Workflow Management

Guide to viewing and managing synchronized workflows

Workflow Management

Workflows are the business process definitions synchronized from Zuora. They represent workflows that can be analyzed, visualized, and monitored.

Overview

What is a Workflow?

A Workflow in Zuora Workflow Manager is:

• A business process definition from Zuora
• A collection of tasks connected in a logical sequence
• An entity with metadata and state
• An object synchronized via Zuora REST API

Lifecycle

Workflow Structure

Main Attributes

Field	Type	Description
id	Integer	Internal workflow ID
zuora_id	String	Workflow Zuora ID
customer_id	Integer	Owner customer ID
name	String	Workflow name
description	String?	Workflow description
state	String	State (Active, Inactive, etc.)
created_on	DateTime	Zuora creation date
updated_on	DateTime	Last Zuora update date
last_synced_at	DateTime	Last synchronization date
json_export	JSON	Complete workflow export

Additional Attributes (from Zuora)

Field	Type	Description
type	String	Workflow type (Setup, etc.)
version	String	Active version
timezone	String?	Configured timezone
calloutTrigger	Boolean	Trigger via callout
ondemandTrigger	Boolean	Trigger on-demand
scheduledTrigger	Boolean	Scheduled trigger
priority	String?	Execution priority

Viewing Workflows

Workflow List

1. Navigate to Workflows in the sidebar under Zuora Management

The Workflows table shows:

Column	Description
ID	Internal workflow ID
Name	Workflow name
Customer	Owner customer (clickable)
State	State (colored badge)
Last Synced	Last synchronization date
Created On	Zuora creation date
Actions	Available actions

Workflow States

State	Description	Badge Color
Active	Active and in use workflow	Green
Inactive	Inactive workflow	Gray
Draft	Not yet activated draft	Yellow
Archived	Archived workflow	Dark blue

Navigation Badge

The Workflows icon in the sidebar shows a badge with the total number of workflows.

Filters and Search

Available Filters

Filter by Customer

1. Click on Customer filter
2. Select the customer
3. Table shows only workflows for that customer

Filter by State

1. Click on State filter
2. Select: Active, Inactive, Draft, Archived
3. Table shows only workflows with that state

Search Bar

The search bar allows searching for:

• Workflow name
• Description
• Zuora ID

Sorting

Sort by any column by clicking on the header:

• Name: A-Z or Z-A
• State: By state
• Last Synced: Most recent or least recent
• Created On: Oldest or newest

Workflow Detail Page

Overview Tab

The Workflow Details tab shows:

• Name: Full name
• Description: Detailed description
• Customer: Link to customer
• State: State badge
• Type: Workflow type
• Version: Active version
• Timezone: Configured timezone
• Created On: Zuora creation date
• Updated On: Last Zuora update date
• Last Synced At: Last synchronization date

Triggers Information

Displays configured triggers:

Trigger	Description
Callout	Can be triggered via callout API
On-demand	Can be executed manually
Scheduled	Has an active schedule

Tasks Tab

Shows all tasks extracted from the workflow:

• List of all tasks
• Filter by action type
• Filter by priority
• Filter by state
• Click on task to see details

See the Task Management section for details on viewing tasks.

Graphical View Tab

Interactive graphical visualization of the workflow:

Interactive Graph

The graph shows:

• Nodes: Represent tasks
• Edges: Represent connections between tasks
• Layout: Directed from left to right

Interactions

• Pan: Click and drag to move
• Zoom: Mouse scroll to zoom in/out
• Click node: Select task (shows details)
• Double click: Open task details

Color Legend

Color	Task Type
🟧 Orange	Email task
🟦 Blue	Export task
🟩 Green	SOAP/API task
🟨 Yellow	Decision task
⬜ Gray	Wait/Timer task

Workflow JSON Tab

Displays the complete workflow JSON export:

Display

• JSON syntax highlighting
• Readable formatting
• Integrated search in JSON

Available Actions

• Copy JSON: Copy to clipboard
• Download JSON: Download as .json file

Use JSON export for:

• Debugging workflows
• Migrations
• Deep analysis
• Manual versioning

Workflow Actions

Sync Tasks

Synchronizes tasks for a specific workflow:

1. Open the workflow
2. Click on Sync Tasks in the top right

This action is useful when JSON export has been updated but you only want to re-extract tasks without re-downloading the entire workflow.

View Customer

1. From Workflows list, click on customer
2. You’ll be redirected to customer detail page

View Related Tasks

1. Open the workflow
2. Click on Tasks tab
3. See all workflow tasks

Workflow Synchronization

Automatic Synchronization

The scheduler automatically runs:

// routes/console.php
Schedule::command('app:sync-workflows --all')
    ->hourly()  // Every hour
    ->name('sync-customer-workflows');

See Workflow Synchronization for complete details.

