Using the workflow editor

Building workflows

Workflows consist of a set of blocks that are processed in a logical sequence to return a result.

To build your workflow in the editor, you create variables and choose which blocks you want to use to manipulate them. You then configure the block sequence and logic to fulfill the goal of the workflow.

You can use internal code blocks that manipulate variables directly, such as the Assign or If blocks. You can also use integration blocks to submit API calls to external services, then evaluate the API response data in other blocks.

After your workflow is built, you can run, test, and refine it in the editor.

Opening the editor

First, open the Workflows page.

If you are connected to another application, click Workflows.
In the IBM® Concert Workflows® sidebar, click Workflows.

You can then open the workflow editor in one of these ways:

By creating a workflow.
By clicking an existing workflow.
By selecting an existing workflow and opening it via the Actions menu.

When you open a workflow, it is validated automatically. If configuration issues exist, error and warning indicators are shown in the editor.

Layout types

After the editor opens, you can use these layout types to show the workflow:

Flow layout

A logical representation of the workflow structure that is similar to a flowchart.

In this layout type, you must use the object editor to view and update block properties. For more information about the object editor, see Editing block properties.
You can use the mini-map to go to any block by moving the mouse inside the map.

Flat layout

A sequential representation of the workflow structure, where the blocks are shown in the sequence that they are processed in the workflow.

In this layout type, each block is numbered. This numbering represents the order in which the blocks are processed when the workflow runs.

When you create a workflow, you can choose which layout type you want to use to show the workflow in the editor. In earlier versions, the flow layout type is used by default.

You can switch between these layout types at any time by clicking either the Flow layout or Flat layout buttons in the editor toolbar.

Workflow structure

In its most basic form, a workflow consists of a Start block, an Assign block, and an End block. This structure represents the beginning, middle, and end of the workflow.

The ‘Hello, World!’ workflow template uses this structure. You can also choose other templates, which might include additional blocks in their structures.

Start block

In the Start block, you define the variables that you want to use in your workflow. When you define variables, you can indicate their type, default value, and whether they are input, output, or required variables.

The result variable is created by default. You might find this variable useful, for example, if you want to return a value from your workflow that indicates whether the workflow succeeded. In the System variables section, you can enable headers and body variables, then use them in your workflow.

In the Group field, you can select which worker group you want to use to complete the workflow. In the MET field, you can choose how to calculate the time that is saved by running this workflow. You can calculate it automatically or enter a manual value.

For more information about this block, see Start.

Integration blocks

In the side panel, the list of integration blocks is shown. This list contains the default and installed blocks that you can use to build your workflow, including internal blocks that manipulate variables and blocks that submit API calls to external services.

To find a particular block or group folder, click the search icon. To include subfolders in your search, after you type your search term, press the Enter key.

You can also search for API endpoint paths, such as /v1/api-keys/.

After you find the block that you want, you can drag and drop it onto your chosen location in the workflow. Alternatively, in the block, click Take block, then click the location in the workflow where you want to drop the block. After you drop the block, you can view more information about its parameters by hovering your mouse over them.

You can store blocks and workflows that you use regularly in custom folders like Favorites, User, and Shared.

Block features and actions

You might find these block features useful:

When you place a block into a workflow, the block is given a customizable name that is similar to its standard one. For example, if you drop an Assign block into your workflow, the block is given a name similar to Assign_1. To refer to this block elsewhere in the workflow, you must use this name.
In the flow editor, under the block name, a message is shown that relates to the status and logic of the block. For example, if you use an Assign block to assign the string ‘Hello, World!’ to the result variable, the text “$result = ‘Hello, World!’” is shown.
In some workflow blocks, you can view a list of output variables in the Output variables section.
- You can view the Output variables section in both the flow and flat layouts. In addition, nested variables are shown in a tree structure that is expandable and searchable. You can expand the tree nodes to view lower-level variables and search the structure for particular variables. At all levels, you can copy variable names and view variable types.
To see the block’s folder path in the list of integrations, for example, system folder/Common folder/Assign, hover the mouse over the block’s title.
When you edit block variables, the built-in JSON editor is used. You can take advantage of language-specific shortcuts and features, such as auto-suggestion.

