Line Items

DocsAutomator provides powerful capabilities for incorporating groups of variable-length data into documents. Line items represent lists of things where the quantity isn’t predetermined—such as invoice line items, conference attendees, or recipe ingredients.

Line Items = Groups of data / lists of things

Syntax

Line items are declared using the syntax {{line_items_$num}} at the beginning of a table row, with associated variables placed in subsequent cells.

{{line_items_1}}{{description}}  {{quantity}}  {{price}}

To repeat a whole block of content per record — headings, paragraphs, and tables, e.g. one section per room or per project — add a closing tag and see Repeating Sections.

Data Source Mapping

Data Source	Mapping Method
Airtable	Automation interface
Notion	Relation property → related pages
Google Sheets	Linked sheet selection
SmartSuite	Linked field mapping
ClickUp	Subtasks, or a Relationship field → items list
Glide	Within Glide interface
Noloco	Within Noloco interface
Zapier	Zapier configuration
API	Array of objects

Multiple Line Item Sets

Multiple line item sets can be included by incrementing the number:

{{line_items_1}}{{description}}  {{quantity}}  {{price}}

{{line_items_2}}{{name}}  {{amount}}

Line item sets must be numbered in correct order (1, 2, 3, etc.).

Features

Adding Images in Line Items

Image placeholders use the {{image_name}} prefix and can map single or multiple images:

{{line_items_1}}{{image_product_photo}}  {{name}}  {{price}}

Grouping

Line items can be grouped by any variable except images. See Line Items Grouping + Calculations.

Conditional Display

Rows can be conditionally shown/hidden based on placeholder values through options/gear icons. See Conditional Show/Hide.

Conditional Styling

Text and rows support dynamic styling based on conditions:

Even/odd row alternating colors
Custom text formatting
Row background colors

See Conditional Styling.

Constraints

Variables must be unique per line item row
Line items must occupy entire rows, not partial rows
No limit on items passed (users report hundreds to thousands)
Each {{line_items_N}} number must be unique across the entire template — even if the tables are in mutually exclusive sections. Reusing the same number (e.g. {{line_items_1}} twice) causes a generation error.

API Example

When using the API, pass line items as an array of objects inside the data object:

{
  "docId": "your-automation-id",
  "data": {
    "customer_name": "Acme Corp",
    "invoice_date": "2024-01-15",
    "line_items_1": [
      {
        "description": "Widget A",
        "quantity": 2,
        "unit_price": 10.00,
        "total": 20.00
      },
      {
        "description": "Widget B",
        "quantity": 1,
        "unit_price": 25.00,
        "total": 25.00
      }
    ]
  }
}

Nested Line Items

Create hierarchical data structures

Grouping + Calculations

Group and calculate totals

Auto Row Numbers

Automatic row numbering

Template Guide

Complete template syntax

Getting Started

Integrations

Features

Use Cases

Account & Billing

Resources

Syntax

Data Source Mapping

Multiple Line Item Sets

Features

Adding Images in Line Items

Grouping

Conditional Display

Conditional Styling

Constraints

API Example

Nested Line Items

Grouping + Calculations

Auto Row Numbers

Template Guide

​Syntax

​Data Source Mapping

​Multiple Line Item Sets

​Features

​Adding Images in Line Items

​Grouping

​Conditional Display

​Conditional Styling

​Constraints

​API Example

​Related Pages

Nested Line Items

Grouping + Calculations

Auto Row Numbers

Template Guide

Syntax

Data Source Mapping

Multiple Line Item Sets

Features

Adding Images in Line Items

Grouping

Conditional Display

Conditional Styling

Constraints

API Example

Related Pages