> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.rewst.help/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.rewst.help/rewst-documentation/documentation/automations/forms.md).
# Forms
## What is a form?
*Forms* are powerful tools used to collect the information your workflows need to start. They streamline the data collection process by gathering key details from users such as names, dates, or options. Forms can be manually created, created by the Rewst Agent, or added as part of [Crate installation](https://docs.rewst.help/prebuilt-automations/crates#unpack-a-crate).
## Why use forms?
Forms collect data in one simple step, reducing manual data entry and saving you time. They can also function as [triggers](/rewst-documentation/documentation/automations/nodes/nodes-triggers.md) in Rewst when building workflows, allowing for seamless transitions and increased efficiency. Use a form submission in your workflow if user input is required for the automation to run.
{% hint style="success" %}
While you could build forms yourself, the quickest way to automation in Rewst is to ask the Rewst Agent to build a form for you. When it builds other things that require forms, like workflows or apps, it will also build that form for you on your behalf.
{% endhint %}
## View forms in Rewst
Access all forms, be they manually created by you or obtained as part of unpacking Crates, by navigating to **Automations > Forms** in the left side menu.
An example of what your forms page might look like
### Export and import forms
You can export a form to share with other Rewst customers, or create your own hard copies of form backups.
1. Open your form in the Form Builder.
2. Click **Form schema preview** **> Launch form schema preview** under Form Properties.
3. Click **Export**. This will automatically trigger a download of a JSON bundle to your desktop.
Alternatively, you can use the import or export shortcuts. Navigate to the forms list.
#### Export
1. Click **...** to the right of your related form.
2. Click **Export**. This will trigger a download of that form to your desktop in the format of a JSON file.
#### Import
1. Click **Import form** in the top right corner of your screen.
2. Drag and drop your bundled file onto the uploader dialog.
3. Check the name of the form and update it as desired.
4. Click **Import form**.
### Clone an existing form
There may be times when you want to take an existing form and make slight modifications to apply it to another use case.
To clone a form:
1. Navigate to **Automations > Forms**.
2. Click **⋮** next to the form you want to clone.
3. Click **Clone**.
4. Rename your form to something unique and define a few other fields:
* **New Name**: the new name of the cloned form, make sure this is something unique and describes the use case for the form.
* **Organization**: the organization that the form will reside under.
* This doesn’t necessarily mean that you want to select the customer that the form will be for. The best practice is to have the form live at the top-level organization. The customers are tied to the relevant form by a trigger in the workflow.
5. Click the **Clone** button to see your cloned form.
## Binding in forms
*Binding* is how you connect a form to allow its information to continually update for the user. You design the form once with blanks, and Rewst fills the blanks in from real data every time someone opens it. When the Rewst Agent designs and builds your forms for you, it takes care of all the needed binding to meet your request.
### Form-workflow binding
You bind a published form to a published workflow, and from then on submitting the form triggers that workflow with the form's answers as its input. The workflow has to have a [Form Trigger](/rewst-documentation/documentation/automations/nodes/nodes-triggers.md#receive-form) for this to be possible. A form can have more than one workflow bound to it, and each binding has a health status:
| Status | What it means | What to do |
| -------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------- |
| `active` | Working | Nothing |
| `stale` | The workflow's inputs changed after the binding was made | Refresh the binding, or republish |
| `broken` | The workflow or form version is gone | Remove it and recreate |
### Form-field binding
*Field bindings* bind values, inside forms. It's how dependent drop-downs work: pick a Customer in the first drop-down, and the Site drop-down re-runs its lookup filtered to that customer. You're binding the upstream field to the input of the workflow that fetches the downstream options. The name on each side has to match exactly. An error here is one of the most common reasons a dependent dropdown comes back empty. The same mechanism also feeds table and repeater rows in a form from a workflow.
---
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