Workflow Automation Guide

Operanix Workflows let agents take action beyond conversation. Connect agents to external tools, automate multi-step processes, and orchestrate complex business logic with built-in governance controls.

Workflow Tabs Overview

Tab 1: Marketplace

The Workflow Marketplace contains pre-built workflow templates that cover common enterprise automation patterns. Templates are built by Operanix and verified partners.

Template Categories

• CRM Workflows — Create leads, update contacts, log activities, and sync deal stages with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Pipedrive.
• Support Workflows — Create tickets, update statuses, add internal notes, and trigger escalations in Zendesk, Freshdesk, and ServiceNow.
• Communication Workflows — Send emails via SendGrid/SES, post Slack messages, create calendar events, and trigger SMS notifications.
• Data Workflows — Write to databases, update spreadsheets, push to webhooks, and sync records between systems.
• Document Workflows — Generate PDFs, populate templates, create proposals, and manage document approval chains.

Installing a Template

• Browse the marketplace and preview any template to see its steps, required connections, and permissions.
• Click Install to add the template to your My Workflows list.
• Configure the required tool connections (see Tab 4).
• Assign the workflow to one or more agents (see Tab 8).
• Test in the sandbox before enabling in production.

Tab 2: My Workflows

My Workflows shows all workflows available in your tenant, both installed templates and custom-built workflows.

• Status indicators — Each workflow shows its current state: active, paused, draft, or error.
• Usage metrics — View execution count, success rate, average duration, and last run time for each workflow.
• Quick actions — Enable/disable, duplicate, edit, or delete workflows from the list view.
• Version history — Every workflow change is versioned. Roll back to any previous version with one click.

Tab 3: Builder

The Workflow Builder is a visual editor for creating custom automation workflows. It uses a node-based interface where you connect triggers, actions, conditions, and outputs.

Node Types

• Trigger nodes — Define what starts the workflow. Options include: agent invocation (agent decides to run this workflow), scheduled (cron), webhook (external system calls), and event-based (e.g., new ticket created).
• Action nodes — Perform operations: call an API, send a message, create a record, transform data, or invoke another workflow.
• Condition nodes — Branch logic based on data values. Supports if/else, switch/case, and data validation checks.
• Loop nodes — Iterate over arrays or repeat actions until a condition is met. Configurable iteration limits prevent runaway loops.
• Approval nodes — Pause execution and route to the approval queue for human review before proceeding.
• Output nodes — Define what the workflow returns to the agent or sends to external systems.

n8n Integration

The n8n integration provides:

• Native n8n editor — Use the full n8n visual editor within Operanix for complex workflows that need advanced logic.
• n8n node library — Access the full n8n node catalog, including HTTP Request, database, file, and utility nodes.
• Credential management — n8n credentials are stored in the Operanix vault with encryption at rest and RBAC controls.
• Execution isolation — Each workflow execution runs in an isolated context with tenant-level resource boundaries.

// Example: Agent-triggered CRM workflow
{
  "trigger": "agent_invocation",
  "agent_intent": "create_lead",
  "nodes": [
    {
      "type": "extract",
      "fields": ["name", "email", "company", "interest"]
    },
    {
      "type": "validate",
      "rules": {
        "email": "required|email",
        "name": "required|min:2"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "action",
      "service": "salesforce",
      "operation": "create_lead",
      "mapping": {
        "FirstName": "{{ name.split(' ')[0] }}",
        "LastName": "{{ name.split(' ').slice(1).join(' ') }}",
        "Email": "{{ email }}",
        "Company": "{{ company }}"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "output",
      "message": "Lead created for {{ name }} at {{ company }}."
    }
  ]
}

Tab 4: Tool Connections

Tool Connections manage the integrations between Operanix workflows and external services.

