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How Workflows Work

Understand the workflow execution pipeline, from trigger to completion.

Workflow execution flow

Execution Flow

When a trigger event occurs, the workflow engine follows these steps:

  1. Event detected -- A CRM event fires (e.g., deal stage changed)
  2. Trigger matched -- The engine checks all active workflows for matching triggers
  3. Enrollment created -- A workflow enrollment record is created for the matching entity
  4. Actions executed -- Each action runs in sequence
  5. Completion -- After the last action, the enrollment is marked as completed

Action Execution

Actions run one at a time in the order you define:

  • Immediate actions execute right away (create task, update record, send notification)
  • Delay actions pause the workflow for a set duration before continuing
  • Branch actions evaluate a condition and follow the Yes or No path

Each action is logged with its status (success, failed, skipped) so you can audit the workflow history.

Enrollments

Every time a workflow triggers for a specific record, an enrollment is created. Enrollments track:

  • Which record triggered the workflow
  • The current action being executed
  • Status (active, completed, failed, cancelled)
  • Timestamps for enrollment and completion
You
How many times has the New Deal Follow-up workflow run?
Outsprint AI
The New Deal Follow-up workflow has 234 total enrollments: 218 completed, 12 active, and 4 failed.

Safety Guards

Outsprint prevents runaway workflows with built-in guards:

  • A record cannot be enrolled in the same workflow twice simultaneously
  • Re-enrollment after completion is allowed if the trigger fires again
  • Rate limit: 100 enrollments per minute per workspace
  • Loop detection: if a workflow action re-triggers the same workflow, it is blocked after 3 recursions

Error Handling

When an action fails:

  • The enrollment status is set to failed
  • The error is logged with details
  • A notification is sent to the workflow owner
  • Remaining actions in the chain are not executed

Note

Failed enrollments do not retry automatically. Review the error, fix the issue, and re-trigger the workflow if needed.

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