Find your way around the user interface

When you first open automation orchestrator, you see pages for building workflows, monitoring runs, and managing your automation environment. This walkthrough covers each area so you know where to go when you start building.

Start from the Workflows page

After you log in, you land on the Workflows page. Any saved workflows you have access to are displayed here. This includes workflows that others saved and to which you have access.

From this page, you can:

  • Filter by project. Use the project dropdown at the top to scope the list to a specific project, or select All projects to see everything.
  • Search for a workflow. Type a name in the Filter by name field to locate a specific workflow.
  • Create a new workflow. Click Create workflow in the upper right to open a blank canvas.
  • Import a workflow. Click Import workflow to load a workflow definition from a file.

Each row in the table shows the workflow name, creation date with username, last update with username, and whether the workflow is in a published, unpublished, or draft state. Click any workflow name to open it in the workflow builder.

Click the options menu (⋮) on any row to access the workflow management options for that specific workflow: Edit workflow, Run workflow, Run published version, View run history, Duplicate workflow, Export workflow, Publish workflow, Unpublish workflow, Delete workflow.

Explore the workflow builder canvas

To start building, click the Workflow Builder icon icon (Workflow Builder) in the sidebar or click Create workflow from the Workflows page. The designer opens with an empty canvas with configuration fields and a trigger step panel on the right.

The workflow builder canvas is divided into several areas that you will use throughout the design process:

Top toolbar

Runs across the top of the screen. From left to right, it contains:

  • Workflow name: Use the default name or add a custom name.
  • Edit icon Use this to edit workflow details, such as name and description.
  • Project field: You can choose the default project or create a project directly from this menu.
  • Add Step: Opens the step palette to add a new step. This is enabled after you add a trigger step, which is the required first step.
  • Save: Saves the current workflow state and creates a new version.
  • Run: Executes the workflow. This button displays after you save a workflow.
  • Publish workflow: Publishes the current version so that triggers and scheduled runs use it. After publishing, an Unpublish option becomes available. The status badge next to the workflow name shows the current state: Draft, Published, or Unpublished changes.
  • Options menu (⋮): Provides additional actions:
    • Run history: View the status of past runs for the selected workflow. You can filter by status: Pending, Running, Paused, Completed, Failed, Canceled.
    • Workflow details: Click the </> icon (code view) to open a side panel that has the JSON workflow definition.
    • Export workflow: Download the workflow definition as a file for sharing or version control.
    • Import workflow: Load a workflow definition from a file into the current canvas.
    • Verify workflow: Run on-demand validation to check the workflow for errors and warnings without saving.
    • Duplicate workflow: Create a copy of the current workflow. By default, the copy is in a draft state.

Canvas workspace

The central area where you arrange steps and draw connections between them. Click and drag on empty space to pan. Use the scroll wheel to zoom.

Canvas controls

A small toolbar in the lower-left corner with buttons for zoom in, zoom out, fit all steps to the viewport, collapse all steps on canvas, expand all steps on canvas, and clean up steps on canvas.

Configure a step in the details panel

Select a step type from the Add step panel, or click an existing step on the canvas. The details panel opens. This panel has three sections that let you see what data flows in, how the step is configured, and what it produces. The configuration fields that appear depend on the step type you select.

Input (left pane)

You can resize the Input, Parameters, and Output panes by dragging the dividers between them. The system saves your preferred widths per step.

Shows the output data from upstream steps that feeds into this step. If the upstream steps have not run, this shows the expected schema from those steps. After those steps run, the real runtime outputs will display in the downstream step's input.

Use the dropdown list to select which upstream step's data to view. Copy field data from the Input pane into parameter fields to create dynamic references.

You can switch between these data views:

Schema
A structured tree view that shows field names, data types, and values in a hierarchical layout. Use this view to understand the shape of the data and identify available fields. You can expand nested objects to explore complex structures. Start here when you need to discover what fields a step provides.
Table
A flat tabular view that displays list and record data in rows and columns. Use this view when the data has collections of similar items, such as a list of hosts or job results. You can scan, compare, or spot patterns across many entries at a glance.
JSON
The raw JSON representation of the data, exactly as the system produces it. Use this view to copy precise field paths or values for expressions in downstream steps. You can also verify the structure of nested data or troubleshoot unexpected values.

