Workflows
Workflows let you automate multi-step work with AI. Instead of repeating the same sequence of steps by hand every time, you design the flow once on a visual canvas and let Arketic run it — on demand, on a schedule, from a webhook, from a form someone fills in, or straight from a chat.
A workflow is made of blocks connected by arrows. Each block does one job: ask an AI agent for an answer, check a condition, write a row to a table, send a Slack message. The arrows decide the order.
:::info Who can use this By default Workflows is open to Admins. Your organization can also give it to other people through a custom role — see Roles & Permissions. If you don't see it in the sidebar, ask your administrator. :::
What You Can Build
| Building block | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Triggers | The entry point of a run — a manual start, an incoming webhook or API call, a form people fill in, a new email, a file arriving in the shared folder, a chat message, a message to your Telegram, Slack or WhatsApp account, or another workflow failing. Recurring schedules are set up on the Schedules tab |
| AI steps | Ask an agent to draft, classify, summarize, score, or decide. Also image, video, speech, vision and web-search steps |
| Logic | Conditions, loops, waits, and parallel branches that direct where the run goes next — and steps that wait for a person, such as an approval or the next page of a form |
| Data | Read and write your own tables, call an external API, work with workflow variables, read and write files in the shared folder, return a response |
| Arketic actions | Search your knowledge base and documents, create or update tasks, start a Blueprint, send an in-app notification — no connection setup needed |
| Integrations | Steps for services you already use, such as Slack, Gmail, Notion, Google Sheets, GitHub and Linear |
The full catalogue lives in Blocks, and Creating Workflows walks you through building one.
How a Workflow Runs
- Something starts it. A trigger begins the run — you clicking Run in the editor, a schedule firing, a webhook arriving, someone sending a form, or a chat request you approve.
- Blocks run in order. Each block waits for the blocks it depends on. Independent branches can run side by side, and logic blocks decide which path is taken.
- Each block produces an output. A later block reuses an earlier one's result by referring to it.
| Reference | What it points at |
|---|---|
<input.NAME> | A field from the data the run started with |
<blockName.field> | An earlier block's output — for example <agent.content> |
<variable.NAME> | A workflow variable you defined yourself |
Most run problems are data problems, not broken steps — usually a reference pointing at a value that isn't there. The per-step Input and Output in Logs is where you find them.
The Workflows Page
Open Workflows from the sidebar. The page has six tabs, and you can move between them with the left and right arrow keys.
| Tab | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Workflows | Your list of workflows |
| Tables | Reusable data tables your workflows can read and write — see Tables |
| Schedules | Run workflows automatically on a recurring schedule — see Schedules |
| Connections | Accounts and API keys your workflow steps use — see Connections |
| Logs | History of every run, with step-by-step detail — see Logs |
| Packages | Turn extra code libraries on or off for Function steps, and control which outside addresses workflows are allowed to reach. Everyone sees the tab; its small lock ("Admins only") tells you that only administrators can use it — see Packages |
On the Workflows tab you also get:
- The page title Workflows with a small pill showing how many workflows you have.
- The subtitle "Automate tasks with AI-powered workflows".
- An Import button and a New workflow button at the top right. Each one is shown only if you are allowed to use it.
- A Search workflows... box under the tabs.
:::note Which workflows you see People with the Admin or Executive role see every workflow in the organization. Everyone else sees the workflows they created themselves. :::
Creating a Workflow
- Click New workflow at the top right.
- In the New workflow dialog, type a name — for example "Weekly report generator".
- Optionally add a description of what the workflow does and when it should run.
- Click Create.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Name | Required. Up to 200 characters. Press Enter to create, Escape to close |
| Description (optional) | Up to 2,000 characters. It is shown on the workflow's card, and it is the first thing the Copilot and the next person to open the workflow read. Enter starts a new line here; press Ctrl/Cmd + Enter to create |
| Cancel | Closes the dialog without creating anything |
| Create | Shows "Creating…" while it works |
You're taken straight into the editor, where you build the flow. See Creating Workflows.
If the workflow can't be created, the reason appears under the fields. Fix what it names and try again.
Workflow Cards
Each workflow appears as a card in the grid.
| On the card | What it means |
|---|---|
| Icon and colour | Picked automatically from the name and description, so cards stay easy to tell apart. Decorative only |
| Status badge | The workflow's current lifecycle state — see the table below |
| Name | The workflow name |
| Description | The short description, when the workflow has one |
| Flow preview | Hover the card (or move focus to it) and a small diagram of the workflow's blocks and connections appears. An empty workflow shows "No blocks yet" |
| Updated … | How long ago it was last changed — "Just now", "5m ago", "2h ago", "3d ago" |
| Run count | How many times it has run. Shown with a play icon, and only once it has run at least once |
Click anywhere on a card to open that workflow in the editor.
Statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Inactive | Switched off — its automatic triggers are disarmed. You can still build it and run it yourself from the editor |
| Active | Switched on and published — all of its automatic triggers are armed |
| Archived | Kept for reference. It is not switched on and has no on/off control |
:::note Draft and Paused Older workflows may still show Draft or Paused. Both mean the same as Inactive — the workflow is not switched on. The next time you switch such a workflow on and off, it moves to Active and Inactive. :::
While the Copilot is building a workflow for you, a spinning Building badge replaces the status badge on that card. See Copilot.
Turning a Workflow On and Off
Hover a card (or move focus to it) and the controls appear at its top right.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Activate / Deactivate toggle | Switches automatic triggers on or off. The tooltip tells you which state you're in: "Active — click to deactivate (disarm all automatic triggers)" or "Inactive — click to activate (arm triggers)" |
| Export (download icon) | Downloads the workflow as a file — see Importing and Exporting |
| Delete (trash icon) | Removes the workflow, after a confirmation |
After toggling, a message confirms it: "Workflow activated — triggers armed" or "Workflow deactivated — triggers paused".
The on/off toggle is not shown for Archived workflows, or while the Copilot is building. If you aren't allowed to change a workflow's status, the toggle is greyed out and its tooltip reads "You don't have permission to change workflow status". Export and Delete are shown only if you are allowed to use them.
Switching on publishes the workflow
There is no separate publish button. When you switch a workflow on, Arketic checks its saved state and publishes it. From then on, every automatic trigger — schedule, webhook, form, chat and the rest — runs that published version.
If something in the workflow keeps it from being published, it stays Inactive and a message names what to fix — for example an approval step that sits inside a loop, or a form that has no title. The message stays on screen until you close it, so you can read it while you fix the workflow.
Changing a workflow that is already on
Saving a change to an Active workflow does not put the change live. Your saved edits stay as a draft, and the triggers keep running the version you published earlier. To put the edits live, open the workflow and click Publish changes — see Publishing changes.
:::info Activating only affects automatic triggers Deactivating a workflow stops its schedules, webhooks and other automatic triggers from starting it. Running it yourself from the editor with the Run button still works, whatever the status is — and it always runs your latest saved changes, published or not. So you can keep testing a workflow that isn't switched on yet. :::
Importing and Exporting
You can take a workflow out of Arketic as a file and bring it back in — to keep a copy, or to carry it to another Arketic installation. Exporting and importing are separate permissions; by default both are open to Admins.
Exporting a workflow
- On the Workflows tab, hover the workflow's card.
- Click the download icon. Its tooltip reads "Export as a file — credentials are not included".
- Your browser saves a
.jsonfile, and you see "Workflow exported — credentials are not included in the file."
The file holds the workflow's blocks, their settings and their connections to each other. It never holds a password, API key or connected account.
Importing a workflow
- Click Import at the top right of the Workflows tab.
- In the Import workflow dialog, drop the
.jsonfile onto the box, or click the box to choose it. The file must be a workflow exported from Arketic and no larger than 5 MB. - Check the summary: the workflow's name, how many blocks and connections it has, and — when it applies — how many blocks will need a connection.
- Click Import.
- The dialog confirms with Imported and lists the blocks that need a connection before the workflow can run. Click Open workflow to go to the editor, or Close to stay on the list.
An imported workflow:
- belongs to you — you are its owner, whoever built the original;
- arrives Inactive — it stays switched off until you turn it on;
- has no connections — open each listed block in the editor and choose a connection. If no block uses a connection, the dialog says "Nothing else is needed".
| Message | What it means |
|---|---|
| "That file is larger than 5 MB — it is not a workflow export." | You picked the wrong file |
| "This file isn't valid JSON." / "This isn't an Arketic workflow file." | The file wasn't exported from Arketic, or it was changed afterwards |
| "This installation doesn't have these block types: …" | The workflow uses a block your Arketic doesn't have |
| "Two blocks share a name, which would break references: …" | Rename one of the two blocks in the original workflow and export it again |
Every export and import is recorded — who, which workflow, and when. People with permission can read that list under Logs → Activity; see Logs.
Deleting a Workflow
Hover the card, click the trash icon, and confirm in the Delete workflow? dialog. The dialog repeats the name so you can be sure you picked the right one, and the action is confirmed with "Workflow deleted".
Deleting a workflow cannot be undone. Its automatic triggers stop, and past runs of that workflow can no longer be opened for detail in Logs — they stay listed but are marked (deleted).
Finding a Workflow
Use the Search workflows... box on the Workflows tab to filter the grid. The search looks at names and descriptions, and results update as you type.
In a very large library the page shows only the first part of the list. A line under the grid then tells you how many are shown and how many there are in total, and ends with "use search to narrow the list" — search to reach the rest.
As your library grows, clear and descriptive names — "Weekly report generator" rather than "test 3" — are what make search useful. A short description on each workflow also shows on the card.
Empty and Waiting States
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No workflows yet — "Create your first workflow to automate your work." | You haven't created a workflow | Click Create your first workflow |
| No workflows match your search — "Try a different search term." | The search box filtered everything out | Clear or change the search text |
| Just a moment… | You've made a lot of requests in a short time | Nothing — the page retries on its own |
| Could not load workflows | The list couldn't be fetched | Click Try Again |