How to add ad hoc steps to a workflow run

Ad hoc steps let one run carry steps the workflow does not have. The workflow stays standard and each run can be adapted to what actually happened, which is the middle ground between a rigid process and a free-text note nobody tracks.

Turn it on for the workflow

Open the workflow's settings.
Enable the ad hoc steps option.
Save.

It is off by default and set per workflow, so a process that must be followed exactly can stay locked down while a more variable one allows additions.

Add steps to a run

With the setting on, anyone working a run can add steps to it from the run's More menu. See Adding Steps to a Run in progress.

The trade-off

A run with ad hoc steps is a customized run, and a customized run stops following the workflow permanently. It will not appear in the list of runs eligible for workflow updates again, even if the added step is removed later.

So enabling ad hoc steps is a decision about which matters more for this workflow: letting people adapt individual runs, or being able to push a correction out to every run in flight. For a workflow you are still refining, keeping runs updatable is usually worth more.

A signal worth reading

If the same ad hoc step keeps appearing across runs, the workflow is missing a step. Add it properly rather than letting everyone add it by hand, and the runs stay updatable.

Video walkthrough

This video walks through adding ad hoc steps to a run.