Workflow runs
Follow what a workflow did: the runs list, a run's timeline with each step's inputs and results, held runs, approvals waiting on people, and exporting a run as evidence.
What it is
A run is one go through a workflow: what started it, each step it took, what each step was given and returned, the records it changed and the decisions people made. A finished run cannot be changed, so it doubles as an audit record you can export.
Where to find it
| Where | What it shows |
|---|---|
| SettingsWorkflowsRuns | Every workflow's runs, by day |
| A workflow's Runs tab | That workflow's runs |
| SettingsWorkflowsWaiting on people | Approvals and to-dos workflows are waiting on |
| Inbox, Approvals and to-dos queue | The ones waiting on you |
Key actions
Find a run
On Runs, choose how far back (24 hours, 7 days, 30 days or All time), then narrow by status or workflow with the chips; Clear filters resets them. Each row shows the workflow, what started it, any error, how long it took and when. Click it to open the run.
Read a run
The run page has two parts:
- What happened, a timeline: what started the run (the signal, the record it was about and the conditions that matched), then each step in plain words ("Created a risk treatment", "Sent a signed message to the webhook endpoint") with links to the records, who decided an approval and with what comment, and errors. Open Inputs and result on a step to see what it was given and what it returned; View JSON shows both in full.
- Run record: the workflow and version, who or what started it, who it acted as, when it was queued and finished, and What it changed.
For a Send a webhook step, Inputs and result shows the message it sent and the HTTP status your endpoint answered. The message also appears in the delivery log, with every attempt and your endpoint's response. A message posted to an inbound hook is under SettingsWorkflowsInbound hooks → Recent messages, linked to the runs it started; it is also in the run's export, and in any step input that used it.
Cancel or run again
Cancel run stops a run that is queued, running, waiting or held. Steps that had not run never run, and its open approvals and to-dos are cancelled. Run again starts the current published version again on the same trigger, for example after you fixed what made a step fail.
Release or discard held runs
When far more runs start than the workflow allows (100 in five minutes unless you changed it in Workflow settings), the rest are Held and listed first on Runs, under Held back, with "Too many runs started at once. Release them to run, or discard them." Tick the runs, then Release to run them from their first step, or Discard to cancel them.
Answer approvals and to-dos
Waiting on people lists every open approval and to-do for the whole organization, and Decided the answered ones. People answer their own from the Inbox with Approve, Reject or Mark done, and an optional comment. The run carries on as soon as the answer is in.
Export as evidence
Export as evidence on a run downloads it as JSON (format
noru.workflow-run/v1): the workflow and the version it ran with its
definition hash, what started it (including the full trigger, such as an
inbound hook's message), every step's input and output, the approvals and
their decisions, and a SHA-256 hash over the document. Attach it to a control
to show the process ran.
Statuses and fields
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
Queuedpending | Started, first step about to run. |
Runningrunning | A step is running. |
Waitingwaiting | Waiting on a delay, an approval or a to-do. |
Succeededsucceeded | Every step finished. |
Failedfailed | A step failed after its retries, and the run stopped. The timeline shows the error. |
Rejectedrejected | An approval was rejected or timed out with nothing on its Rejected path. |
Cancelledcancelled | Someone cancelled it, or discarded it while held. |
Heldheld | Too many runs at once; waiting for someone to release or discard it. |
Not run (loop)loop_blocked | Not run: this workflow already ran for the event that led to this one. |
Held and not run
Two statuses mean a run was stopped on purpose before it started:
- Held: the workflow started more runs in five minutes than its limit. Usually a bulk import or a misconfigured caller. Release them if they are real, discard them if not.
- Not run (loop): the run would have been started by changes this same workflow made, directly or through others. Noru records it so you can see it, but never runs it.
Tips and gotchas
When a step fails, read its error on the timeline, fix the cause (the record, the endpoint, the workflow), then use Run again. You do not need to wait for the trigger to happen again.
Runs are also available over the REST API (GET /v1/workflow-runs,
GET /v1/workflow-runs/{id} and /export) and as MCP tools, with the
read:workflows scope. Starting and cancelling runs need write:workflows.
What Noru does not do
- A run does not change when the workflow is edited or republished; it keeps the version it started with. Run again uses the current version.
- It does not release held runs on its own; they wait until someone releases or discards them.
Related
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