Build a workflow

This page shows how to build a workflow, test it against real tickets, turn it on, and check what it did. When you finish, the workflow is running and you know where to look when it does something you did not expect.

Before you begin

• Your plan must include the service desk: Enterprise or MSP. See Plans and limits.
• You need automation:manage. See Roles and permissions.
• To limit a workflow to business hours, create the business schedule first. See Service level agreements.
• To use an AI step, set up AI first. See AI steps in workflows.
• On the MSP plan, build workflows in the practice view. A workflow’s queues, groups, schedules, and templates are looked up by name in each client, so check the names match across the clients in scope.

Start from the library

The library holds six working workflows. Starting from one is the quickest way to see how the parts fit together. The six are listed in the Workflow reference.

1. Select Inbox > Workflows on the MSP plan, or Tickets > Workflows on Enterprise.
2. Select Start from library.
3. Select Add beside the one you want. Library workflows marked Uses AI need AI set up before their AI step does anything.

The workflow is added turned off and scoped to every client, and opens in the builder. Adjust it, test it, then turn it on.

Start from library is on the practice view only. A library workflow you already added shows Added, and its button reads Add another. A second copy is named with (2) after the library name, a third with (3), and so on.

Build a workflow

1. Select New workflow.
2. Under Details, enter a Name and an optional Description.
3. Under Trigger, choose how it runs:
   • When something happens to a ticket: select created, updated, replied to, or more than one.
   • Keep checking open tickets: nothing more to set.
   • On a schedule: choose Every day, Every week, Every month, or Advanced (cron), then the day, the time in At, and the Time zone.
   • When tickets pile up: choose whether the tickets share An endpoint or A requester, then At least (2 to 50 tickets), Within days, and Then wait days. Under Only count tickets, narrow what is counted by priority, status, type, or tags.
4. MSP plan: under Clients, choose All clients, Only these clients, or All clients except these, and select the clients.
5. Under Conditions, add the conditions a ticket must meet. Leave it empty to act on every ticket the trigger finds.
6. Under How often, leave Once per ticket or choose another. See How often.
7. Under When it runs, leave Any time or choose a schedule.
8. Under Steps, select Add step and choose a step. Fill in its fields. Repeat for each step. Use Up, Down, and Remove to arrange them.
9. Optional: under Details, enter a Run order. Lower runs first.
10. Select Create workflow.

The workflow is saved turned off. When something cannot be saved, the console lists each problem under Fix these problems to save and marks the field.

Add a branch

1. Select Add step > If / Else.
2. Choose what the branch depends on:
   • A condition: build the condition.
   • The AI’s answer: choose the AI step and select the answers that take Then. This needs an Ask AI step earlier in the workflow.
3. Under Then and Else, add the steps for each branch.

Branches nest up to 3 levels deep. A workflow holds up to 50 steps.

Use placeholders

In a subject, message, or note, select Insert placeholder (or Insert in subject and Insert in message) to add a value such as {{ticket.reference}} or {{client.name}}. The menu offers only the placeholders the trigger can fill. See Placeholders.

Test the workflow

A test runs the draft on the screen against real tickets and changes nothing. No email is sent, no ticket is created, and no AI is called.

1. On the Test card, select Run a test.
2. Read the result. It shows how many tickets match and, for each client and ticket:
   • Steps: the steps it would take;
   • each field change, as the old value and the new one;
   • Tells: who it would notify or email, with (none on this ticket) beside a recipient the ticket does not have, such as a requester with no email address;
   • Would create: tickets it would open;
   • Skipped, with the reason, when it would not act.

For a workflow that runs when something happens to a ticket, the test treats the 25 most recent tickets in each client as if the event had happened to them. A test shows at most 25 matches in each client and 200 in total. An AI step is not run in a test, so both of its outcomes are possible.

Change the draft and test again until the result is what you want. The card says The draft changed since this test. when the result is out of date.

Turn it on

1. Under Details, turn on Enabled.
2. Select Save.

If the workflow changed since its last test, the console asks Turn it on without a test? Select Run a test first, or Turn on anyway.

