Workflow Fields
Workflow Fields hold information that belongs to a run as a whole rather than to any one step: a customer tier, a property address, the account manager, a contract number. You define the fields once on the workflow, every run of that workflow carries them, and the values are set when a run starts or at any point while it is open.
They are different from the data you collect inside a step. Step data is entered by whoever completes that step, in the order the work happens. A Workflow Field sits above the steps on the run page, under Run data, and is available to conditional logic and variables from the moment the run starts.
Workflow Fields are enabled per account. If you do not see Fields on your workflows, contact support and we will turn it on for you.
Add a field to a workflow
- Open the workflow in the editor.
- Click Fields.
- Click Add Field.
- Choose the Type of field and give it a Field label. The label is what admins see on the run and the name you use in variables and conditional logic.
- For a Choose from list field, put each choice on its own line and decide whether more than one choice can be picked.
- Choose whether the field is Optional or Required.
- Click Save.
Use the arrows on each field to change the order. The run page shows the fields in this order.
Each field has a Who can see this field? setting with three choices. Admins only shows it to department admins. Admins and users adds users. Everyone on the run adds members and limited users. Admins and users can set any field they can see; members and limited users can only view it. New fields start as Admins only.
One exception: a {{Field}} variable placed in a step title, step text, an email or a Slack message shows the value to anyone who can see that step, whatever the field's setting.
Types of fields
- Short text input
- Long text input
- Number input
- Date input
- Date & Time input
- Email input
- Phone Number input
- Website input
- Choose from list
- Upload file
- Upload image
- Signature input
- Choose from Data Table, when Data Tables are enabled for your account
A Choose from Data Table field offers the rows of one of your Data Tables as its choices. It can also fill other fields on the run from the chosen row, so picking a customer can fill in their tier, region, and account manager in one step. See Data Tables.
Setting the values on a run
When the run starts. The new-run form shows a Field values box to admins. Fill in what you know now; anything you leave blank can be set later.
While the run is open. At the top of the run page, admins see an Run data panel. Open it to view and change any field. Each field saves on its own when you click its Save button.
Required fields. When a required field is still blank, the run page shows a warning with a button that opens the Run data panel, and the panel opens automatically. Closing a run that still has blank required fields shows which ones are missing and asks you to confirm.
From a run link. A run link can carry preset values for fields, so runs started from that link begin with the fields filled in.
From the API. Field definitions can be read, and run field values can be set when creating a run or updated afterwards, through API v1 and v2.
Using field values
Variables. Reference a field in step titles, step content, and webhooks with its label in double braces, for example {{Customer Tier}}. The run shows the value the admin set. See Using variables in Workflows.
Conditional logic. When you create a conditional rule, the source list includes a Workflow Fields group. A step or section gated on a field stays hidden until the field has a value that satisfies the rule, and the run updates the moment an admin changes the value. See Conditional Logic in Workflows.
Filtering runs. On the Runs page, after choosing a workflow, you can filter its runs by a field's value.
Exports. Run exports include one column per field you can read, labelled with the visibility and the field label, for example [Admin] Customer Tier.
Fields from library sections
A field created on a Step Library is not asked by any run until a section of that library asks for it. When you create or edit a field in a library, tick the sections under Which sections ask for this field?. Each section also has a Fields button in the library editor that shows and changes the same list. Fields nobody has ticked are flagged on the library's Fields list.
When a workflow uses one of those sections, the field appears on its new runs under From library sections. A run asks for each field once, however many sections ask for it. To change one of these fields, edit it in the library, not in the workflow.
Changing and removing fields
Editing a field's label, type, or choices applies to new runs right away. Runs already in progress pick up the change when you use Update Runs on the workflow.
Deleting a field removes it from the workflow and deletes the values saved for it on existing runs. Conditional rules that read the field stop working, and the confirmation tells you how many sections and rules depend on it before you decide.
Fields travel with the workflow: they are included when you copy a workflow, export and import it, and when you publish a new version.