Connect Autotask

ProjectSmith works on top of your Datto Autotask. Until Autotask is connected, there are no projects, people or tickets to show. Connecting takes about fifteen minutes, most of it in Autotask.

You need to be the workspace Owner or an Admin to connect Autotask (only the Owner can change the write scope), and someone with Autotask administrator access to create the API user.

Available from the Autotask connector release

This page describes how the connection wizard works when it opens. Screens and labels may change slightly before then.

Step 1: Create an API user in Autotask

ProjectSmith signs in to Autotask with its own API user, never with a person’s account. Ask your Autotask administrator to:

1. In Autotask, create a new API user (an API-only account; it doesn’t use an Autotask licence).

2. Give it a security level that allows it to read and write:

   • Projects, phases and tasks
   • Time entries
   • Project charges
   • Contract milestones

   and to read tickets, resources, companies, contacts and contracts.

3. Enable impersonation for time entries. This lets ProjectSmith record approved time as the person who did the work, not as the API user.

4. Note the API user’s username and secret. You’ll paste them into ProjectSmith in step 2.

Screenshot placeholder: the Autotask API user screen with the security level and impersonation settings.

Caution

Treat the secret like a password. Paste it straight into ProjectSmith; don’t email it or keep it in a shared document. ProjectSmith stores it encrypted and never shows it again.

Step 2: Connect

1. In ProjectSmith, go to Settings > Autotask.
2. Enter the API user’s username and secret.
3. Choose Test connection. ProjectSmith finds your Autotask zone automatically and checks that the API user has the permissions in step 1. If something is missing, it tells you which permission to add.

Step 3: Set the write scope

While you’re setting up, you probably don’t want ProjectSmith changing live projects. The write-scope guard limits where ProjectSmith is allowed to write.

1. On the same page, turn on Limit writes to a test scope (on by default for a new connection).
2. Choose the Autotask companies, projects and ticket queues ProjectSmith may write to. A common choice is a test company with one test project and one test queue.
3. Save.

While the guard is on:

• ProjectSmith reads everything, so boards, capacity and utilisation show your real data.
• It writes only inside the scope you chose. Any other write (moving a card on a live project, approving time against a live ticket) is refused and the item shows why.
• You turn the guard off when you’re ready to go live. You can turn it back on at any time.

Step 4: Run the first sync

Choose Start sync. The first sync reads, in this order:

1. Picklists (task statuses, priorities, project statuses and the like), so nothing in ProjectSmith is hard-coded to someone else’s Autotask.
2. Resources, companies and contacts.
3. Projects, phases, tasks and task dependencies.
4. Tickets and time entries.

A small MSP’s first sync usually finishes in minutes; a large instance with years of history can take longer. You can keep using ProjectSmith while it runs, and the page shows progress. After that, ProjectSmith keeps in step automatically; see How the Autotask connector works.

Step 5: Check how people were matched

ProjectSmith matches Autotask resources to ProjectSmith users by email address.

• A resource whose email matches a user’s sign-in email is linked to that user automatically. Their time, tickets and tasks line up.
• A resource with no matching user still appears as a person in capacity and utilisation; they just can’t sign in until you invite them.
• If someone signs in with a different address from the one in Autotask (a common example is jo@company.com in ProjectSmith and jo.smith@company.com in Autotask), link them by hand: go to Settings > Users, select the person and choose their Autotask resource.

Step 6: Set up your board columns

After the first sync, ProjectSmith offers to build your default board from your Autotask task statuses: one column per status to start. Accept it, then adjust it as you like. See Boards and columns.

Common questions

Can I use the same API user as another integration? It’s better not to. A dedicated API user keeps ProjectSmith’s activity easy to identify in Autotask and lets you revoke it on its own.

Does ProjectSmith ever delete anything in Autotask? Only three things: a task dependency, an extra assignee on a task, and a task with no time logged. Each goes through the write scope and is recorded in the audit log. Phases, projects, time and tickets are never deleted from ProjectSmith.

How do I know what reached Autotask? The Write-back card on Settings > Autotask counts the approved time, costs and expenses, and ready billing milestones waiting to be written, failed, and written in the last 7 days, and lists the latest failures with the reason. Each one links to where it lives (the person’s week, the project’s approvals or its budget), where someone with a Planner seat can retry it once the cause is fixed. Owners, Admins and Planners see the card.

Who can see the API secret? No one. Once saved it is encrypted, and ProjectSmith shows only whether a secret is set. To change it, paste a new one.