Rewst's Workflow Builder: How to set up a workflow

While you could manually build workflows in the Workflow Builder, the fastest way to automation in Rewst is to ask the Rewst Agent to build for you. The below documentation will help you understand the available features in Rewst, which is helpful in knowing what to ask for and how to speak to the Rewst Agent.

Workflow Builder

A blank Workflow Builder Canvas, as seen for a freshly created workflow

Build a workflow

Create the workflow

1. Navigate to Automations > Workflows in the left side menu of your Rewst platform.

2. Click New Workflow.

3. Give your workflow a Name and a brief description of what it will be used to achieve.

4. Click Create workflow. This will launch the Workflow Builder.

Configure the workflow

Click Configure in the Workflow Builder. This will open the Configure Workflow menu dialog. Each of the submenus in the left side of the dialog contains settings for just this specific workflow.

Inputs

The Input Variables section defines the values supplied when the workflow starts. Click Add Input to create one.

Outputs

The Output Variables section declares the values returned by successful workflow runs. Click Add Output to create one.

Time Savings

Calculation configures how Rewst calculates saved time for each workflow run.

1. The Mode drop-down defaults to Global fixed seconds per run, paired with a Global Time Savings (seconds) field that defaults to 0

2. Notes records optional text context about how the estimate was determined

Considerations for time saved

When determining how much time to set for any given process, it's a good practice to consider not only how much time it may take you or your most experienced tech to go through that process manually, but also how much time it takes to fix any human errors that may happen during this process.

Limits

Workflow Limits configures execution limits that prevent runaway workflows, across two fields.

1. Max Tasks caps the number of tasks that can execute and defaults to no limit

2. Workflow Timeout (seconds) defaults to 86400

Concurrency

1. Concurrency Limit limits how many instances of the workflow can run at the same time, using the Max Concurrent Runs field

2. The default is Unlimited

3. When limit reached is used to set the behavior when a limit is hit: Drop or Fail the workflow

Tags

1. Workflow Types lets you select from predefined classifications for organization and filtering

   1. Click Add Type to select one

2. Legacy Type Tag field is deprecated: use Workflow Types instead, as this is maintained for backward compatibility only with Rewst Classic

3. Info Tags adds lightweight tags for categorization and search

   1. Click Add Tag to create one

Agent tool

Enter text into the Agent Tool Description field to explain when a custom agent should use this workflow, what context it must collect first, and what side effects it has.

Publish as node

1. This section makes the workflow available as a live workflow node for child organizations

2. Edits to the parent workflow propagate to child org workflow nodes, with no republish as node or version pinning step— however, child orgs run the parent workflow's latest published version, so draft edits don't reach them until you publish

3. Targets chooses which child orgs can use the workflow as a node, through three options:

   1. All

   2. By Tag - reveals a Browse tags search field

   3. Specific - reveals a Search child orgs by name field

4. Palette Folder chooses the existing or new folder the published node appears in for child orgs

5. Exposed Inputs selects which workflow inputs child org users can fill in when they add the node

6. Input Constraints optionally saves validation metadata per exposed input, and stays empty until at least one input is exposed

Set up the trigger

Recall that every workflow is kicked off by a trigger. Which trigger you choose will depend on the goals of your workflow. There's no right or wrong order to build your workflow as long as it contains all the correct parts at the time of publication. You could start with adding actions to your Workflow Builder Canvas first, then set up your trigger.

If your trigger is a form, you'll need to create and set up that form first before pulling it into your workflow. If you're asking the Rewst Agent to build for you, it will take care of all the steps on your behalf, in one clean chain of events.

A workflow can be called by multiple forms through the use of triggers. All that is required is to open the workflow and create a new Receive Form trigger.

1. Click the Triggers tab of the left side menu in the Workflow Builder.

2. Click on your desired trigger. Drag it and release it on the Workflow Builder Canvas.

3. Click on your placed trigger's node. This will expand the node and reveal the trigger's configuration settings.

4. Fill in the fields as desired. For more on configuration for specific triggers, see our trigger documentation here.

Drag the action

1. Search for your desired action in the left side menu.

2. Click on it, drag it, and drop it onto the Workflow Builder Canvas.

3. Repeat this process to add all needed actions to your workflow.

Configure the action

1. Click on the placed action, which will open its configuration menu. Each action will have up to three tabs inside it: Details, Advanced, and Outputs. The fields in each action's configuration menu will vary depending on the action. Action configuration fields are more explicitly documented here.

2. Remember to add transitions between your tasks.

3. Click Mock Draft > Preview to see if your workflow executes as desired and choose from three execution modes via the drop-down selector:

   1. Mock makes no API calls

   2. Preview reads real data, but mocks writes

   3. Run is a live run of the workflow as it would proceed any other time

4. Click Publish to save your changes and push them to the desired effect.

Add transitions between nodes

Transitions are the bridges that connect different nodes, ensuring that workflows move forward as designed. Each node has two circular nodules on its left and right, functioning as its input and output, respectively. Click on either and drag to the next node to set up the transition. Depending on the type of node and criteria set, one node might branch out to multiple subsequent actions.

The color of the transition line communicates its type. Green is for success, red for failure. Grey denotes unconditional out flow, the single path used for triggers, joins, delays, etc.

Right click a node and click Add Failure Transition to add a failure path for a node.

Right click on any transition line to expose the menu and change the line type to your preference of curved, angled, or straight. This is also how you delete the transition.

If you're reading a workflow that was either unpacked from a Crate or built for you by the Rewst Agent, you can follow the order of events in the workflow by reading the transitions.

If you were a Rewst Classic user, note that Rewst's previous concepts of task transition criteria sensitivity is now handled via the Join nodes. The previous concept of follow first settings is now handled via nodes that appear in the flow control category.

Select multiple elements on the Canvas

Select multiple workflow nodes simultaneously by drawing a selection box around them.

1. Hold shift and drag your mouse.

2. Once you’ve selected multiple nodes, move them by dragging the selection box to the desired location.

3. Press the Delete key to delete all selected nodes.

Add, edit, or delete workflow notes

Notes are a great way to jot down your thinking behind workflow aspects, and an essential step to building workflows for any team that has multiple employees editing workflows. They're also a great way to preserve small snippets of your conversation with the Rewst Agent while it builds your workflow for you, to reference later on while editing or updating what it created. These boxes provide a title and a markdown editor.

Adding notes is disabled for synced, cloned workflows.

1. Right-click the Canvas and select Add Note. Alternatively, click in the vertical menu at the bottom left of the Workflow Builder Canvas.

2. Click and drag it to the desired location on the canvas.

3. Click Edit on the note to edit its text.

4. Click to delete the note.

Troubleshoot workflow failures or executions

If something goes wrong, your first step should be to ask the Rewst Agent. It can access all of a workflow's data and give you clear next steps. If your workflow involves an integration, it's also helpful to check that integrated tool's status page for outages or recent updates that the Rewst Agent might not be aware of.