Steven Freshour: sorry to hear it failed! How many tasks were you trying to update? I can talk to Eng. to see what we can do.

Alex Omeyer (ClickUp) I guess it was hundreds of tasks.

Steven Freshour: Got it, thanks! Have you tried asking it to update tasks in batches of 20? I've seen it do the trick (sometimes the assistant does it without being prompted to but better ask to be sure).

Alex Omeyer (ClickUp) I did that for a list that had 12 tasks. AI said ok I will update all 5 tasks in this list. I then said there are 12 tasks and it said ok sorry. I eventually got it to update 12 tasks, but the point is this doesn't work well and now I hit a limit and I'm being asked to pay for AI upgrade per user. You need to work out the bugs before you start charging for AI. But it seems like having the ability to bulk update time estimates would be easier to develop than AI and should be a standard feature.

Steven Freshour: Noted, thanks for sharing more detail and sorry you experienced issues. If you ever bump into issues like these, please don't hesitate to downvote the AI response. The trace gets sent straight back to us and really helps us debug.

Totally agree on bulk updating time estimates without AI cc Ivan Villa

Jack Dowd Thanks, but I've used this and it got about halfway through a list and quit (multiple times). I'd love to use this if it's actually working, but as of a few weeks ago it was a mess

Jack Dowd how can you narrow this down to a certain list or parent task? If we use the above prompt, will it apply it to all tasks with that in progress status in the entire space?

Also, why does one have to use AI to do this? bulk editing of a numerical field should be a pretty basic implementation...

Jack Dowd how does someone do it without AI? I can't justify paying for CU's AI just for this ability when it's something I expect to be able to do inherently.

A tip for everyone here on how I've done it using native automations.

1) add a checkbox for time estimate (i.e. 3hrs)

2) setup automation so that when the checkbox is checked, estimate time 3hrs + uncheck the box after

3) bulk select the desired tasks + check the box

4) wait for the time estimates to get filled and box to get unchecked (visual indicator the job is done)

5) modify the automation and continue with other tasks that are different time estimates (or use separate checkbox custom fields)

Jack Dowd So a 5 USD/user solution.

Tacky.

Jack Dowd Even if we subscribed to the AI feature, I would never use it this way. Too much risk of being misunderstood and unintended tasks being changed. Besides, why should an AI chatbot have access to do something that a human doesn't?

This is definitely not the solution I am looking for, nor am I paying for AI. This should be an easy bulk select and edit tool

Jack Dowd Will this still be planned for the bulk action tool bar? AI isn't going to work for our workspace. Hope this can be implemented in the BAT, am sure many feel this way.

Jack Dowd this is only allowed if you have AI?

Jack Dowd This should be a base feature to "bulk update" with the current bulk select and edit toolbar, not locked behind an AI paywall.

Even if we were going to use AI, setting the AI up to do this would take longer than bulk selecting and updating. ClickUp's mission is to cut down on time spent doing clerical tasks, not increase it.

Maiya Holliday: Can you provide the prompt you used or provide a Clip of this issue in action?

Brandi Monjure: You can narrow it down by selecting the location picker in my gif below:

Jack Dowd Thanks for the info! Our team does not use the AI feature. Is this still in the "Planned" phase for adding it? This feature is at the top of our wish list. Thanks!

Tiffany Lam - I did the same thing with a numeric drop down field with different values and a few automation so “when custom_estimate is set to 30, set task estimate to 30 minutes” - it’s a total hack workaround and a real PITA when setting up a new space but it’s either that or manual updates (or some kind of magic AI prompt that would be able to pick the right tasks to update…).

Jack Dowd - I don't think its acceptable to have this as an AI function as a solution. Also, not everyone has paid for this.

We are asking this to be available as a bulk action please.

Jack Dowd This is not a solution for something basic. I have 800 users. There is no way AI is interesting for us as only 100 users need it for example.

Jack Dowd Unfortunately subtasks in a list never require the exact same time estimate, we would need to be able to refine further.

Melanie Hagen: thanks for your feedback! How about if the AI confirmed with you before making the update and/or if you could easily revert the action?

Alex Omeyer (ClickUp) I think that depends on what action I can take if the AI says it will update things that I don't want updated, or not list things that I do want updated. If there's anything about AI chatbots that I really hate, it's arguing with them; I'd rather be able to check/uncheck items to be updated than attempt to rephrase myself to get the AI to do what I want.

Jack Dowd I think a few may have already covered this but using AI wouldn't allow you to select say 20-30 tasks within a project with differing statuses and names to then apply the same time estimate.

Jack Dowd really bad idea to use AI, it's not at all a prompt that I would like to give it. Simply bulk select tasks and modify them in bulk (like bulk modify an assignee or a custom field - why not the time estimate?!?)

Danielle We hit a few roadblocks along the way when trying to get this one out the door back then in the normal Bulk toolbar. But I'm checking with the team to see what those things were and if we are past them. Ideally, we can see how to pick this one back up. �

Ivan Villa - any update?