Send a single reminder for multiple items using Lists and Power Automate (UPDATED)

Note: The steps in the Create HTML table action have been updated from my original post, on Dec 21, 2020, to address an issue where the Filter array columns were no longer available in Power Automate.

This post is inspired by a question I received from a previous blog post where the user wants to send a single email reminder for multiple Microsoft List items. The typical Power Automate pattern is one reminder per item. Consolidating items, by owner for example, is harder that you would think. I am using the Issue tracker template for my demo and we will send a single email message for all open items assigned to the same user on a weekly schedule.

Create a new Flow from Power Automate > Create new > Scheduled cloud flow. Provide a Flow name, i.e. “Issue tracker – Weekly report” and click “Create”.

Scheduled cloud flow

Insert a SharePoint – Get items action and set:

  • Site Address and List Name to your target site and list
  • Filter Query to: Status ne 'Completed' or Status ne 'Duplicate'
SharePoint - Get items

Insert a Data Operation – Select action and set:

  • From to “value” from the previous SharePoint – Get items action
  • Map to “Person or group the issue is assigned to” from the previous SharePoint – Get items action
Select

Insert a Initialize variable and set:

  • Name to “varAssignedto”
  • Type to “Array”
  • Value to the following expression: union(body('Select_-_Assignedto'), body('Select_-_Assignedto'))
Initialize variable

Save and test your Flow. Copy the output from the Initialize variable step.

Copy output

Insert a Data Operation – Parse JSON step and set:

  • Content to “varAssignedto” from the previous Initialize variable step
  • Click “Generate from sample” and paste in the copied output from the Initialize variable step
Parse JSON

Insert a Control – Apply to each action and set:

  • Select an output from previous steps to “Body” from the previous Parse JSON step
Apply to each

Add a Data Operation – Filter array action and set:

  • From to “value” from the SharePoint – Get items action
  • Choose value to “Claims” from the Parse JSON step; “is equal to”; and Choose value to “Person or group the issue is assigned to Claims” from the SharePoint – Get items action
Filter array

Add a Data Operation – Create HTML table action and set:

  • From to “Body” from the previous Filter array action
  • Columns to “Custom”:
    • Header: Title – Value to expression “item()?[‘Title’]”
    • Header: DueDate– Value to expression “item()?[‘DueDate’]”
    • Header: LinkToItem– Value to expression “item()?[‘Link’]”

The output from the Create HTML table can be messy but there are options to format using CSS if so desired. In my example, I specify Title for the issue name, due date and a link back to the item (See image below). A nice upgrade to this listing would be to combine Title and the link into a single clickable HTML tag.

HTML table

Finally, add a Send an email (V2) action and set:

  • To “Email” from the Parse JSON step
  • Subject to “Issue tracker – My items”
  • Body to “Output” from Parse JSON step
Send an email

My completed Flow looks like the image below.

Completed Flow

Save and the test the Flow. If all goes well the persons assigned to the issue will receive a single email with all items assigned to them.

I like the idea of this pattern but I would invest time into formatting the HTML table for the best possible user experience prior to production use.

Thanks for reading!

NY

32 thoughts on “Send a single reminder for multiple items using Lists and Power Automate (UPDATED)”

  3. Hi Norm and Thank you! I am new with power automate and this helped me alot. I have some concerns and requesting for your help/clarification after doing the test run:

    1. Multiple email sent to “assignedto”. – I don’t know if this is the problem but when I added “Email” under “To” from the Parse JSON step under Send an email the flow turns or converted into “Apply to Each”.

    Note: Same happened when “Claims” from Parse JSON step” under “Filter Array” (just an observation)

    2. Email sent also have the list of action which not belong to that person/persons/group. How can I filter that email to be sent only has/have pending list assigned to that person/persons/group to be sent.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi Miko,

      1) Does your “Person or group the issue is assigned to” column allow multiple selections? If so, that will cause the “Apply to each”. Interestingly, the template schema has changed and now “Person or group the issue is assigned to” is called “Assigned to”.