Parameters and Settings (center pane)

The Parameters tab contains the configuration fields specific to the step type. Each step type has different parameters. For example, a Task Agent step has fields for the large language model (LLM) credential, prompt, tools, and response schema. An Ansible Automation Platform job template step has fields for the authentication credential, organization, and job template.

Use the Settings tab to override global application runtime settings for the individual step. The Settings tab is available for most step types and includes the following categories:

On failure

Controls what happens when the step fails. Select one of the following options:

  • System default: Uses the system-wide setting configured by an administrator.
  • Continue on failure: Downstream steps continue executing even if this step fails. The overall execution finishes with a Completed with errors state if any step failed.
  • Stop workflow or branch on failure: The workflow or current branch stops at this step if it fails.
Timeout
Sets the maximum duration the step can run before it is marked as failed. Enter a value in seconds. If the step does not complete within this duration, automation orchestrator stops it and records a timeout error. If you do not set a value, the step uses the global default timeout.
Retry policy

Configures automatic retries when the step fails. This section is available only for HTTP request, Ansible Automation Platform job template, and Ansible Automation Platform workflow template steps. Set the following fields:

  • Max retries: The number of retry attempts after the initial attempt. Set to 0 to disable retries. If you do not set a value, the step uses the global default.
  • Initial interval: The initial retry interval in seconds.
  • Max interval: The maximum retry interval in seconds.
  • Backoff coefficient: The multiplier applied to the interval after each retry. Set to 1.0 for fixed intervals or greater than 1.0 for exponential backoff.
Note:

Click Run step to test the step independently before running the full workflow.

Output (right pane)

Shows the results from the last execution of this step. Before you run the workflow, this pane displays a message indicating that no output data is available yet. After a run, you can view results in Schema, Table, or JSON format. You can use this data in a downstream workflow step.

For Task Agent steps, two tabs appear above the output area: Input/Output and Agent steps. The Input/Output tab shows the standard output data. The Agent steps tab shows a step-by-step record of the agent's reasoning, tool calls, and final answer.

Navigation arrows (details panel header)

The details panel header includes navigation arrows on the left and right sides. Click the left arrow to move to an upstream step or the right arrow to move to a downstream step without returning to the canvas. You can also click the + button to add a downstream step.

Monitor workflows

If you manually run a workflow within the canvas view, it opens the Most recent run details view. You can view the run in real time from the bottom of the canvas.

Workflow runs triggered by a schedule, webhook, or Event-Driven Ansible trigger step run in the background. You can view these runs later from Workflow Runs in the sidebar. You can also access a workflow's run history from the options menu in the header.

The Workflow Runs page lists every execution with the workflow name, run ID, status, start time, and completion time. To cancel a running workflow, click the options menu (⋮) for the run and select Cancel run.

Click any run ID to open the execution detail view. This view shows the same canvas layout as the workflow builder with real-time status. Each step displays its current state: Pending, Running, Successful, Waiting, Waiting for approval, or Failed.

Below the graph, the Current run details panel provides an Overview table. This table lists each step with its status, start time, end time, and elapsed time. Click any row to highlight the corresponding step on canvas. Switch from Overview to Details to inspect the parameters and output for the selected step.

Review pending approvals

If any of your workflows include approval steps, you can review pending requests and submit decisions from two locations in automation orchestrator.

Approvals page

Click the Approvals icon in the sidebar to open the Approvals page. This page lists all approval requests across your workflows. You can filter by status (Pending, Approved, Rejected, Expired, Cancelled) to find requests that need your attention.

You can only take action on pending approvals if you have the approval:decide permission and are listed as an approver on the request. If the automation designer did not specify approvers, any user with the approval:decide permission can respond.

To approve or reject multiple requests at once, select the requests and click Approve or Reject in the toolbar.

Execution viewer side panel

When you are viewing a running workflow execution in the execution viewer, the Review approval side panel opens automatically when the workflow reaches an approval step. You can review the request context and submit a decision without leaving the execution view.

If a workflow has multiple pending approvals, use the navigation controls in the side panel header to move between them.

Run history

You can also identify workflows that are waiting for approval from the run history. Workflow executions that are waiting for an approval decision show a Paused status. The approval step itself shows Waiting for approval in the execution graph.