Note: This is an advanced developer feature available only on the Enterprise plan that requires a working knowledge of JavaScript. If you are not an Enterprise customer, or you do not have in-house development expertise, our Zapier integration is a simpler way to achieve custom automations.
The Workflow Engine is an advanced developer feature that allows for defining custom Workflows: pre defined set of steps and actions that can automatically execute depending on certain conditions. Large agencies can use Workflows to build cross-system automations, enforce data quality, automate key processes, and much more.
A Workflow definition primarily consists of a JSON schema as well as several JavaScript "code steps", which can execute arbitrary logic as needed.
Utilising the Workflow Engine provides you with several unique user experience benefits compared to simply calling the Rex API externally. Some of these features include:
- Notifications within the Rex UI that give indication to users when automated Workflows are triggered
- Ability to set Workflows as able to be triggered automatically, triggered automatically with a confirmation prompt, or triggered manually from within the Rex interface
- Send special approval requests with custom forms to specific user(s) or contact(s), and conditionally respond to these approvals
You're probably thinking "what situations would these features be useful in?" To showcase some prime examples of the power behind a Workflow and what they can be used for, we've created a few example use cases.
Example use cases
Perform an action after record updates
When a record updates, you could for example have a workflow trigger that checks if a certain value exists and then update another record with that information.
Ask for approval
When the commission percentage on a listing changes, you could have a workflow that automatically fetches the ID of the branch managers group and then sends an approval email to them asking whether or not the new commission percentage is correct; to guard against abnormal or aggressively discounted commission amounts.
Update third-party APIs
You could simply have a workflow that takes a record's information and sends it off to a third-party API to have your data sync across platforms.
Technical documentation
If you are an Enterprise customer, please reach out to your account manager who can provide you with complete technical documentation outlining how to write, manage and distribute workflows.