You can also turn a workflow on or off with its switch on the Workflows page.

Check what it did

Runs tab

Open the workflow and select Runs. Each row shows When, the Client on the MSP plan, the Ticket, the Outcome, and What it did: the steps it took, the AI step’s answer or fallback, and any tickets it created. Filter by Client and Outcome.

Outcome	Meaning
Ran	The workflow acted.
Skipped	It considered the ticket and did not act. The reason is shown, such as Already ran as often as allowed or Outside its run window.
Failed	It could not finish. The error is shown.
Stopped by a loop guard	Outpost stopped it to prevent a loop between workflows.
Took the AI fallback	An AI step did not answer, and its fallback steps ran. The reason is shown.

A workflow that keeps checking open tickets records nothing for a ticket that does not match. Every reason is listed in the Workflow reference.

Ticket history

A workflow that acts on a ticket adds an internal line to the conversation, such as Workflow “Waiting on client: nudge, then close” ran., signed with the workflow’s name. On the ticket’s Activity tab, each change it made carries a chip with the workflow’s name. Older client rules do the same.

Duplicate or delete a workflow

• To copy a workflow, select Duplicate in its row. The copy is named Copy of followed by the original name, and is turned off.
• To delete one, select Delete in its row and confirm. Whatever it was doing stops happening.

Pause every workflow

Turn on Pause all workflows at the top of the Workflows page. It stops every workflow and every client’s older rules until you turn it off. Nothing is lost, and while it is on, tickets are worked by hand. Ticket events during the pause are skipped, not replayed later.

Resume a paused workflow

Outpost pauses a workflow on its own in two cases:

• It took more than 200 actions in an hour, across all clients. Outpost raises an alert, and everyone with automation:manage gets a Workflow health notification.
• Its AI step failed 5 times in an hour in one client. Everyone with automation:manage gets a Workflow health notification.

The workflow shows Paused and says why. Find the cause on the Runs tab, fix the workflow, then select Resume in its row or at the top of the workflow.

To change when Outpost pauses a workflow, see Change the safety limits.

Change the safety limits

The two safety limits apply to every workflow in your practice.

1. On the Workflows page, find Safety limits under Pause all workflows.
2. In Actions per workflow per hour, enter 1 to 10,000. The default is 200. A workflow that goes past it pauses itself and raises an alert.
3. In Client emails per ticket per day, enter 0 to 50. The default is 3. Further client emails about that ticket that day are skipped. 0 stops all workflow email to clients.
4. Select Save limits. The page shows Limits saved.

Safety limits is on the practice view only. The same settings are also available through the API and the update_workflow_settings MCP tool.

Fix a workflow that needs attention

A turned-on workflow with a problem shows Needs attention in the list, and the workflow lists each problem under This workflow needs attention:

Problem	What to do
A queue, group, business schedule, or template does not exist in some clients.	Create it with the same name in those clients, or change the scope. The step is skipped there until you do.
Nobody holds a role it notifies, or the role no longer exists.	Give someone the role, or pick other recipients.
AI is not available, so its steps take their fallback.	Set up AI. See AI steps in workflows.
Paused for too many actions, or for AI failures.	See Resume a paused workflow.

When you save a workflow that sets the same field as another enabled workflow on the same trigger, the console saves it and shows Saved, but another workflow changes the same thing. Whichever runs later wins. Change the conditions or the run order if that is not what you want.

Edit an older client rule

1. Open the rule from the Workflows page. Its row carries its client’s name.
2. Change its trigger, conditions, or steps. The builder is in rule mode, so it offers only what a rule can do.
3. Select Save.

You can test a rule the same way as a workflow. The Runs tab is not available for a rule. To give a rule branches, AI, or more clients, build a workflow that does the same and delete the rule.

Verify

• The workflow shows On on the Workflows page.
• After its trigger fires, the Runs tab lists a run, and the ticket’s conversation shows the workflow’s name.

Next steps

• AI steps in workflows
• Workflow reference
• Notifications