Workflow editor
The editor at /automation/workflows/templates/:templateId/editor turns a procedure into a graph of steps. It opens from the shared workflow center in CRM or task context; legacy /crm/workflows/templates/... and /tasks/workflows/templates/... links redirect here.
Set the boundaries first
Workflow graph flow — conceptual flow, not a UI screenshot or evidence.
Define the template metadata before adding nodes: name; object type (CRM opportunity — commercial deal or service request — or task); CRM scope (company, pipeline, or stage); a task context; trigger; active state; audience and audience source. CRM supports manual, create, stage-enter, and field-change triggers. Tasks support manual, created, updated, status, deadline, comment, and time-logged events. Keep the trigger compatible with the object and narrow the scope to the business need.
Build the graph
Workflow graph flow — conceptual flow, not a UI screenshot or evidence.
Start with the start node and connect the required steps. Action nodes can change an object, create a task or activity, notify, send a message, or run another workflow. Condition nodes branch on object data; wait/event-wait nodes pause; human-task nodes assign a person; loop, parallel, and variable nodes repeat, fan out, or pass values. Label edges success, else, loop, or done. Do not leave accidental dead ends or connect a step back to start.
Execution and access
Workflow graph flow — conceptual flow, not a UI screenshot or evidence.
Choose an audience (everyone, initiator only, department, department tree, or selected users) and record that the audience source is fixed. Choose strict user context or a system-scoped context only when portal policy permits it. Confirm whether actions run as the initiator, object owner, rule owner, system account, or integration account. Save, validation, simulation, and run actions are checked against the selected scope; do not bypass a denied decision by changing the actor. For task templates the scope is the company context; a pipeline or stage scope belongs to CRM opportunities.
Validate, simulate, preview, run
Workflow graph flow — conceptual flow, not a UI screenshot or evidence.
Use the editor in this order:
- Validate to receive node and edge errors and warnings.
- Simulate on a safe demo object; simulation should not mutate it.
- Preview execution to check whether tasks, messages, or CRM changes would be allowed.
- Run only after the preview is acceptable and the user has permission to run workflows. A preview may still return a blocking reason (for example a missing permission, an invalid target, or a suppressed self-notification); keep that reason with the test record instead of retrying blindly.
Permissions, scope, audience, or object data can block any test. A clean validation result does not prove that the chosen entity or business audience is correct.
Errors and safe testing
Workflow graph flow — conceptual flow, not a UI screenshot or evidence.
If validation reports an error, fix the named node, edge, or parameter and validate again. If execution is blocked, retain the reason message and check permissions, scope, audience, and object data. Never test on a real client, active deal, private-file task, or real external recipient.
Saving also checks the minimum form configuration: an empty graph is allowed only for a disabled draft; a department audience requires a department, and a selected-user audience requires at least one employee. An execution mode or context-handoff action may require additional permission; a denial is shown before the template is written. Fix the reported reason and save again instead of bypassing it by changing the actor.
Versions and acceptance
Workflow graph flow — conceptual flow, not a UI screenshot or evidence.
Saving updates the template name, scope, trigger, graph, audience, and execution settings as one revision. It does not rewrite already-running instances; inspect their own graph and event history on the instance page. Re-run validation and preview for every new launch after a revision. If a save fails because the template is hidden or its permission/scope changed, refresh the template, preserve the reason message, and compare the current revision before trying again. Before enabling, record an owner, purpose, a safe demo object, the expected manual assignees, and the expected result.
How to accept the workflow
Workflow graph flow — conceptual flow, not a UI screenshot or evidence.
Accept only when validation is clean (or every warning is explicitly owned), simulation follows the intended order and branches, preview has no unexpected task/message/CRM mutation, manual steps have an assignee and deadline, and the new instance history matches the graph. Keep the template disabled until these checks and the privacy review are complete.
If a test is blocked, keep the reason message and check permissions, scope, audience, and object data.
Related: Workflows, Manual workflow tasks, Workflow instances, Automation permissions.