You can use Swif’s geofencing to automatically trigger security actions when devices enter or leave sensitive locations. This article explains how to configure automated actions for geofences on macOS, Windows, and Linux devices.
Supported automated actions (current):
Notification
Lock device
What are geofence automated actions?
Automated actions are post-actions that run when a geofence rule is triggered (for example, when a device enters a restricted area).
For each geofence, you can currently:
Send notifications (via Swif events, Slack, and email)
Lock devices when they enter or leave a geofenced area
Actions are evaluated per geofence and apply to the devices or device groups you target in the geofence rule.
Before you start
Make sure you’ve already:
Created or identified the areas you want to geofence (country/city and/or custom-radius locations).
Selected at least one device or device group to target in the geofence rule.
If a geofence doesn’t target any devices or device groups, you won’t be able to configure automated actions. The UI will show a message like:
“Add at least one device or device group to configure automated actions.”
Step 1 – Open the Automated actions step
In the Swif Admin Console, start the Create Geofence wizard.
Complete the geofence definition steps (location, devices/device groups, basic configuration).
Click Next until you reach the Automated actions step.
On this step you’ll see:
A read‑only “Geofence context” panel summarizing:
Selected locations (area/custom radius)
Target devices / device groups
This context cannot be edited here; to change it, go back to earlier steps.
An Actions list showing automated actions configured for this geofence.
Default Notification action (and removal of the old trigger)
Previously, notifications were controlled by a “Notification trigger” checkbox in the Basic configuration step. That control has been removed.
Now:
The Basic configuration step no longer shows any “Notification trigger” checkbox.
On a brand-new geofence, the Automated actions step will show one default Notification action in the list.
You can remove this default Notification action if you don’t want notifications for this geofence.
Step 2 – Add or edit an automated action
On the Automated actions step you can add, edit, or delete actions.
Open the Add / Edit Action modal
To add an action, click Add action.
To edit an existing action, click Edit on the action row in the list.
Both actions open the same Add Action modal:
When adding: the form is blank.
When editing: the form is pre-populated with the selected action’s current values.
Supported action types and limits
In the Add Action modal, the Action type dropdown currently supports:
Notification
Lock device
Policy assignment has been moved to a separate track and is not part of this feature.
There are two important limits:
Only one Notification action per geofence
You can have at most one Notification action.
If a Notification action already exists:
The Notification type may be disabled in the dropdown, or
You’ll see a validation error if you try to save another Notification.
When editing a Lock action, you can only change it to Notification if there is no other Notification action already configured.
Maximum two actions total (Notification + Lock)
Once you have one Notification and one Lock device action:
The Add action button is disabled or hidden.
A tooltip or message will indicate that no more actions can be added.
If you delete one of the actions, Add action becomes available again.
Step 3 – Configure a Notification action
When you choose Notification as the action type:
Select a Trigger Event:
On Entry
On Exit
On Entry & Exit
Only Notification actions support On Entry & Exit.
Configure delivery channels (per your environment and UI), such as:
Swif event feed
Slack channels (e.g., security-ops channel)
Email recipients (e.g., security@yourcompany.com, on‑call engineers)
Save the action.
After saving, you’ll see a Notification row in the Actions list summarizing:
Action type (Notification)
Trigger event
Delivery channels (as per design)
Step 4 – Configure a Lock device action
When you choose Lock device as the action type:
Save the action.
After saving, you’ll see a Lock device row in the Actions list summarizing:
Action type (Lock device)
Trigger event
Key lock‑specific details (for example, lock message)
Step 5 – Delete an automated action
To delete an action from the geofence:
On the Automated actions step, hover over the action row.
Click Delete.
Confirm in the dialog.
The confirmation pattern matches other geofence delete confirmations. After confirmation, the action is removed from the list.
Step 6 – Review automated actions before saving
When you proceed to the Review step in the Create Geofence wizard:
A dedicated Automated actions section appears.
It lists each configured action with:
Action type (Notification, Lock device)
Trigger event
Key details (delivery channels, lock message, etc.)
This section is read-only; to change anything, go back to the Automated actions step.
This ensures the geofence definition and automated actions are consistent before saving.
Viewing automated actions for an existing geofence
Once a geofence is saved, you can see its automated actions in the View Geofence side panel.
Open the View Geofence side panel for a specific geofence.
In the details panel, locate the Automated actions summary section.
You’ll see, for each action:
Action type (Notification, Lock device)
Trigger event (On Entry, On Exit, or On Entry & Exit for Notification)
Target details where applicable (e.g., which devices/device groups are in scope)
The View panel is view‑only:
You cannot add, edit, or delete actions from this panel.
To change actions, edit the geofence via the Create/Edit flow and update the Automated actions step.
Platform support
This feature applies to:
macOS
Windows
Linux
Functionality and UI are aligned across these platforms where supported by your MDM and Swif integration.
Troubleshooting
I don’t see the Automated actions step
Make sure you’ve completed the earlier geofence steps (location and targets).
Confirm your workspace has geofencing enabled.
I can’t add new actions
Check if:
A Notification action already exists, and
A Lock device action already exists.
If both exist, the Add action button will be disabled until you delete one.
I can’t choose “On Entry & Exit”
This combined trigger is only available for Notification actions.
Lock device supports only a single trigger (On Entry or On Exit).