You can also perform these actions:

Table 1. Block actions
Action	Steps
Copy a block	Click the block, then complete only one of these actions: Click Copy. Press Ctrl and C. Click the block’s overflow (three-dot) button, then click Copy.
Clone a block	Click the block’s overflow (three-dot) button, then clickClone.
Collapse or expand a block (flat editor only)	In the block header, click the chevron.
Cut a block	Click the block, then complete only one of these actions: Click Cut. Press Ctrl and X. Click the block’s overflow (three-dot) button, then click Cut.
Disable a block	In the flow editor, hover your mouse over the block and click the shutdown button. In the flat editor, in the block header, turn off the switch.
Find a block in the integration list	Click the block’s overflow (three-dot) button, then clickLocate.
Move a block	Click the block’s overflow (three-dot) button, then click Move. Click the location in the workflow where you want to paste the block.
Paste a block	Click the block. Click Paste or press Ctrl and V. Click the location in the workflow where you want to paste the block.
Remove a block	In the flow editor, hover your mouse over the block and click X. In the flat editor, in the block header, click X.
Reposition one or more blocks	To reposition a single block, select it and drag it. To move multiple blocks at once, click and hold Shift, then select and drag the blocks.

Editing block properties

To edit and view block properties more easily, use the object editor. In the flow layout, when you click a block, the object editor is shown by default. In the flat layout, you can access the editor by clicking Tools. Use the object editor to manage almost all block properties or add new ones from scratch. For more information, see Object editor.

Note: You cannot use the object editor and the AI assistant at the same time. When you show the object editor, the AI assistant is hidden and vice versa.

Authentications

If your workflow needs to dynamically authenticate to external services when it runs, you must choose or create the required authentications and add them to the workflow. You can add these authentications in the following ways:

By clicking Auth and creating an authentication.
By adding an authentication variable in the Start block.
By adding authentication key variables in other workflow blocks that use authentication.

For more information, see Using authentications in workflows.

Other editor features and actions

YAML and JSON editors

In the editor toolbar, click Flow YAML/JSON to manage the entire workflow in built-in YAML and JSON editors. The YAML and JSON code blocks are shown in separate editor tabs.

Quick access menu

To quickly access your favorite integration blocks or add a custom comment, hover the mouse between any two blocks and click the + icon. The quick access menu is shown.

Use these sections to add the blocks that you need:

Home: Use this section to add integration blocks. Use the dropdown next to the search bar to select a search type. To include subfolders in your search, after you type your search term, press the Enter key.
Most recent: This subsection contains the integration blocks that you added to your workflows most recently.
All integrations: This subsection works like the existing integrations side panel in the editor. You can search for blocks, add them to workflows, and mark them as favorites.
Quick access: Use this section to add commonly used action blocks, such as Assign, If, and ForEach. You can also add a custom comment, or paste a copied or cut block from the clipboard.
Favorites: Use this section to add blocks that you marked as favorites to your workflow.
Add comment: Use this section to add custom comments at any point of the workflow. Click once outside the field to save the comment. It can be dragged, moved, relocated, edited, and removed.

Keyboard shortcuts

To open a list of available keyboard shortcuts, click the main overflow (three-dot) menu, then click Shortcuts. View the shortcuts to perform several tasks, such as running, saving, and debugging workflows.

You can disable keyboard shortcuts. This setting persists only for your current device. If you restart your browser on the device, the shortcuts remain disabled.

Workflow version control

You can implement version control for your workflow configuration. Each time that you save your workflow, a new version is created. To view the list of saved versions, click the Versions toolbar button. The list of saved versions is shown.

From the list, you can open an old version, rename a version, restore a version to become the latest one, or save a version as a separate workflow.

You can deploy, tile, and schedule specific versions of workflows. For more information, see Workflow version control.

