Record of workflow alerts

@fcooke

I checked the Activity Log and confirmed that actions like "Send Row" or "Send Sheet as Attachment" are not recorded. Even though there's an "Automation" filter, it only captures automation rule creation or updates—not actual executions such as “Request Approval” or “Alert Someone.”

From what I see, Smartsheet doesn’t seem to log these email-triggering activities at all, except for "Approval Requests," which do have a menu to view their history. I’ve also checked the Smartsheet API and could not find any method that exposes the history of emails sent through automations.

So when the original post says “this data is already in the back end of the system,” I’d really appreciate clarification from a Smartsheet employee.

Additionally, in the Admin Center, there is a control under
Security & Controls > Permissions > Notifications and Requests
that allows admins to manage who can receive notifications and requests from people in your organization. However, in practice, organizations often need to allow these actions to ensure workflows function—particularly automations like “Request Update,” “Request Approval,” “Send Row,” or “Alert Someone.”

This introduces a security gap: even if an organization restricts sheet sharing, disables external publishing, or limits report/dashboard access, users can still use Smartsheet’s system-generated email functions to send sensitive row data externally. This effectively bypasses administrative controls meant to contain data within approved boundaries.

Because of this, it’s critically important for admins to have audit visibility into all outbound emails, whether system-generated through automations or manually sent (such as using “Send Row,” or “Send as Attachment”). Both types of emails can include sensitive row-level data, and the security risk is the same—data can be leaked, intentionally or unintentionally, outside the organization’s controlled environment. Visibility into what was sent, when, and to whom is essential for maintaining data governance.