Automate workflows with chains

To automate workflows in the Workiva platform and across other data sources, workspace owners can create and manage linear sequences of tasks as chains. For example, you can create a chain to automatically refresh financial information from a data source in a table, and then push that data to another data source to generate a report. To view and manage your chains, click Chains .

Build a chain

To set up an automated workflow as a chain, define its steps—or nodes—and when it should run. To ease reuse, you can create variables to use within the chain or at runtime.

Tip: To ease and standardize chain creation, you can also start from a template.

Step 1: Add the chain and set up its details

1. From Chains , click Open Chain Builder.
2. In Chain Builder, click Build  device_hub and then Create Chain  add, Create Chain.

   

3. Under Setup, enter a unique name and description to help identify the chain and its intent.
4. To enable the chain to run multiple times simultaneously, such as with different runtime inputs for each instance, select Allow concurrent runs.
5. To prevent the chain from being run, such as to postpone its usage, select Disable execution.
6. Define any shared or dynamic values used in the chain:
   • Under Variables  code, define values that appear in multiple commands and many change frequently.
   • Under Dynamic Variables  code, define values to set when the chain starts to run or during its execution, such as based on the outputs of earlier commands.

   Note: To prompt collaborators to enter values for dynamic variables, include a Runtime Inputs trigger event or Set Dynamic Chain Variables event.

7. To automatically run the chain on regular intervals or during a specific date range, under Schedules  alarm, specify when and how often it should start.
8. Click Save.

Step 2: Define the nodes of the chain

When you build a chain, you include and link its multiple nodes:

• Commands, or the tasks executed by the chain to interact with the Workiva platform or another data source.
• Chain Events that occur within the chain, such as to enable an approval workflow or manual upload of files.
• Trigger Events, such as runtime inputs to set variables—such as to specific accounts, regions, or time periods—when you execute the chain, or to automatically start the chain based on changes in connected sources.

When you add a node, move it to where it occurs in the chain, and link it to its next and previous steps.

• To add the first node of the chain, move it to Start.
• To add a node as the start of a new branch of a logic tree, link the previous step in the chain to the first node of the multiple branches.
• To run commands in parallel with each other or together as part of a serial process, move them on top of each other to create a command group as the step.

Note: By default, a node runs when the linked previous node succeeds. To enable conditional logic, such as to run a node only when the previous node fails, double-click the link and select its condition—success  check_circle, failure  error, warning  warning, or any  check_circle.

After you define the nodes of the chain, click Publish to enable it to run.

Note: While you can publish a chain with unlinked nodes, only those linked to one another—beginning with the Start node—run when you execute the chain.

Copy a chain as a starting point

To create a chain similar to another chain in the workspace, you can use a copy as a starting point.

Tip: If you frequently use a chain as a starting point for other chains, create a template based on its sequence of nodes.

1. From Chains , click Build  device_hub, and select Chains.
2. From the existing chain's menu, select Copy   file_copy .

   

3. For the new copy, click Edit  create, and update its nodes or properties as necessary.

Promote a chain to a different environment

As part of your development lifecycle, you may build chains in an environment separate from where collaborators run them. For example, you may create chains in a DEV environment until they're ready for use in a PROD environment. To move a chain from one environment to another, you can promote it.

1. From Chains , click Build  device_hub, and select Chains.
2. From the chain's menu, select Promote  trending_up.
   
3. In Name, edit the chain's name for its new environment as necessary.
4. In Promote to, select the chain's new environment.
5. Select whether to enable schedules on the promoted chain, and click Next.
6. For each connection in the chain, choose the connection to use in the new environment, and click Next.
7. Review the connection mapping, and click Promote.

Edit a chain

To update the steps or properties of a chain:

1. From Chains , click Build  device_hub, and select Chains.
2. For the chain, click Edit  create, and update its commands and events as necessary.
3. To update the chain's properties, click Chain Settings, and adjust its schedules, variables, and notifications as necessary.

Revert a chain to a previous version

To return a chain to a previously published version, such as to undo changes or create a new chain from a previous version of another:

1. From Chains , click Build  device_hub, and select Chains.
2. From the chain's menu, select Versions assignment_return .
3. Under Past Versions, select the version to revert to, and click Revert Chain history .
   
4. Select the connector and runner for each connection, and set any variables.
5. Click Submit, View Reverted Chain, and Publish.