      2) Possibly related to issue 1. Check the output from Parse JSON action to confirm distinct values.

      If you are stuck book some time and we can look into things further. https://calendly.com/norm-young/sharepoint-power-automate-help

      Thanks for reading!

      NY

      Like

      Reply

  5. Over the last week I must have followed half a dozen guides for this exact process, and not one has worked. Until now. Thank you!!!
    Other than syntax errors, the only place I really got stuck was the Create HTML Table, because the array fields don’t show in the dynamic listing. However, I discovered that if I enter “item()?[‘Title’]” as a function it works. The next time I reopen the flow fresh it looks just like yours.
    Now if I could just figure out how to show the values from Choice fields…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hi Jon,

      Thanks for saying that, I really do appreciate it. Let me look into the Choice field stuff and I’ll get back to you.

      Thanks for reading!

      NY

      Like

      Reply

      1. Thank you, I appreciate that. I actually just found the solution. I just needed to spend a few more minutes hunting to find the exact right post!
        https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Building-Flows/Create-HTML-table-from-Sharepoint-List-with-multi-selection/m-p/409714#M47043

        Norm Young commented: “Hi Jon, Thanks for saying that, I really do appreciate it. Let me look into the Choice field stuff and I’ll get back to you. Thanks for reading! NY”

        Like

  7. Hi Norm,
    Many thanks for sharing this helpful post!
    Unfortunately I have already got stuck on step 3 – initialize variable.
    I am getting the following error when I save at this step:
    Correct to include a valid reference to ‘Select_-_Assignedto’ for the input parameter(s) of action ‘Initialize_variable’.
    Any ideas what I might be doing wrong?
    Kind Regards, Marc

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi Ozzy,

      Is the compare value set to the “claims” value of the person column? i.e. “Person or group the issue is assigned to Claims”

      Thanks for reading!

      NY

      Like

      Reply

      1. Hi Norm, huge thanks for posting this! Also having an issue with the Filter array as I don’t have an option to select ‘Claims’ for the first value – but possibly due to the Parse JSON not working (although I copied and pasted into the ‘Generate from sample’ as instructed, I just get the following:
        {
        “type”: “array”
        })

        Thanks for any help!
        Laura

        Like

      2. Hi Laura,

        Does your List column allow multiple entries? If so that would explain the error. Let me know and I will help further.

        Thanks for reading!

        NY

        Like

    1. Hi Joanna,

      I don’t think this pattern would work as it is currently built. In your scenario are you trying to pull certain messages from a shared mailbox?

      Thanks for reading!

      NY

      Like

      Reply

    1. Hi Steelwin,

      See below and thanks for reading!

      {
      “type”: “array”,
      “items”: {
      “type”: “object”,
      “properties”: {
      “@@odata.type”: {
      “type”: “string”
      },
      “Claims”: {
      “type”: “string”
      },
      “DisplayName”: {
      “type”: “string”
      },
      “Email”: {
      “type”: “string”
      },
      “Picture”: {
      “type”: “string”
      },
      “Department”: {},
      “JobTitle”: {}
      },
      “required”: [
      “@@odata.type”,
      “Claims”,
      “DisplayName”,
      “Email”,
      “Picture”,
      “Department”,
      “JobTitle”
      ]
      }
      }

      NY

      Like

      Reply

  11. Hello Norm, very good post, exactly what I was looking for. But I can’t get the Claim value from Parse JSON. I have “Item”, “Body” and many “odata.type..Microsoft.Azure” options. In the List Column I choose “No” by “Allow multiple selections”.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi Eqor,

      Glad to hear that the post was of value. It was a tricky one to put together. When you generated the JSON where fully populated rows in the List? I can share my schema but if we are using the same List structure it may not work as expected.

      Let me know how you make out.

      Thanks for reading!

      NY

      Like

      Reply

      1. Hi Norm,

        thanks for answering to my question. I tried with your scheme as mentioned above but without success. Yes the rows and columns are fully filled. Maybe it’s because of Azure and SSO?

