Auto-close runs that stay open too long
Some runs are only useful for a while. A daily opening checklist that nobody finished is noise by the following week, and a run that was started by mistake should not sit in In Progress forever. Auto-Close gives a workflow a time limit: a run that is still open when the limit passes is closed for you.
Auto-Close is enabled per account. If you do not see it in a workflow's settings, contact support and we will turn it on.
Turn it on
- Open the workflow in the editor and click Settings.
- Under Timing, find Auto-Close and enter how long a run may stay open: a number and a unit of minutes, hours or days.
- If your account uses business days, choose whether a limit in days counts Business days or Calendar days.
- Click Update.
Leave the number blank to turn Auto-Close off for the workflow.
How the time limit works
- The clock starts when the run starts, not when it was scheduled. A run scheduled for next Monday gets its auto-close time on Monday.
- A limit counted in business days skips weekends and, if the workflow has a holiday calendar, its holidays. See Configuring Business Days.
- Every ten minutes Manifestly looks for open runs whose time has passed and closes them.
- Closing is the same as clicking Close on the run: the run moves to Closed, its steps and data are kept, and anyone with access can Reopen it. A reopened run gets a fresh auto-close time, counted from its original start, so a run reopened after its limit will be closed again on the next pass unless you remove the limit or finish the run.
- A run that is completed before the limit is never touched.
Seeing it on a run
A run with a time limit shows a small circle-with-slash icon in its header. Hover it to see how long is left, for example "Auto-closes in 2 days". The run's activity records when the auto-close time was set, changed or removed, and records the close itself as Run Auto-Closed, performed by the system rather than by a person.
Changing the limit later
Changing the Auto-Close setting on the workflow applies to runs started from then on. Runs already in progress keep their time until you choose Update Runs on the workflow, which recalculates each run's auto-close time from the new setting. Removing the limit from the workflow and updating runs clears their auto-close time.