You can create a task that uses Web3 Function from your smart contract as well. If your project involves complex interactions and you need the task creation to be a part of an on-chain transaction, you would directly interact with a smart contract.
Web3 Function secrets are not available for smart contract created tasks.
To create a Web3 Function task with your smart contract, you can inherit AutomateTaskCreator which has helper functions to easily create your task. Pass the Module.PROXY & Module.WEB3_FUNCTION as modules in ModuleData 
ModuleData memory moduleData = ModuleData({
    modules: new Module[](2),
    args: new bytes[](2)
});

moduleData.modules[0] = Module.PROXY;
moduleData.modules[1] = Module.WEB3_FUNCTION;
Use _web3FunctionModuleArg to encode arguments for WEB3_FUNCTION module. 
function _web3FunctionModuleArg(
    string memory _web3FunctionHash, // IPFS CID of deployed web3Function
    bytes calldata _web3FunctionArgsHex // Abi encoded web3 function arguments
)
Here is how you can encode your Web3Function arguments to get web3FunctionArgsHex. In this example, the Web3Function has 2 arguments, counterW3fAddress & count.
schema.json
{
  "web3FunctionVersion": "2.0.0",
  "runtime": "js-1.0",
  "memory": 128,
  "timeout": 30,
  "userArgs": {
    "counterW3fAddress": "string",
    "count": "number"
  }
}
In your contract, you would encode the arguments according to the sequence defined in schema.json. 
function _getWeb3FunctionArgsHex(
    address counterW3fAddress,
    uint256 count
) 
internal 
pure 
returns (bytes memory web3FunctionArgsHex) {
    web3FunctionArgsHex = abi.encode(counterW3fAddress, count)
}
The full code can be found here. 
function createTask(
    string memory _web3FunctionHash,
    bytes calldata _web3FunctionArgsHex
) external {
    require(taskId == bytes32(""), "Already started task");

    bytes memory execData = abi.encodeCall(this.increaseCount, (1));

    ModuleData memory moduleData = ModuleData({
        modules: new Module[](2),
        args: new bytes[](2)
    });
    moduleData.modules[0] = Module.PROXY;
    moduleData.modules[1] = Module.WEB3_FUNCTION;

    moduleData.args[0] = _proxyModuleArg();
    moduleData.args[1] = _web3FunctionModuleArg(
        _web3FunctionHash,
        _web3FunctionArgsHex
    );

    bytes32 id = _createTask(
        address(this),
        execData,
        moduleData,
        address(0)
    );

    taskId = id;
    emit CounterTaskCreated(id);
}

​
Additional Info

  • Tasks created via this route cannot be named
  • Smart Contracts can also create and cancel tasks
  • You can find a list of example smart contracts here

​
Functions Exposed by AutomateTaskCreator

​
_createTask()

Interacts and creates a task on the Gelato Automate smart contract. 
function _createTask(
    address execAddress, 
    bytes memory execDataOrSelector, 
    ModuleData memory moduleData,
    address feeToken 
) internal returns (bytes32 taskId);
  • execAddress - Address of the contract which Gelato will call
  • execDataOrSelector - Signature of function which Gelato will call / execution data (If Resolver Module is not used. More about modules below)
  • moduleData - Modules that are enabled for the task. (More about ModuleData below)
  • feeToken - Use address(0) if using Gelato Gas Tank. Use 0xeeeeee… for ETH or native tokens.

​
ModuleData

struct ModuleData {
    Module[] modules;
    bytes[] args;
}
Modules are conditions / specifications about your task. These are the current available Modules. 
enum Module {
    RESOLVER,
    PROXY,
    SINGLE_EXEC,
    WEB3_FUNCTION,
    TRIGGER
}
  • RESOLVER - Define dynamic conditions and execution data
  • TIME - Repeated execution at a specific time and interval. (in ms)
  • PROXY - Your function will be called by a dedicated msg.sender
  • SINGLE_EXEC - Task is cancelled after one execution
  • WEB3_FUNCTION - Define a Typescript function to get off-chain execution data
  • TRIGGER - Define your execution trigger (Time interval, Event, every block, …)
Each Module would require additional arguments which is an encoded data.
Including Module.Proxy in moduleData is mandatory, otherwise task creation will fail.
You can use these helper functions to get the arguments for each Module. 
function _resolverModuleArg(address _resolverAddress, bytes memory _resolverData)

function _proxyModuleArg()

function _singleExecModuleArg()

function _timeTriggerModuleArg(uint128 _start, uint128 _interval)

function _cronTriggerModuleArg(string memory _expression)

function _blockTriggerModuleArg()

function _eventTriggerModuleArg(
    address _address,
    bytes32[][] memory _topics,
    uint256 _blockConfirmations
) internal pure returns (bytes memory)
Crafting ModuleData will look like this if we want to create a task which utilise RESOLVER, PROXY & SINGLE_EXEC Module. 
ModuleData memory moduleData = ModuleData({
    modules: new Module[](3),
    args: new bytes[](3)
});

moduleData.modules[0] = Module.RESOLVER;
moduleData.modules[1] = Module.PROXY;
moduleData.modules[2] = Module.SINGLE_EXEC

moduleData.args[0] = _resolverModuleArg(
    address(this),
    abi.encodeCall(this.checker, ())
);
moduleData.args[1] = _proxyModuleArg();
moduleData.args[2] = _singleExecModuleArg();
Module[] must follow the order RESOLVER, PROXY, SINGLE_EXEC, WEB3_FUNCTION, TRIGGER

​
_cancelTask()

Cancels a task owned by the smart contract. 
function _cancelTask(bytes32 _taskId) internal

​
onlyDedicatedMsgSender

Function modifier to restrict msg.sender to only task executions created by taskCreator (defined in constructor). Learn more about it at Security Considerations 
modifier onlyDedicatedMsgSender() {
    require(msg.sender == dedicatedMsgSender, "Only dedicated msg.sender");
    _;
}

​
_depositFunds1Balance()

function _depositFunds1Balance(
    uint256 _amount,
    address _token,
    address _sponsor
)
Deposit funds into the Gelato 1balance contract.
The _depositFunds1Balance method is only available on Polygon

​
Single Execution Task

If you want to have Gelato call your function only once. If so, you can Include SingleExec module in ModuleData.modules. Check out the full code here. 
ModuleData memory moduleData = ModuleData({
    modules: new Module[](2),
    args: new bytes[](2)
});

moduleData.modules[0] = Module.PROXY;
moduleData.modules[1] = Module.SINGLE_EXEC;

moduleData.args[0] = _proxyModuleArg();
moduleData.args[1] = _singleExecModuleArg();

bytes32 id = _createTask(
    address(this),
    execData,
    moduleData,
    address(0)
);