Creating Your First Workflow

Prerequisites

Before you begin creating your first workflow, ensure you have the following:

• A Prolixis account with appropriate permissions (Admin or Workflow Creator role)
• Basic understanding of your business process that you want to automate
• Access to any external systems or APIs that you want to integrate with (if applicable)
• Completed the Account Setup process

Step 1: Create a New Workflow

Let's start by creating a new workflow in the Prolixis platform:

1. Navigate to the Workflows section: Log in to your Prolixis dashboard and click on "Workflows" in the main navigation menu.
2. Create a new workflow: Click the "Create Workflow" button in the top-right corner of the Workflows page.
3. Name your workflow: Enter a descriptive name for your workflow (e.g., "Customer Onboarding Process" or "Invoice Approval Workflow").
4. Add a description: Provide a clear description of what the workflow does, its purpose, and any important notes for other team members.
5. Select a category: Choose a category that best fits your workflow's purpose (e.g., Sales, HR, Finance, Operations).
6. Set visibility and permissions: Determine who can view and edit this workflow within your organization.
7. Click "Create": This will create your workflow and open the Workflow Designer interface.

Step 2: Configure Triggers

Triggers are events that initiate your workflow. Let's configure a trigger for our workflow:

1. In the Workflow Designer: Click on the "Add Trigger" button or the trigger node in the canvas.
2. Select a trigger type: Choose from available trigger types such as:
   • Form Submission: Trigger when a form is submitted
   • Scheduled: Trigger at specified times or intervals
   • Webhook: Trigger when an HTTP request is received
   • Database Change: Trigger when data is created, updated, or deleted
   • API Event: Trigger based on events from integrated systems
3. Configure trigger settings: Each trigger type has specific configuration options. For example, if you select "Form Submission":
   • Select the form from your existing forms or create a new one
   • Specify which form fields to use in the workflow
   • Set any conditions for when the trigger should fire
4. Save trigger configuration: Click "Save" to apply your trigger settings.

// Webhook URL (automatically generated)
https://api.prolixis.com/workflows/trigger/wh_8f72jd93kf82js

// Expected JSON payload
{
  "customer": {
    "email": "customer@example.com",
    "name": "John Doe",
    "plan": "premium",
    "signup_date": "2025-04-17T10:45:31Z"
  }
}

// Headers
Content-Type: application/json
X-Prolixis-Signature: {{your_webhook_secret}}

Step 3: Add Actions

Actions are the tasks that your workflow performs. Let's add some actions to our workflow:

1. In the Workflow Designer: Click on the "Add Action" button or the "+" icon after your trigger.
2. Select an action type: Choose from available action categories:
   • Data Operations: Create, update, or delete records in your database
   • Communications: Send emails, SMS, or notifications
   • Integrations: Interact with third-party services and APIs
   • File Operations: Generate, modify, or store files
   • Custom Code: Execute custom JavaScript or Python code
3. Configure action settings: Each action type has specific configuration options. For example, if you select "Send Email":
   • Specify the recipient(s), subject, and content
   • Use dynamic data from the trigger or previous actions
   • Configure email templates and formatting
   • Set up attachments if needed
4. Add multiple actions: Repeat the process to add all necessary actions to your workflow.
5. Arrange action sequence: Drag and drop actions to change their order of execution.

Step 4: Set Conditions

Conditions allow your workflow to make decisions and take different paths based on data. Let's add conditions to our workflow:

1. In the Workflow Designer: Click on the "Add Condition" button or the condition node in the canvas.
2. Configure the condition: Set up the logic for your condition:
   • Select the data field to evaluate (e.g., customer.plan)
   • Choose an operator (equals, not equals, greater than, etc.)
   • Specify the value to compare against (e.g., "premium")
3. Create branches: Define what happens when the condition is true and when it's false.
4. Add actions to each branch: Configure the actions that should occur in each scenario.
5. Add nested conditions: If needed, create more complex logic with nested conditions within each branch.

Step 5: Test and Deploy

Before deploying your workflow to production, it's essential to test it thoroughly:

1. Save your workflow: Click the "Save" button to preserve your current configuration.
2. Run a test: Click the "Test" button in the Workflow Designer.
3. Provide test data: Enter sample data that mimics what your trigger would receive.
4. Review test results: Examine the execution path, data transformations, and outputs of each action.
5. Debug and refine: Fix any issues and optimize your workflow based on test results.
6. Deploy to production: Once testing is complete, click "Deploy" to activate your workflow.
7. Monitor performance: After deployment, monitor your workflow's execution, success rates, and performance metrics.

Advanced Configuration

Once you're comfortable with basic workflow creation, you can explore these advanced features:

Error Handling

Configure how your workflow responds to errors:

• Retry Logic: Set conditions for when actions should be retried and how many attempts should be made.
• Error Paths: Create specific branches that execute when errors occur.
• Fallback Actions: Define alternative actions to take when primary actions fail.
• Notifications: Configure alerts to notify administrators of critical errors.

Data Transformations

Manipulate data between workflow steps:

• Formatters: Convert data types, format dates, or transform text.
• Calculations: Perform mathematical operations on numeric data.
• Data Mapping: Create relationships between different data structures.
• Custom Functions: Write JavaScript functions for complex transformations.

Parallel Execution

Run multiple actions simultaneously:

• Parallel Branches: Split workflow execution into concurrent paths.
• Join Conditions: Specify when parallel branches should converge.
• Timeout Settings: Configure maximum wait times for parallel executions.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues with your workflow, try these troubleshooting steps:

Common Issues and Solutions

Using Execution Logs

Execution logs provide detailed information about each workflow run:

1. Navigate to the "Logs" section in your workflow dashboard
2. Select the execution instance you want to investigate
3. Review the step-by-step execution, including input/output data for each action
4. Examine any error messages or warnings
5. Use the timeline view to identify performance bottlenecks

Next Steps

Now that you've created your first workflow, consider these next steps to expand your automation capabilities:

• Explore Integrations: Connect your workflows to other systems and services using our pre-built integrations.
• Create Workflow Templates: Save commonly used workflow patterns as templates for future use.
• Implement Approval Flows: Learn how to incorporate human approval steps into your automated processes.
• Explore Advanced Triggers: Discover more sophisticated ways to initiate workflows, such as database changes or scheduled events.
• Join the Community: Connect with other Prolixis users to share ideas and best practices in our community forum.