Title: Actions System Overview

Description: Visual workflow automation for business process automation

Tags: actions, workflows, automation

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Quick Links: User Guide | Examples | Developer Guide

The Actions system is a powerful Business Logic Module that enables customers to define and execute automated workflows based on various triggers. It provides a visual, node-based interface for creating complex business logic without requiring custom code.

Overview

Actions enable customers to:
Automate responses to data changes (document creation, updates, deletion)
Build workflows using a visual, drag-and-drop interface
Connect different services through a standardized block system
Execute complex business logic across their applications

Key Concepts

🔗 Actions
An Action is a complete workflow that defines:
Title: A descriptive name for the automation workflow
Description: Optional details about what the automation does
Triggers: What events start the workflow
Blocks: Individual processing units that perform specific tasks
Connections: How data flows between triggers and blocks

⚡ Triggers
Triggers define when an Action should execute:
documentCreated: When a new document is created
documentUpdated: When an existing document is modified  
documentDeleted: When a document is removed
cron: On a schedule defined by a cron expression (minimum: every 5 minutes)
webhook: When a webhook URL is called. Request bodies are capped at 1 MiB (1,048,576 bytes); larger payloads receive an HTTP 413 response and the action does not run — reduce the payload or split it across multiple calls.
api: Can be triggered via API call or manually

🧱 Blocks
Blocks are reusable processing units that:
Receive input data through input sockets
Perform specific operations (send email, transform data, etc.)
Output results through output sockets
Can be connected to other blocks to create workflows

Available block types:
Send Email (sendMail): Send notification emails to a recipient address
AI Summary (aiSummary): Generate an AI-powered summary of entity data and update a specified field
Topic Push Notification (topicPushNotification): Send push notifications to subscribers of a specific topic
Save Entity (saveEntity): Save incoming data as an entity — updates if the entity exists, otherwise creates a new one
Data Mapper (dataMapper): Map data from input paths to output paths using configurable mapping rules
Send Chat Message (sendChatMessage): Send a message to Slack, Discord, or Microsoft Teams via webhook
Outbound Webhook (outboundWebhook): Send an HTTP request to any external endpoint — connect to Zapier, Make, n8n, serverless functions or any HTTP API

🔌 Connections
Connections define the data flow between:
Triggers → Blocks (workflow initiation)
Blocks → Blocks (sequential processing)
Using named sockets for type-safe data transfer

🎨 Visual Flow Editor
The system includes a visual, node-based editor that allows users to:
Drag and drop triggers and blocks onto a canvas
Visually connect components to define workflow logic
Zoom and pan to navigate complex workflows
Preview workflow structure before execution

Badges & Achievements

Creating your first Action in a project awards the First Action Created (FIRSTACTIONCREATED) badge to the user who created it. This badge is granted automatically upon successful creation and can be viewed in your user profile under Badges.

Quick Example

const emailNotificationAction: Action = {
  title: "Email Notification Workflow",
  description: "Sends admin email when new documents are created",
  triggers: [{
    id: "trigger1",
    triggerName: "documentCreated"
  }],
  blocks: [{
    id: "block1", 
    blockName: "sendMail",
    configuration: {
      to: "admin@example.com",
      subject: "New document created"
    }
  }],
  connections: [{
    sourceBlockId: "trigger1",
    sourceSocketName: "trigger",
    targetBlockId: "block1", 
    targetSocketName: "in"
  }]
};

This creates a workflow that sends an email whenever a new document is created.

Documentation Structure
User Guide - Complete guide for using the Actions interface in the backoffice
Developer Guide - How to create custom blocks and extend the system
API Reference - Complete interface documentation
Examples - Practical usage scenarios and patterns

Getting Started

For End Users
If you want to create and manage automation workflows using the backoffice interface:
Start with the User Guide to learn how to use the Actions interface
Explore the Examples for common automation patterns
Reference the user interface features for creating visual workflows

For Developers
For developers looking to extend the Actions system:
Follow the Developer Guide to create custom blocks
Reference the API documentation for detailed interfaces
Check Examples for common patterns and best practices

Multi-Tenant Support

The Actions system is built with multi-tenancy in mind:
All actions are scoped to specific tenants
Block execution includes tenant context
Data isolation is maintained throughout workflow execution
Access control is enforced at the Action level