Workflows & Approvals

Workflows orchestrate multi-step processes like approval chains, conditional routing, notifications, and automated actions. Each workflow is attached to a table and runs against individual records.

Workflow triggers

Trigger	Description
`manual`	Started by a user action
`on_create`	Automatically when a record is created
`on_update`	Automatically when a record is updated
`on_field_change`	When a specific field changes
`webhook`	Started by an inbound webhook
`poll`	Started on a polling schedule

Step types

Type	Purpose
`approval`	Require one or more people to approve before proceeding
`condition`	Branch the workflow based on record data
`automation`	Run a script
`parallel`	Run several steps concurrently
`external_action`	Call a registered connector (provider action)
`transform`	Set fields on the record
`code`	Run inline code
`notification`	Send a notification

Approval steps

Require one or more people to approve before proceeding:

{
  "type": "approval",
  "name": "Manager approval",
  "approver_type": "role",
  "approver_role": "manager",
  "approval_mode": "any"
}

Approval modes (approval_mode):

Mode	Description
`any`	First approval is sufficient (default)
`all`	Every approver must approve
`majority`	More than half must approve

Approver types (approver_type):

Type	Resolves to
`user`	A specific user (`approver_id`)
`role`	Anyone with a specific role (`approver_role`)
`field`	The user referenced in a record field (`approver_field`)
`script`	Users returned by a script (`approver_script_id`)
`hierarchy`	The approver’s manager(s) in the org hierarchy (`hierarchy_levels`)

When no approvers can be resolved, the step follows on_no_approvers: error (default) puts the workflow into an error state, skip continues via on_approve.

Condition steps

Branch the workflow based on data. Branches are evaluated in order; the first matching branch wins:

{
  "type": "condition",
  "name": "Route by amount",
  "branches": [
    { "condition": "gt(amount, 10000)", "next_step": "vp_approval" },
    { "condition": "gt(amount, 1000)",  "next_step": "manager_approval" }
  ],
  "on_false": "auto_approve"
}

Automation steps

Run a script:

{
  "type": "automation",
  "name": "Generate invoice",
  "script_id": "<script-uuid>"
}

Parallel steps

Run multiple steps concurrently:

{
  "type": "parallel",
  "name": "Reviews",
  "parallel_steps": [
    { "type": "approval", "name": "Legal review",   "approver_role": "legal" },
    { "type": "approval", "name": "Finance review", "approver_role": "finance" }
  ],
  "require_all": true
}

Set require_all to true to wait for every sub-step, or false to proceed as soon as the first completes.

Step transitions

Steps connect to one another by name through transition fields, including on_approve, on_reject, on_timeout, on_success, on_error, on_true, on_false, and on_complete. Use the special targets complete_workflow and reject_workflow to finish a workflow.

Escalation

Configure automatic escalation when approvals stall. An escalation chain is a series of levels, each with its own approver and timeout:

{
  "type": "approval",
  "name": "Manager approval",
  "approver_role": "manager",
  "timeout_hours": 48,
  "escalation_chain": [
    { "approver_type": "role", "approver_role": "director", "timeout_hours": 24 }
  ]
}

Use escalation_notify to list additional users to notify when a step escalates.

Status mapping

A workflow can keep a record’s own status field in sync with the workflow’s progress by declaring a status_mapping (submitted / approved / rejected / canceled / error values), so the record reflects the outcome without a separate rule.

Delegation

Users can delegate their approval responsibility to another user when they’re unavailable. Delegations can be scoped to all approvals, a single application, or a specific workflow, and can be time-bounded.

Workflow management

Cancel a workflow in progress (when the definition allows it)
Recall a submitted workflow (initiator only, or admin — withdraws the workflow and cancels pending approvals)
Admin override — approve or reject on behalf of another user
Transfer pending approvals from one user to another

Audit trail

Every workflow step transition is recorded: started, approved, rejected, delegated, escalated, transferred, canceled, and completed events, including who acted, when, and any comments provided.