20.4Workflows: chaining steps

A workflow connects tasks and collectors chained into steps, where each step can use what the previous ones produced. Steps execute in sequence, allowing earlier outputs to feed directly into subsequent actions.

Depending on your process requirements, an individual step can run once, run once per item across a collection (fan-out), or gather results from previous items into a unified set (fan-in).

Workflows do not have an internal schedule of their own. A workflow runs only when you start it manually on a folder or a subject, or when a Solution initiates it. Scheduled execution in Bmator is handled directly by collectors and datasources.

Creating and configuring a workflow

1. Navigate to Workflows.
2. Select New Workflow.
3. Choose Add Step to insert an action into the sequence.
4. Select whether the step executes a task or a collector, and configure how it runs (run once, fan-out per item, or fan-in to gather results).
5. Repeat the process to add additional steps where subsequent steps consume previous outputs.
6. If the sequence sends nothing out of Bmator (containing no collector, live datasource query, or output action), you can enable Available as a tool to allow a connected AI assistant to invoke it.

Running a workflow

1. Open the workflow you want to execute.
2. Select Run and specify the target folder or subject.
3. Monitor the run page as execution proceeds. The page displays each step, its generated outputs, and where the final results were filed.
4. If you need to halt an active process before completion, stop the run directly from the run page.