TL;DR: This Wrike AI agent automatically reads new tasks, detects urgency signals in the title and description, and sets the Priority field (High / Normal / Low) or asks the assignee to clarify when intent is ambiguous. It removes the need for manual triage while avoiding risky mislabeling of unclear requests.
Hello Community! 👋
Today we’re sharing a guide to set up an Urgency Classifier Agent that scans new tasks, looks for urgency cues (like “ASAP,” “no rush,” or “emergency”), and automatically updates a Priority custom field or posts a comment asking for clarification when it can’t confidently decide.
Below, you’ll find the full configuration, prompt, setup instructions, and customization ideas so you can plug this into your intake or backlog workflows ✔️
Agent Goal / Use Case
Teams often waste time manually reading every incoming task to decide if it’s High, Normal, or Low priority. Some tasks say “urgent” or “ASAP,” others say “no rush,” and many have no clear signal at all.
How It Works
The Urgency Classifier Agent is a single multi‑action agent that:
- Reads the task Title and Description.
- Detects urgency phrases (e.g., “ASAP,” “urgent,” “no rush”).
- Automatically sets the Priority custom field to High / Normal / Low for clear cases.
- If urgency is unclear, it leaves Priority blank and posts a comment asking the assignee to clarify.
Technical flow:
- Trigger: When an item is created, or when its Description changes.
- Action 1: Update the Priority custom field based on urgency cues.
- Action 2 (conditional): If urgency is ambiguous, post a comment asking the assignee to set the Priority.
This provides automated triage for obvious cases and a safe fallback (human clarification) when intent isn’t clear.
Prerequisites
- Custom Field: Priority
- Type: Dropdown (single-select)
- Values: High, Normal, Low
- Location: Add this field to the folder/project (or space) where the agent will run.
Agent: Urgency Classifier
This agent analyzes the Task Title and Description, sets Priority when clear, and posts a clarification comment when not.
Configuration:
Setting | Value |
|---|
Name | Urgency Classifier |
Scope | [Applies to subitems under that location (so all tasks in that folder/project are covered)] |
Trigger | Either “Item created” or “Description changed”, depending on what best fits your workflow |
Please Note: Each agent can have one trigger configured at a time. Wrike’s AI Agent offers multiple trigger types; however, the following two are typically the most logical for this use case:
- New item created – use this if you want the agent to run as soon as a new task is created.
- Description changed – use this if you want the agent to run when someone updates the task description.
Prompt
General Instructions:
Copy-paste the following into the General Instructions field:
Role: You are a Triage Assistant. Your role is to analyze the urgency of the current task and ensure it is prioritized correctly based on text-based cues.
Objective: Scan the task title and description to detect urgency and update the "Priority" custom field accordingly. If urgency is unclear, request clarification from the assignee.
Context & Scope
Read: Task Title and Task Description.
Ignore: External links or historical comments unless they contain specific instructions about priority.
Logic Rules
High Priority: If the title or description contains keywords like "urgent," "ASAP," "emergency," "critical," or "SLA," set the field to High.
Normal Priority: If the task appears to be a standard request or uses the word "Normal," set the field to Normal.
Low Priority: If the task contains phrases like "low priority," "when possible," "no rush," or "backlog," set the field to Low.
Edge Case (Clarification): If no keywords are found or the intent is ambiguous, leave the field blank and trigger the comment action.
Action 1: Update Custom Field
- Custom Field: Priority
- Values: "High", "Normal", "Low"
Action 2: Post a Comment
Condition: Only if Logic Rule #4 applies.
Template: "@[Assignee], I was unable to automatically determine the priority for this task based on the current description. Could you please update the Priority field?"
Reasoning: In the agent activity log, briefly state which keywords triggered your decision.
Examples
Input: Title: "Emergency Server Fix" → Action: Set Priority to "High"
Input: Title: "Update Logo" / Description: "We should look at this at some point." → Action: Set Priority to "Low"
Input: Title: "Monthly Report" / Description: "Please send the report." → Action: Leave field blank + Comment: "@[Assignee], I was unable to automatically determine the priority…"
Setup Steps
Step 1: Create the Custom Field
1. Go to Space Settings → Custom Fields.
2. Create a dropdown field called "Priority".
3. Add values: High, Normal, Low.
4. Add it to the relevant intake/backlog folder or project.
Step 2: Create the Agent
1. Go to Space Settings → AI Agents → Create Custom AI agent.
2. Name it Urgency Classifier.
3. Scope: Set the scope to “Any subitem of the item where the agent was added” so it applies to all subitems in that location, ensuring all tasks in that folder or project are covered.
4. Trigger: Choose one:
- Item created, if you want it to run when a new task is created, or
- Description changed, if you want it to run when someone edits the description.
5. Paste the General Instructions prompt above into the agent’s instructions.
Step 3: Configure Actions
1. Action 1 – Update Custom Field
- Custom Field: Priority
- Values: High / Normal / Low
2. Action 2 – Post Comment
- Condition: Only when Logic Rule #4 applies (no clear urgency).
- Comment template: @[Assignee], I was unable to automatically determine the priority for this task based on the current description. Could you please update the Priority field?
Step 4: Test in Playground
Try sample tasks:
- High: Title: “Emergency server fix” → Expect: Priority = High
- Low: Description: “No rush on this, add to backlog when possible” → Expect: Priority = Low
- Ambiguous: Title: “Monthly report” / Description: “Please Review” → Expect: Priority blank + clarification comment
Step 5: Deploy
- Add the agent to your intake folder or project where new tasks are created.
Customization Tips
- Add your own keywords: Include industry-specific urgency terms (e.g., "P1", "blocker", "compliance deadline") to the High category.
- Change the field: Use your existing priority or urgency field — just update the field name and values in the prompt.
- Adjust the threshold: If you want the agent to always set a priority (never ask), remove Logic Rule #4 and default ambiguous tasks to Normal.
- Expand to severity: Add a second field like "Severity" alongside Priority for teams that track both.
Expected Results
- Immediate: Every new task gets triaged within seconds of creation — no manual scanning required.
- Team impact: Managers stop spending time reading every description to assign priority; the backlog stays clean.
- Edge case safety: Ambiguous tasks don't get silently mislabeled — the agent asks instead of guessing.
Give this agent a try in your intake or operations workflows and see how much manual triage you can eliminate 💯
