Action templates can set dates for your subactions automatically.
In the action template editor, open Subactions and keep Automatically add due dates on (it is on for new templates).
Expand a subaction’s details to set its Day and Duration. New subactions start at Day 1.
Then open an action, select More → Apply template, and choose the template.
What does Day mean?
Day tells Hive when to schedule each subaction.
Day 0: the main action’s due date—or today if it has no due date. A start date alone is not used.
Negative numbers: before that date.
Positive numbers: after that date.
If the main action has no due date, negative numbers can put subactions in the past.
Weekends and holidays: Day and Duration skip days off. Weekends count as days off when the project setting Allow actions to be assigned on weekends is off. Holidays count when they are on the holiday calendar of a person assigned to the subaction. If the subaction has no assignee, every holiday in the workspace counts. See Add holidays in Hive.
What does Duration mean?
Duration tells Hive how many days the subaction lasts. A duration of 1 adds only a due date. Longer durations add both a start and due date, counting the start as day 1. For these longer tasks, Day sets the start date.
Example
Your main action is due Tuesday, November 10, 2026. If the project allows actions on weekends and there are no holidays:
Day 0, Duration 1: due November 10.
Day −3, Duration 1: due November 7.
Day +2, Duration 4: starts November 12 and is due November 15.
If the project does not allow actions on weekends, the same steps give November 10, November 5, and November 12–17.
Recalculate subaction dates when the main deadline changes
Applying the template again adds a second set of subactions. To move existing dates, change the main action’s due date instead.
When changing the main action’s due date, select Adjust due dates of subactions.
For an action with a template applied directly to it, you can choose:
Shift by the same number of days — the default; moves existing subaction dates with the main deadline.
Recalculate from action template — rebuilds open subaction dates using the template’s Day and Duration settings, relative to the main action’s new deadline.
Recalculation follows the same weekend and holiday rules. The template must still exist, with Automatically add due dates on.
It can replace manual date adjustments. Completed subactions, subactions without a due date, subactions with locked dates (unless you are a workspace admin or the project owner), and subactions the template did not create are left unchanged.