Workflows

How to build and manage Muin's automated workflows — triggers, actions, approvals, and troubleshooting — to automate the repetitive steps across your operation.

8 questions

How do I create my first workflow?

Creating a workflow in Muin is straightforward: 1. Go to **Workflows** in the left sidebar 2. Click **Create Workflow** 3. Give your workflow a name and description 4. Choose a **trigger** — the event that starts the workflow (e.g., form submitted, document uploaded, invoice approved) 5. Add **actions** — the steps that execute when the trigger fires (e.g., send email, create task, notify team) 6. Configure conditions if you want actions to run only when certain criteria are met 7. Click **Activate** to turn the workflow on Start with a simple workflow like "When a form is submitted, send a confirmation email" and build from there. You can also browse **Templates** for pre-built workflows covering common scenarios.

What types of triggers can start a workflow?

Muin workflows support four core trigger types plus event-based triggers across all platform modules: | Trigger Type | Examples | |-------------|----------| | **Schedule** | Daily, weekly, monthly, or custom cron schedule with business hours and holiday support | | **Webhook** | HMAC-secured webhook calls from external systems | | **Manual** | Start on demand from the dashboard or via API | | **Event-Based** | Document uploaded, form submitted, payment received, vendor added, and more | Event-based triggers span all modules: | Module | Events | |--------|--------| | **Documents** | Document uploaded, processing complete, anomaly detected | | **Forms** | Form submitted, form updated | | **Finance** | Invoice created, payment received, payment overdue | | **Vendors** | Vendor added, compliance expired, contract renewal due | | **HR** | Employee onboarded, time-off requested, review due | | **Communications** | Message received, ticket created, SLA at risk | Each trigger can include conditions to narrow when it fires. For example, "When an invoice is created AND amount is over $5,000" ensures the workflow only runs for high-value invoices.

What actions can a workflow perform?

Workflow actions are the steps that execute when a trigger fires. Available actions include: - **Send Email** — send a templated email to specific recipients or dynamic contacts - **Send Notification** — push in-app, SMS, or email notifications to team members - **Create Task** — create a task and assign it to a team member or team - **Update Record** — change fields on a contact, vendor, invoice, or other record - **Create Record** — create a new vendor, contact, invoice, or document record - **Assign to Team** — route an item to a team for review or action - **Webhook** — send data to an external URL for integration with third-party tools - **Wait** — pause the workflow for a specified duration before the next step - **Condition** — branch the workflow based on field values or other criteria Actions can be chained together in sequence, and you can add multiple branches using conditions.

What happens when a workflow encounters an error?

When a workflow step fails, Muin handles it gracefully: 1. **The failed step is logged** — you can see exactly which action failed, when, and why in the workflow's **Run History** 2. **The workflow pauses** — subsequent steps do not execute (unless you have configured the workflow to continue on error) 3. **You are notified** — workflow owners receive an in-app notification about the failure 4. **You can retry** — open the failed run in **Workflows** --> select the workflow --> **Run History**, review the error, and click **Retry** to re-execute from the failed step Common failure reasons include invalid email addresses, permission issues, or external webhook timeouts. The error message in Run History tells you exactly what went wrong so you can fix the root cause.

Are there pre-built workflow templates?

Yes. Muin includes a library of 25 pre-built workflow templates for common business processes: - **Vendor Onboarding** — document collection, risk assessment, compliance checks, and approval routing - **Invoice Approval** — route invoices by amount with auto-approval thresholds, notify on decision - **Document Processing** — notify the team when a document finishes processing, flag anomalies - **Form Follow-Up** — send confirmation email on submission, create task for review, notify assignee - **Payment Reminder** — send reminders at 7 days, 3 days, and 1 day before invoice due date - **Employee Onboarding** — create tasks for IT setup, HR orientation, and manager check-in - **Expense Approval** — smart routing based on amount, category, and department - **Grant Application Review** — committee review, board vote, and applicant notification Plus 17 more templates across Finance, HR, Vendors, Contracts, Compliance, Procurement, and Nonprofits. Browse templates at **Workflows** --> **Templates**. Click **Use Template** to create a copy you can customize with your own recipients, messages, and conditions.

What's the difference between an automation and a workflow?

An **automation** is a single WHEN–IF–THEN rule: one trigger (a document event, schedule, webhook, or manual run), optional conditions (amount, status, vendor, type, due date…), and one set of actions (notify, assign a task, update the document, run an agent, call a webhook, escalate). A **workflow** is multi-step orchestration — stages, approvals, branching. Use workflows for processes, automations for reflexes around them. Both live on the **Workflows** page.

How do I test an automation before turning it on?

Use the **manual trigger** while the automation is still inactive — it runs the rule once so you can confirm the conditions match what you expect and the actions land where they should. Manual test runs are rate-limited, so test deliberately rather than in a loop. When you're satisfied, **activate** it. You can deactivate any time without losing the configuration or its run history.

Is there a limit on how many automations I can have?

The number of **active** automations follows your subscription tier. Deactivated automations don't count against it, so keep experimental rules off until you need them. If you hit the quota, look for overlap first — one automation with well-chosen conditions often replaces several narrow ones.