Workflows

General overview of Actioner workflows, including triggers, nodes, and advanced features.

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Overview

Workflows in Actioner are customizable and automated processes that can execute one or multiple actions. These workflows can be created using a visual designer and can be triggered by various events in your systems or manually initiated within Slack. Workflows can also be scheduled to run at specific times or recurring intervals.

Tip

Each workflow is part of an app in Actioner and every app may contain several workflows, each with its own set of actions.

Workflow basics

Each workflow contains the following basic components:

1. A trigger
2. One or more nodes, each of which performs specific tasks

Triggers

Workflow triggers are events that start a workflow. When the trigger event occurs, the workflow is automatically initiated, and the actions defined in the workflow are executed. Triggers can be defined based on a variety of events such as a new form submission, a new event in your systems, a change in a database, or a specific time interval.

These events can be:

1. Manually calling workflows within Slack by calling Actioner shortcut or by clicking on a button in a notification.
2. Events that happen in your integrated systems.
3. Events that occur outside of Actioner and trigger a webhook in Actioner.
4. Scheduled or recurring Actioner job executions.

Trigger types

1. Manual triggers: Workflows that are initiated with manual triggers are executed after calling Actioner shortcut in Slack or by clicking on a button in a notification. If the workflow requires inputs, a new form opens up automatically and the workflow is triggered when this form is submitted in Slack.

2. Integration triggers: Workflows that are initiated with events happening in your integrated tools, such as Slack or HubSpot. When a user joins your team's Slack channel or when a new deal is created in your HubSpot account are some examples.

3. Webhook triggers: If Actioner does not have a pre-built integration with your application or if the integration does not include the event you want to listen, you can setup a workflow with a webhook trigger and configure your system to send data to the webhook in Actioner when specific events occur in your tool.

4. Job triggers: A scheduled or a recurring job can automatically execute a workflow in Actioner. Job triggers are configured different than other triggers. If you want to run your workflow at a certain time or on a hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or annual basis, you can add a job to your app.

Nodes

Nodes are fundamental building blocks of workflows, representing the individual actions and tasks that need to be completed to successfully run the workflow. Nodes are linked to each other in a sequence or in parallel branches to create a series of actions that form the workflow. Each node has its own properties and inputs that can be customized to meet the specific requirements of the workflow.

For example, in a workflow for processing customer orders, a node could represent the task of verifying payment information, while another node could represent the task of checking inventory levels. These nodes would be connected to each other in sequence to create the flow to processes customer orders from start to finish.

In a DevOps workflow for automating the testing and deployment of microservices, each microservice could have its own node representing the testing and deployment processes, allowing for multiple microservices to be tested and deployed simultaneously to speed up the release process.

Nodes can also have conditional logic attached to them, allowing the workflow to follow different paths depending on certain conditions being met. This can be useful in creating more complex workflows that require different actions to be taken based on different scenarios or data inputs.

Loops are another important feature of workflows that allow for the repetition of a set of actions until a specific condition is met. This can be useful for automating tasks such as data processing or report generation that need to be performed on a regular basis. By setting up a loop, the workflow can continuously perform the task until there is no more data to process or until a specific condition is met, such as reaching a certain threshold.

In addition, workflows can also include custom function nodes that perform custom data transformations or manipulations and convert data into JSON format that can be used by other steps in the workflow. Functions allow for even more customization and control over the workflow's behavior.

Lastly, workflows that are manually triggered can produce outputs as the result of the workflow run. A manual workflow takes inputs, executes actions, and generates outputs accordingly. These outputs can be in various visual forms, such as tables, charts, and informational text.

Node types

1. Action nodes: These are the steps that you can add from integrations. You can use Send message to channel action from Slack integration to notify your team or Assign ticket action from Zendesk integration to assign a Zendesk ticket to yourself.

2. Operator nodes: Actioner presents 4 types of operators:

   • Condition: Allows the workflow to follow different paths depending on certain conditions being met.
   • Branch: Allows for the repetition of a set of actions until there is no more data to process or until a specific condition is met.
   • Loop: Allows to define multiple paths through a workflow based on different conditions or criteria.
   • Delay: Allows to introduce a time-based pause or interval between steps to control the timing and sequencing of actions.

3. Function nodes: These are the steps that allow you to write longer snippets of JavaScript code for transforming or manipulating data and store values in workflow context to make it accessible by following nodes in a workflow.

4. Output nodes: Outputs can be added to manually triggered workflows. They are the screens showing the result of the workflows when they are executed in Slack. They can be in a markdown informational text format or in a list view or in a chart. You can also extend the functionality of your markdown and list outputs by adding the functionality to trigger other workflows. For example, imagine you have a workflow that is manually triggered to create a new Zendesk ticket in Slack. And this workflow has a markdown output showing the values of the created ticket. This workflow can have a button block that includes calling Update ticket workflow and lets the user to update ticket fields, right after creating it.

5. Response nodes: Lets you generate JSON responses of your workflows.

6. Workflow nodes: Allows calling other workflows into your workflow and using their responses.

7. Q&A nodes: Is used to retrieve an answer from AI agent to the given comment, based on relevant documents.

8. Workflow resolver nodes: They are components within your workflows that use AI to identify the best matching workflows based on the content you provide.

Workflow canvas

Workflow canvas is a visual designer interface that allows you to create, manage and visualize workflows. It displays the sequence of nodes and branches that make up your workflow. You can add new nodes into the canvas, connect them together to define the sequence of actions, and configure each node's properties and settings.

The workflow canvas provides a high-level overview of the entire workflow, allowing you to see how each node fits into the overall process. You can also zoom in and out, scroll around the canvas, and rearrange nodes to optimize the layout and organization of the workflow.

By providing a user-friendly visual representation of the workflow, the canvas makes it easier for you create, edit, and manage workflows and to understand and optimize the flow of tasks and actions within the workflow.