Elements of Workflows

A Workflow, or flow, is a sequence of steps that represent the events, logic, and actions in a use case.

Flow cards

Steps in a flow move from left to right, and are visually represented as cards. When you're ready turn your use case into a flow, start thinking about the following concepts:

  • Event - What has to happen for your flow to begin? The first card in any flow is an Event.
  • Action - What should happen if the application event occurs? Action cards instruct your flow to send commands to applications.
  • Function - Use cases aren't always linear. How should action cards account for different scenarios? Function cards let you act on the data from a card or branch into another logical flow.

Screenshot of the event, action, and function cards in a full flow

How does it work?

The triggering event and the resulting actions in your use case are linked through connectors and mapped input and output values.

  • Connector - Which applications are involved in your flow? Connectors enable you to interact with them without setting up APIs.
  • Connection - Your unique connection to the app, including authentication and authorization.
  • Input - Input fields determine how an action or function card proceeds. For example, the input field of the Search for User action card above is User Details.
  • Output - Output fields contain the results that are generated by the event, action, or function card. In the example flow above, the User Unassigned from Application event card produces output values such as Date and Time, Message, Event ID, Event Type, and Event Time.
  • Mapping - The movement of data between cards is referred to as mapping. To map data between cards, drag and drop the output field of one card to the input field of another card. Be sure that the format of the fields match (text, number, true/false, date & time, object, or list).

    • Screenshot of User ID mapped between cards

Optional elements

  • Notes - Notes explain the flow or set reminders. You can add them between events, actions, or functions without affecting the run-time process.
  • Templates - A template is a copy of a flow created by Okta that fulfills a use case with minimal configuration.

Get help

Documentation for Workflows includes tutorials for your common use cases, featuring video walkthroughs and step-by-step tasks, as well as application and function reference that you can launch while you're building flows.