Workflows
Automations that run steps for you when something happens in Noru, on a date, on a schedule, when another system calls, or when someone starts one.
What it is
A workflow is a trigger and a flow of steps. When the trigger fires (a high risk is added, evidence is about to expire, it is Monday at 09:00, your scanner posts an alert) Noru starts a run and works through the steps: change a record, notify people, ask for an approval, wait, branch, or send a webhook to another system. Every run is kept as a record you can open, and export as evidence.
Workflows are turned on per organization. If you do not see Workflows under Settings, ask us to turn it on.
Where to find it
SettingsWorkflowsWorkflows sit under Automation in the Settings sidebar, next to Webhooks. They open as full-width pages:
| Page | Route | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| All workflows | /settings/workflows | Every workflow, grouped On, Drafts, Paused and Archived |
| Runs | /settings/workflows/runs | Every run, by day, with filters |
| Waiting on people | /settings/workflows/waiting | Open approvals and to-dos, for the whole organization |
| Inbound hooks | /settings/workflows/hooks | Addresses other systems post to, the workflows they start, and what callers sent. Admins only. See Inbound hooks. |
| New workflow | /settings/workflows/new | The template gallery |
| The editor | /settings/workflows/[id] | Editor, Runs and History tabs |
| A run | /settings/workflows/[id]/runs/[id] | One run as an audit record |
Who can do what
| Task | Viewer | Editor | Admin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Look at workflows, runs and history; export a run | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Approve or complete a to-do assigned to them, from the Inbox | No | Yes | Yes |
| Create and edit drafts, duplicate, run by hand, cancel and release runs | No | Yes | Yes |
| Publish, pause, turn on and archive | No | No | Yes |
| Create, rename, turn off and delete inbound hooks, replace their secrets, and read what callers sent | No | No | Yes |
An editor sees Request publish instead of Publish; an admin publishes. Approvals and to-dos are decided by people only, never by API keys or other automations.
Key actions
Start a workflow
Pause, turn on and archive
Use the switch on a workflow's row, or the … menu in the editor. Pausing stops new runs; runs already started carry on. Turning a workflow back on that starts on a schedule or a date counts from now: missed times are not made up. Archive retires it; archived workflows cannot be turned back on from the list. Built-in workflows can be paused but not archived.
Statuses and fields
| Group | Meaning |
|---|---|
| On | Published and running when its trigger fires |
| Drafts | Not published yet. Never published marks one that has no version at all. |
| Paused | Published, but starts nothing until turned on |
| Archived | Retired. Collapsed at the bottom of the list. |
Each row shows what starts the workflow and its first steps, a 14-day chart of succeeded and failed runs, the last result and its owner. Built in marks a workflow Noru keeps up to date for you; you can pause it, or Duplicate to customize a copy, but not edit it.
Tips and gotchas
Changes save to the draft as you type and apply only when you publish. The published version keeps running until then.
To get told when any workflow fails, subscribe a webhook endpoint to Workflow run failed, or make a workflow that starts on that signal and notifies you. Both receive the run, the step and the error.
What Noru does not do
- A workflow does nothing until it is published, and nothing while it is paused.
- It does not run on changes other workflows made, unless you turn that on in Workflow settings, and it never runs twice for one chain of events.
- It acts with the permissions it was published with. Publishing asks for them in words, for example "Can create and change risks", in History.
Related
- Build a workflow: triggers, steps and values
- Runs: read, cancel, release and export runs
- Webhook settings and Inbound hooks: connect workflows to other systems
- Notifications
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