Basic actions

You can also perform these actions:

Table 2. Editor actions
Action	Steps
Rename the workflow	Complete only one of these steps: Click the workflow title, enter the new name, and click the tick icon. In the main overflow (three-dot) menu, click Rename, and specify the name and location.
Save a copy of the workflow	In the main overflow (three-dot) menu, clickSave as, and specify the name and location.
Undo or redo an action	In the toolbar, click theUndo orRedo buttons.
Update the workflow description	In the Start block, click the Description field and enter the description. Click outside the field to save the description. Optional: Click Update description everywhere it is used to update the workflow’s description in other areas of the system, such as Automation center tiles that use the workflow.
View workflow metadata	In the main overflow (three-dot) menu, clickInspect > About workflow and view this information about the workflow: Its hash value. Its creation date. The date when it was last modified and the user who modified it. The time that you save by using it, that is, the manual execution time (MET). The number of action blocks that it contains.

Managing workflows by using AI

By enabling and using the AI assistant, you can generate workflows by providing natural language prompts that describe the task that you want to automate. You can also use the assistant to automatically edit existing workflows, regardless of how they were built.

When asked, the assistant can also provide extensive help, including procedural, conceptual, and troubleshooting information.

Note: You cannot use the assistant and the object editor at the same time. When you show the assistant, the object editor is hidden and vice versa.

For more information, see Generating workflows by using AI.

You can also introduce dynamic, context-aware decision making into your workflows by using agentic AI blocks, which are powered by watsonx.ai. When you configure these blocks with the instructions, context, and tools that they need, they can identify at runtime what the most appropriate actions are to take, and use the most suitable tools to fulfill those actions.

For more information, see Using agentic AI blocks in workflows.

Validating workflows

To check that all required components are in place before you run your workflow, you can validate it by clicking Validate. The workflow validation process identifies missing or invalid authentications, misconfigured blocks, or incomplete required inputs. If validation issues are found, Errors and Warnings indicators are shown. Click an indicator to see the highlighted issues, then click Go to block in the Workflow validation panel to find the affected blocks and review the validation details. Open each block to correct the problems. Click Validate (or Revalidate) to confirm that the issues are resolved.

For more information, see Validating workflows.

Running workflows

You can run your workflow in the editor in the following ways:

By clicking Run to run the workflow with the default input values.
By clicking the overflow (three-dot) menu, clicking Run with Custom Inputs to customize the input values that you defined for the workflow, and clicking Run.

For more information, see Running workflows.

Debugging workflows

If you need to investigate and resolve issues with your workflow, you can use the debugger by clicking Tools, then clicking the Debugger section. You can set debug breakpoints on workflow blocks, then click Debug to run the workflow in debugging mode.

For more information, see Debugging workflows.

Deploying workflows

When you are ready to deploy your workflow, save your updates and click Workflow actions > Deploy workflow. In the Deploy Workflow page, link the workflow to an API, stage, and endpoint, and click Deploy.

For more information, see Deploying workflows.

Exposing workflows

If you want to quickly make your workflow available for external systems to discover and run, save your updates and click Workflow actions > Expose externally. In the dialog, give the exposed workflow a unique path and indicate whether you want the workflow to run asynchronously. After you click Expose, external systems can use API endpoints to discover and run the exposed workflow.

For more information, see Exposing workflows.

Scheduling workflows

If you want to schedule your workflow to run automatically at specific times, dates, or intervals, you can create a scheduled job directly from the editor. Save your updates, click Workflow actions > Schedule workflow, and configure the job schedule in the Create job page.

For more information, see Creating jobs.

Tiling workflows

If you want to use Automation center to run your workflow, you can create an Automation center tile for the workflow directly from the editor. Save your updates, click Workflow actions > Tile workflow, and specify the workflow version, worker group, and parameters that you want to use in the tile.

For more information, see Automation center.

Exporting workflows

To download a copy of the workflow to your default download folder, clicking the overflow (three-dot) menu and click Manage > Export.

For more information about exporting workflows, see Importing and exporting workflows.