copied out.
Core tasks
Create an SOP. New SOP requires a title and a space; it can be marked as a mandatory SOP and given a scope. The list shows title, space, scope, status and the mandatory marker.
Clear outstanding mandatory reading. Unconfirmed mandatory SOPs appear separately with a count. Confirm read closes the item.
Apply an SOP. Apply lays the process onto a case. That is the difference between instructions you read and instructions you work through.
Use the scope. It narrows who or what an SOP applies to — and is the lever against mandatory reading that concerns everyone and therefore nobody.
Create a task template. The Task template card turns the steps into a project template: one task per step in the same order, with effort in hours; every checkpoint becomes a milestone, and the steps up to it belong to it. A role that exists as a project role is taken over; otherwise it appears as a note in the task. Creation runs in the background — meanwhile the card shows being created. If the steps change afterwards, the card reports "The SOP is newer than the template"; Update template rewrites the same template, which gets a new version. Projects already created from the template stay unchanged (snapshot).
Complete a review. Once review due is set, the system reminds the owner of the SOP — without an owner, the owner of the space and the managers entered by name, not the members of a manager role — once per due date. Mark as reviewed starts the next interval.
Fields in detail
The What it does column answers what changes in the system — not what the field is called. The grey name behind the label is the API field: the same thing runs under that name through automation, import and AI tools.
Creating and editing a standard operating procedure
| Field | Required | Values / format | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
Title title | yes | text, max. 255 characters | What the procedure is called. It appears in the list and above the tasks created from it. |
Space spaceUlid | yes | an existing knowledge space | Where it lives; the space decides access. |
Purpose purpose | no | text | What the procedure is for and when it applies. The paragraph that stops someone following the wrong one. |
Scope scope | no | project, onboarding, support, internal | Where the procedure is used. Determines at which points in the system it is offered. |
Status status | no | draft, published, archived | Only published can be applied and found. |
Mandatory isMandatory | no | yes/no | Set to yes, the procedure is not optional: the created steps must be worked through before the related case can be closed. |
Steps steps | no | list of steps | The procedure itself. On application every step becomes a task — with title, description, responsibility and order. |
Tags tags | no | several terms | Classification for search and suggestions. |
Review interval (days) reviewIntervalDays | no | 0 or more | After how many days the procedure is flagged for review. With mandatory procedures the most important guard against outdated instructions. |
Applying
| Field | Values / format | What it does |
|---|---|---|
Target type targetType / Target targetId | kind and identifier of a case | What the procedure is applied to — project, ticket, onboarding. The steps become tasks there, linked back to the procedure they came from. |
Task template (read-only)
| Field | Values / format | What it does |
|---|---|---|
Template taskTemplateUlid / taskTemplateName | project template | Which project template was created from this SOP. If the template is deleted, the reference disappears. |
Being created taskTemplatePending | yes/no | Creation has been requested, the background run has not finished yet. |
SOP newer than template taskTemplateOutdated | yes/no | The steps have changed since creation — time to update the template. |
Settings & permissions
- Module
module.knowledge. knowledge.sop.manageto create and change,knowledge.sop.applyto apply.- Task template: additionally
projects.config.manage— in the brand of the space; a space
without a brand requires the permission for all brands, because the template then applies everywhere.
- Visibility hangs off the knowledge space.
- Mandatory is a marker, not a lock. It creates an outstanding item in the sense of a read
receipt; it prevents no work.
FAQ & troubleshooting
The mandatory reading does not go away. It ends only with Confirm read — merely opening it is not enough, otherwise the receipt would be worthless.
An SOP does not appear for colleagues. Check space and scope: the space governs access, the scope governs applicability.
When an article, when an SOP? Explanatory knowledge is an article. A process somebody works through step by step — and whose knowledge should be evidenced — is an SOP.
Applying is not possible. Then knowledge.sop.apply is missing.
"Create template" is missing or rejected. Then projects.config.manage (in the brand of the space) is missing, the projects module is off, or the SOP has no steps yet.