Publish a workflow

Publishing a workflow makes it available to run when the configured start event An event that triggers a workflow to run when it occurs. An example is Box - New file, which triggers the workflow to run when a new file is uploaded to the specified folder. occurs. When you publish, you decide if the workflow is counted against your workflow subscription license as production or development. The Status column on the Workflows page indicates the status of the workflow. The status of published workflows is shown as Published in the Workflows page.

You can restrict the users who can publish production workflows by changing settings in the Workflow settings page.

Request to publish a production workflow

Publishing production workflows may be restricted to certain roles or groups, using the Workflow publishing setting in workflow settings. Global Administrators and Automation administrators can configure the workflow publishing settings to select users who can publish production workflows.

If you don't have permission to publish a production workflow, the Request publish option will be displayed when you select Production as the Assigned use. You must submit a request to it.

When a publish request is sent for a workflow:

• The Status of the workflow is displayed as Publish requested in the Workflows page and you can identify the workflows waiting to be published via the status. If you have permission to publish workflows, you can open the workflow and publish it. When a workflow is published, the status of the workflow changes to Published.

• An email notification is sent to the members of the groups if the relevant option is selected in the Workflow settings page.

For more information, see Publish workflows.

Publish a workflow

1. On the toolbar at the top of the workflow designer, click Publish.

2. Enter the Workflow name.

   Note: The name must be unique and no more than 50 characters. Also, special characters (/ ^ $ . | ? * + ( ) < > ! \ @ # % & , [ ] : ; =) are not allowed in workflow names. A warning is displayed if there's another workflow with the same name in the tenant.

3. (Optional) Complete the other fields as required. For more information, see Publish dialog box fields.

   Note: If you select Production as the Assigned use and you don’t have permission to publish production workflows, the Publish button changes to Request publish and you must request for the workflow to be published. For more information, see Request to publish a production workflow.

4. Click Publish or Request publish.

Publish a workflow with a Publish requested status

You can identify the workflows waiting to be published through the Status column on the Workflows page. Workflows that have to be published will have the Request published status. If you have permission to publish workflows, you can open the workflow and publish it.

1. Open the Workflows page and find the workflow you want to publish:

   • If you received an email about the publish request, click the link in the email. The Workflows page opens filtered to display the workflows with the Publish requested Status.

   • Open the Workflows page and filter the workflows by Status to find the workflows with a Publish requested Status.

2. Click the Name of the workflow to open it.

   Note: Ensure that you open the workflow that has the Publish requested status and not the Published version.

3. On the toolbar, click Publish.

Cancel a request to publish

You can cancel a request to publish a workflow before the workflow is published.

1. On the Workflows page, find the workflow you want, then click , and select Cancel request to publish. A confirmation message is displayed.

2. Click Yes to confirm the cancellation.

   The status of the worklfow changes to Draft and is displayed in the Status column on the Workflows page.

Rename a published workflow

1. On the toolbar at the top of the workflow designer, click Publish.

2. Enter the new Workflow name.

   Note: The name must be unique and no more than 50 characters. Also, special characters (/ ^ $ . | ? * + ( ) < > ! \ @ # % & , [ ] : ; =) are not allowed in workflow names. A warning is displayed if there's another workflow with the same name in the tenant.

3. Select Rename the current workflow or Publish a new workflow.

   • Rename the current workflow: Renames the current workflow. The workflow version history will automatically include a comment: " Workflow name changed from 'Current workflow name' to 'New workflow name'."

   • Publish a new workflow: Creates a duplicate workflow with a new name.

4. Click Publish.