        My scheme looks like this:

        {
        “type”: “array”,
        “items”: {
        “type”: “object”,
        “properties”: {
        “{\”@odata.type\”:\”#Microsoft.Azure.Connectors.SharePoint.SPListExpandedUser\”,\”Claims\”:\”i:0#.f|membership|user1@myorganisation.com\”,\”DisplayName\”:\”Max, Mustermann\”,\”Email\”:\”user1@myorganisation.com\”,\”Picture\”:\”https://myorganisation.sharepoint.com/sites/General1546/_layouts/15/UserPhoto.aspx?Size=L&AccountName=user1@myorganisation.com\”,\”Department\”:\”CRM\”,\”JobTitle\”:null}”: {
        “type”: “string”
        },
        “required”: []
        }
        }

        Like

      2. Hi Norm,

        I have found my issue 😀 So if you create a new SELECT, you have to input for the KEY COMPONENT a string like RiskBelongsEmployee and on the right side for the ENTER VALUE the dynamic content from GET ITEMS. After you will be able to copy and generate the right JSON and you will have the possibility to input CLAIM into FILTER ARRAY.

        Liked by 1 person

  12. Hi Norm, this has proved so useful I cannot even tell you.

    I need to extend it slightly, in that my SP List has 3 owners (not multi select, 3 distinct columns; primary owner, secondary owner, tertiary owner).
    I have tried having 3 separate flows run, with the Select action mapping which ever Owner column that flow was intended for. It works fine for the Primary owner as this is a required field, as every item in my list must have an owner, but not every item will have a secondary or tertiary owner. So in the schema for the other flows this is throwing up null values and wont parse. I have tried replacing “type”: “string” in the schema with [“string”, “null”], but that doesn’t appear to work. I just get an error on the Parse JSON – ValidationFailed. These schema validation has failed. Invalid type. Expected Object but got Null.

    If you have any ideas or pointers it would be much appreciated.
    Or if you are aware of any way I can parse the secondary and tertiary owner’s email (if there is one) to include these columns in the HTML table and also send the email output to them, that would be even more amazing.

    Thanks

    Simon

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hi Simon,

      Thanks for the great feedback, I really appreciate it. I think you need to evaluate the secondary and tertiary fields for NULL’s prior to any execution of actions. If NULL, do nothing. If NOT NULL, do actions.

      Hope that makes sense. Let me know how you make out.

      Thanks for reading!

      NY

      Like

      Reply

  13. Hi Norm,

    I am trying to follow the same steps but I am getting my data from SQL with Get Rows (V2). All good until Filter Array as I cannot find “Claims”.

    This is how the output from Initialize Variable step looks on my side
    {
    “variables”: [
    {
    “name”: “varEmail”,
    “type”: “Array”,
    “value”: [
    {
    “Employee Email”:

    followed by Employee Emails.

    Could you please advise?
    Are these steps compatible with SQL too?

    Thank you,
    Daniela

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi Daniela,

      I would consider adding a “Get user profile” action to resolve the email stored in SQL and then reference the output in the “Filter array” action.

      I hope this helps and thanks for reading!

      NY

      Like

      Reply

      1. Hi Norm,
        I just fixed it. Actually “Claims” in my Outputs is “Employee Email”. So I used in Filter Array “Employee Email” from Parse JSON equals to “Employee Email” from Get Rows step and it works great.

        Your flow was a life saver!

        Thank you,
        Daniela

        Like

  14. One more question. Is this possible with ‘When an item is created in SQL’? I have employee emails with multiple rows that are being created in SQL. Can I send one email with all the rows assigned to that employee email (without duplicating emails) with ‘When an item is created in SQL’ trigger?

    Thank you,
    Daniela

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi Daniela,

      It sounds feasible and you could probably use a similar Flow pattern only replacing SharePoint actions with like SQL actions.

      Would like to know how you make out. Please share back your results.

      Thanks.

      NY

      Like

      Reply

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