Workflows: coordinate and execute tasks

Before you start

A Workflow coordinates tasks and dependencies. Session tasks execute the context associated with a Mapping; Start, Decision, Timer and End express orchestration. Prepare a published Session, compatible capacity and a laboratory destination. Review editing, publishing, execution and scheduling permissions separately.

Start with a small sequence. Adding parallelism before verifying output makes it harder to distinguish data errors, dependency problems and worker availability.

Procedure

1. Create a Workflow in the authorized tenant and location. Add Start, Session and End.
2. Select the Session and check sessionVersion. Connect Start → Session → End.
3. Configure task parameters only when declared and permitted. For multiple parents, review joinPolicy=any or all; visual position alone does not define eligibility.
4. When a Decision is required, configure its True condition and review the complementary False branch. Timer uses delaySeconds, from 1 to 604800.
5. Validate, save and publish. Run manually before enabling a schedule. Saving and publishing do not start execution.

Synthetic example

Prepare a Session that filters status=active and writes a test CSV. The smallest Workflow places that Session between Start and End. Expect one Session execution and an output containing only active rows. To study waiting, add a 5-second Timer before the Session while keeping the same expected data result.

Verify the result

In Monitor, locate the attempt identifier and review its tasks. Confirm the consumed Session revision and associated Mapping. Compare output, schema and rows with the expected result. A skipped branch is not a failed task.

After manual acceptance, configure an authorized schedule, timezone and enabled state. Check the next planned execution and then an actual attempt. An enabled schedule expresses intent; it does not establish successful completion.

Troubleshooting

The validator accepts 2–100 nodes and 1–300 links and rejects cycles, repeated identifiers and invalid dependencies. For a waiting task, inspect parents, worker, capacity and policy. For failure, find the first relevant error. Before retrying, review whether writes can repeat without duplicates. When dependencies change, deliberately review and republish consumers; a new revision does not establish automatic acceptance by every reference. Keep the earlier attempt identifier for comparison.

Consumed and available versions

The compact dependency chain distinguishes Workflow, Session and Mapping and displays the pinned version beside a newer available version. Opening Session or Mapping inspects the artifact; it does not adopt the newer version. Update versions changes draft references and displays the expected changes. Then use Save draft → Publish. Reload status only refreshes availability. A Monitor execution chain retains the historical versions actually used.

To promote an accepted version use Configuration → Environment promotions. Review the exact bundle and next-environment bindings. Publishing a version, updating references, promoting between environments and executing are separate user operations.

Workflow TRACE and inheritance

In the Workflow editor → Workflow settings, choose TRACE = Enabled when additional diagnostic detail is needed; the default is Disabled. Sessions set to Inherit from Workflow follow that value. A Session explicitly set to Enabled or Disabled keeps its own choice. Enabling one Session does not enable TRACE for other Sessions in the Workflow.

An execution retains the setting from the versions it actually consumed. Editing the draft does not alter an active attempt or add TRACE retroactively to earlier logs. INFO, WARNING and ERROR remain available without enabling TRACE.

Environment context

Before using this module, confirm Tenant, Domain and Environment in the user menu. The initial environment is Development. Module, Domain and environment capabilities apply together; Production is read only without explicit authorization. Switching the selector does not move artifacts or publish or execute their data. See environments and recovery and environment promotion.

Compact list toolbar

The Workflows list aligns Search, the remaining filters and icon actions. Buttons retain help, accessible names, permissions and progress states; use the pointer or Tab to identify them. Environment is no longer a filter in this list: confirm the active context in the bottom operational status bar. Runtime and the other filters are retained. Workflow editing and execution controls keep their roles; this list adjustment does not change its Session versions or the capacity required to run them.