Building Workflows with External Data

Most workflows don’t exist in a vacuum. They rely on external systems to retrieve, update, or create data. Whether you're pulling in user details, creating tickets in another tool, or syncing records between systems, you’ll need to connect your workflow to external data sources.

The Kinetic Platform makes this easy using Connections and Operations, our integration framework designed to securely connect workflows to the outside world.

What Are Connections and Operations?

• Connections define how your workflow talks to an external system (e.g., API base URL, credentials).
• Operations define what your workflow can do within that system (e.g., GET user, POST ticket, PATCH record).

Each Operation belongs to a Connection, and both are reusable across different workflows and forms.

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Learn more: Connections Overview | Creating Operations

Common Use Cases

• Retrieve user data from Active Directory
• Submit a ticket to ServiceNow or Jira
• Pull pricing or inventory from an external database
• Update a record in Salesforce
• Send Slack messages based on form inputs

Workflow Flow with External Data

Here’s how it typically comes together:

1. User submits a form (e.g., onboarding request)
2. The workflow begins
3. A node executes an Operation (e.g., retrieve user manager from external system)
4. The returned data is stored in results
5. Later nodes use those results to make decisions, populate notifications, or create records in other systems

Example: Pulling a Manager Name for Approval

1. Create a Connection to your user directory (e.g., HTTP connection to Okta)
2. Add an Operation to retrieve user details by email
3. In your workflow, add a node that:
   • Uses that Operation
   • Passes the email address from the form submission as a parameter
4. Use the returned managerEmail in the next node (e.g., start an approval)

<%= @result['managerEmail'] %>

Tips for Using External Data

• Use routines to reuse external data logic across workflows
• Test your connections and operations before inserting them into trees
• Use deferred nodes if you’re waiting on a human step triggered by external data
• Handle missing or incomplete data gracefully with .nil? or .empty? checks in ERB

Best Practices

• Secure your Connections using credentials stored in environment variables
• Keep your Operations granular and purpose-driven
• Reuse routines when interacting with the same system multiple times
• Validate external data in the Runs tab before acting on it

What’s Next?

• Creating a Connection
• Using Parameters and Dynamic Data
• ⬜ Handling Errors from External Systems