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CONCEPT 09
Workflow and approval design
Model a human decision with roles, transitions, notifications, and predictable failure states.
Model ownership at each state
Workflow attaches a process to supported entities such as Object entries. A task represents work someone can claim or perform. A transition moves an instance to another node. A role assignment routes work to eligible people, but resource access and task eligibility are separate checks. Verify both.
For a request, use submitted → review → approved or returned. Treat returned as actionable: identify who can edit the entry, what is required before resubmission, and who receives a notification. Keep domain fulfillment status separate when it needs states such as queued, processing, and failed.
Roll out a workflow deliberately
- Define reviewers and backups. Verify task assignment with accounts outside the admin group.
- Attach the definition in the scope supported by the target Object and build.
- Submit a realistic entry. Observe the pending status, assignment, and notifications.
- Run approve and return branches. Verify what the user can see or edit in each state and what integrations receive.
- Change a definition in a test environment. Verify how active instances behave alongside newly submitted entries.
Troubleshoot a stuck approval
Confirm the workflow is active and assigned for the right entity and scope. Check the entry status, task assignment, transition conditions, and permissions. If an external side effect fails after a decision, record that failure separately and make replay safe. Turning on scripts globally changes the administration surface. Review the applicable defaults and use a supported design for the target build.