Connection Setup

• OAuth 2.0 — For services that support OAuth (Salesforce, Google, Slack, HubSpot), use the one-click authorization flow. Tokens are automatically refreshed.
• API Key — For services using API key authentication, enter the key in the secure credential store. Keys are encrypted at rest with AES-256.
• Webhook — Generate unique webhook URLs for services that push events to Operanix. Each webhook has configurable signature validation.
• Custom HTTP — For services without a pre-built connector, use the HTTP Request node with custom headers, authentication, and request templates.

Connection Health

Each connection shows its health status: connected, expiring (token refresh needed), error (authentication failed), or disconnected. The system sends alerts 7 days before OAuth tokens expire.

Tab 5: Approval Queue

Workflow actions that are configured to require human approval pause at the approval node and appear in this queue.

• Action preview — See exactly what the workflow will do: the API call to be made, the record to be created, the message to be sent. Review the data before approving.
• Context trail — View the full conversation that led to this workflow invocation, so you understand the user's intent.
• Approve / Reject / Modify — Approve the action as-is, reject it with a reason, or modify the data before approving.
• Timeout handling — Items not acted on within the configured SLA are either auto-approved (for low-risk actions) or auto-rejected with notification.

Tab 6: Run History

The Run History tab provides full execution logs for every workflow run.

• Execution timeline — Visual timeline showing each node's execution with duration, input/output data, and status (success, failed, skipped).
• Error details — Failed nodes show the error message, HTTP response code, and retry count. Common errors have suggested fixes.
• Data inspector — View the data flowing between nodes at each step. Sensitive fields are masked in the UI but available to admins.
• Re-run controls — Re-run a failed workflow from the point of failure, or re-run the entire workflow with the same or modified input data.
• Performance metrics — Aggregate metrics: average execution time, success rate, error rate by node type, and throughput.

Tab 7: Test Sandbox

The Test Sandbox provides a safe environment for testing workflows without affecting production systems.

Sandbox Features

• Mock connections — Sandbox replaces real API calls with mock responses. Configure mock responses per node to simulate different scenarios (success, error, timeout).
• Test data — Use synthetic test data or sanitized copies of production data. The sandbox prevents any data from leaving the test environment.
• Step-through debugging — Execute the workflow one node at a time, inspecting data at each step before proceeding.
• Scenario testing — Create test scenarios with different input combinations to verify branch logic and error handling.
• Validation report — After a sandbox run, the system generates a validation report confirming all nodes executed correctly and data transformations produced expected results.

Tab 8: Agent Permissions

Agent Permissions controls which agents can invoke which workflows. This is a critical security boundary.

Permission Model

• Explicit grant — Agents can only execute workflows they have been explicitly granted access to. There is no default access.
• Invocation limits — Set per-agent, per-workflow daily execution quotas to prevent runaway automation. Example: support agent can create max 50 tickets per day.
• Data scope — Restrict what data an agent can pass to a workflow. Example: agent can create leads but cannot update existing lead records.
• Approval requirements — Configure per-agent whether workflow execution requires human approval or can run autonomously.
• Audit logging — Every workflow invocation by an agent is logged with the conversation context, input data, and execution result.

Permission Matrix

Daily Quotas & Rate Limiting

Operanix enforces daily execution quotas at multiple levels to prevent runaway automation and control costs.

Quota Levels

When a quota is reached, subsequent invocations are queued (for background workflows) or return a graceful decline message (for real-time agent workflows). Quota resets occur at midnight UTC.

Best Practices

• Start with marketplace templates and customize them rather than building from scratch. Templates are pre-tested and follow Operanix best practices.
• Always add approval nodes to workflows that modify external data (create records, send emails, update statuses) until you are confident in the agent's judgment.
• Set conservative daily quotas initially and increase them as you gain confidence. A misconfigured workflow can generate hundreds of API calls in minutes.
• Use the sandbox for every workflow change, even small ones. A typo in a field mapping can create incorrect records at scale.
• Monitor the Run History daily during the first week of any new workflow deployment.
• Keep tool connections organized by team or function. Revoke connections that are no longer in use to minimize your attack surface.