Skip to content

Workflows

Purpose

Workflows in EisenVault One route documents through structured review and approval steps. Use workflows when a document needs one or more people to approve, reject, or review it before the work is considered complete.

What Problem Workflows Solve

Workflows turn informal approval requests into a repeatable, trackable process:

  • Approval steps become structured and consistent.
  • Users can track progress in real time.
  • Approvers receive tasks automatically.
  • Every action is recorded and auditable. Detailed history is available in workflow reports when reporting permissions are enabled.

Open the Workflows Area

  1. Sign in to EisenVault One.
  2. Click Workflow in the left navigation.

!!! note "Environment availability" In non-production environments (staging and development), Workflow appears in the left navigation, Start workflow is available on document menus, and the dashboard Workflow Activity section is visible. These entry points are hidden in production builds.

The Workflows page has two tabs:

Tab Purpose
Templates Browse, search, and manage workflow templates. Published templates run on file uploads; drafts stay editable until you publish.
Runs Monitor active and completed workflow executions.

On the Templates tab, click + New workflow in the top right to open the Workflow Builder and create a new workflow design. The Runs tab is for monitoring executions only and does not include a create button.

Click the Active runs summary card (hint: Currently executing — view runs) on the Templates tab to switch directly to Runs.

Workflows page with Templates and Runs tabs

Execution Modes

EisenVault One supports two workflow execution modes.

Automated workflows

Automated workflows use published templates attached to a department, folder, or global scope.

When a document is uploaded into a configured department or folder:

  • Workflow execution starts automatically.
  • No manual start action is required.
  • Approval tasks are assigned to the configured approvers.

See Workflow Templates for template scope, publishing, and attachment.

Manual workflows

Manual workflows are started for a specific document from the document options menu or from the Workflow Builder.

  1. Select the document (or pin a file on the canvas).
  2. Configure approvers on the canvas.
  3. Click Request approval.

This mode is useful for special approvals, one-time reviews, and sensitive documents. See Workflow Builder.

Approval Configuration

Approval tasks can be assigned in several patterns:

Pattern Behavior
Single approver One person must approve before the workflow continues.
Multiple approvers More than one person is involved; workflow rules define how responses combine.
Sequential Each step must complete before the next approver receives a task.
Parallel Multiple approvers receive tasks at the same time; the workflow continues once approval conditions are met.

Workflow Rules

Optional rules can be set when starting a manual workflow or when designing a template:

Rule Description
Priority High, Moderate, or Low
Due date When the approval should be completed
Request note Context for approvers (shown as Note for approvers on manual runs or Default note for approvers on templates)

Permissions

Workflow actions use permissions from the Approvals group:

Permission Allows
create_edit_approvals Design templates, save drafts, publish, and start manual approval runs
view_approval_flow View workflow runs and approval history
approve_task Approve an assigned approval step
reject_task Reject an assigned approval step

Users who start a workflow can usually view and edit that run even without global view_approval_flow or create_edit_approvals on every object.

Monitoring

Use two areas of EisenVault One to track workflow activity:

Area What you see Typical action
Runs tab Summary cards for Running, Completed, and Stopped / Failed, plus a filterable runs table Open run detail for audit history
Workflow Activity (dashboard) Pending tasks assigned to you Approve or reject your step

On the Runs tab, the Stopped / Failed card groups terminated and errored runs together. The status filter below the cards still lists Stopped, Failed, and Timed out as separate values when you need finer filtering.

  • Runs tab — click an Instance ID to open run detail (workflow progress, approval history, task timeline). See Workflow Runs and Approval Details.
  • Workflow Activity — open your pending assignment to approve or reject. See Pending Approvals.

Common Tasks