Manual Synchronization

From Customer

1. Navigate to Customers
2. Click on Sync Workflows icon in Actions column

From CLI

# Synchronize all customers
lando artisan app:sync-workflows --all

# Synchronize specific customer
lando artisan app:sync-workflows --customer="Acme Corp"

Synchronization Status

During synchronization, the workflow shows:

• last_synced_at: Updated to current date
• Job status: Monitorable in Jobs section

Workflow Analysis

Analysis by Customer

View all workflows for a customer:

1. Navigate to Customers
2. Click on a customer
3. Click on Workflows tab

Usefulness:

• Understand customer workflow portfolio
• Identify critical workflows
• Analyze patterns between workflows

Analysis by State

Analyze distribution by state:

1. Use State filter → Active
2. Count results

Usefulness:

• How many workflows are active?
• Are there many inactive workflows to archive?
• Are there drafts to finalize?

Analysis by Type

Analyze distribution by workflow type:

1. Create custom report
2. Group by type
3. Count by type

Examples:

• Setup Workflow vs Subscription Workflow
• One-time vs Recurring Workflow
• Integration vs Automation Workflow

Complexity Analysis

Analyze workflow complexity:

1. Count number of tasks per workflow
2. Identify workflows with many tasks
3. Look for simplification opportunities

# Count tasks per workflow
lando artisan tinker

>>> Workflow::withCount('tasks')
    ->orderBy('tasks_count', 'desc')
    ->get()
    ->map(fn($w) => [
        'name' => $w->name,
        'tasks_count' => $w->tasks_count
    ])

Best Practices

Workflow Analysis

Systematic approach:

1. Overview:

   • Total number of workflows
   • Distribution by state
   • Distribution by customer

2. Detail:

   • More complex workflows (more tasks)
   • Workflows with high priority tasks
   • Inactive workflows to review

3. Optimization:

   • Duplicate workflows?
   • Obsolete workflows?
   • Standardization opportunities?

Documentation

Keep documentation:

1. Clear description:

   • Workflow purpose
   • Triggers used
   • Expected output

2. Versioning:

   • Document changes
   • Track versions
   • Note rollbacks if necessary

3. Responsible parties:

   • Who created the workflow?
   • Who is the maintainer?
   • Who approves changes?

Performance

Optimize visualization:

1. Eager Loading:

   • Always load related customer
   • Load tasks if necessary
   $workflow = Workflow::with(['customer', 'tasks'])->find($id);
   

2. Pagination:

   • Use pagination for long lists
   $workflows = Workflow::with('customer')->paginate(50);
   

3. Indexes:

   • Check indexes on customer_id, zuora_id
   • Add indexes if performance is slow

Security

Protect sensitive data:

1. Access Control:

   • Only super_admin sees all workflows
   • workflow_user sees only their customers’ workflows (if implemented)
   • Use Policy to control access

2. Data Export:

   • JSON export can contain sensitive data
   • Protect downloads with permissions
   • Log JSON export accesses

3. Audit Trail:

   • Keep view logs
   • Record JSON downloads
   • Track changes

Troubleshooting

Workflow not appearing after sync

Symptom: Synchronization completed but workflow not visible

Possible causes:

1. Failed job:

   • Check Failed Jobs
   • Verify error
   • Retry job

2. Customer not synchronized:

   • Verify customer has been synchronized
   • Check that it has workflows in Zuora

3. Active filter:

   • Remove filters
   • Verify there are no active filters

4. Cache:

   lando artisan cache:clear
   lando artisan config:clear
   

Tasks not synchronized

Symptom: Workflow synchronized but without tasks

Possible causes:

1. JSON export without tasks:

   • Verify json_export in database
   • Check that tasks array exists
   >>> $workflow = Workflow::find($id)
   >>> $workflow->json_export['tasks'] // Array?
   

2. Error during extraction:

   • Check logs for errors
   lando logs -f | grep -i "task"
   

3. Force sync task:

   • Open the workflow
   • Click on Sync Tasks

Graphical view not working

Symptom: Graphical view doesn’t show nodes

Possible causes:

1. JavaScript error:

   • Open browser console (F12)
   • Look for JavaScript errors
   • Refresh page

2. Missing data:

   • Verify tasks are present
   • Verify that next_task_id is populated

3. Browser compatibility:

   • Use modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari)
   • Verify that JavaScript is enabled

API Reference

Workflow Model

// Relations
$workflow->customer;    // Owner customer
$workflow->tasks;        // Task collection

// Common filters
Workflow::where('customer_id', $customerId)->get();
Workflow::where('state', 'Active')->get();
Workflow::where('zuora_id', $zuoraId)->first();

// Eager loading
Workflow::with(['customer', 'tasks'])->get();

// Sorting
Workflow::orderBy('created_on', 'desc')->get();
Workflow::orderBy('last_synced_at', 'desc')->get();

// Count tasks
Workflow::withCount('tasks')->get();

// Pagination
Workflow::with('customer')->paginate(50);

Task Synchronization

// Synchronize tasks from JSON
$count = $workflow->syncTasksFromJson();
// Returns: Number of synchronized tasks

// Tasks are:
// - Created if they don't exist
// - Updated if they already exist
// - Deleted if no longer in JSON

WorkflowPolicy

Permissions defined in WorkflowPolicy:

Permission	Description
viewAny	View workflow list
view	View workflow details

Workflows cannot be created, modified, or deleted manually. They are managed via Zuora synchronization.

Next Steps

After analyzing workflows:

Task Management

Analyze workflow tasks

Workflow Synchronization

Learn how to synchronize workflows

Customer Management

Manage Zuora customers