Workflow entity overview

The Workflow entity overview page displays detailed information about a specific workflow, including execution metrics, run history, schedules, and logs. From this page, you can run workflows manually or schedule them to run automatically.

Before you begin

Before using the APIs to trigger or schedule workflows, ensure you have:

• Workflow created: A workflow definition already deployed in your account from template or custom-built.
• Account ID: Your New Relic account ID can be found in Account settings.
• Workflow name: The exact name from your workflow definition.
• Required inputs: Values for any parameters your workflow expects.
• Secrets configured: AWS credentials, Slack tokens, or other secrets stored in secrets manager.

Access entity overview

From the Workflow Automation dashboard, click a workflow name in the Workflows tab to open its entity overview page.

The entity overview page displays the following tabs:

Summary

Workflow-level metrics and information:

• Run count: Total number of times this workflow has executed
• Total steps: Number of steps executed across all runs
• Failed runs: Count of failed executions and which steps failed
• Each metric widget includes a context menu to view query, get image, or create alert condition

Run History

List of all workflow executions:

• View logs for each run
• See execution status and timestamps
• Access detailed run information

Logs

View execution logs:

• Access logs when you run a workflow from the list page
• Redirects from the View logs button after running a workflow

Run workflows via API

Use the StartWorkflowRun API to trigger workflows programmatically. This executes the workflow immediately with the inputs you provide.

Example: Invoke an AWS Lambda function

The following workflow definition invokes an AWS Lambda function and logs the output. Replace 12345678 with your New Relic account ID.

name: lambda1

  workflowInputs:
    username:
      type: String
      defaultValue: "User"
    key:
      type: String
      defaultValue: "${{ :secrets:12345678:USERNAME_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}"
    access:
      type: String
      defaultValue: "${{ :secrets:12345678:USERNAME_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}"
    token:
      type: String
      defaultValue: "${{ :secrets:12345678:USERNAME_AWS_SESSION_TOKEN }}"
    region:
      type: String
      defaultValue: us-east-1

  steps:
    - name: invoke1
      type: action
      action: aws.lambda.invoke
      version: 1
      inputs:
        awsAccessKeyId: ${{ .workflowInputs.key }}
        awsSecretAccessKey: ${{ .workflowInputs.access }}
        awsSessionToken: ${{ .workflowInputs.token }}
        region: ${{ .workflowInputs.region }}
        functionName: hello-you
        payload:
          user: ${{ .workflowInputs.username }}

    - name: logOutput
      type: action
      action: newrelic.ingest.sendLogs
      version: 1
      inputs:
        logs:
          - message: 'The lambda function message output is:${{ .steps.invoke1.outputs.payload.body }}'

To start this workflow, use the following NerdGraph mutation. Before running this mutation, ensure you've stored your AWS credentials using the secretsManagementCreateSecret mutation. For more information, see secrets manager.

mutation {
    workflowAutomationStartWorkflowRun(
      # Specify the account where the workflow is defined
      scope: { type: ACCOUNT id: "12345678" }

      # Reference the workflow definition by name
      definition: { name: "lambda1" }

      # Provide input values for the workflow
      workflowInputs: [
        {key: "key" value: "${{ :secrets:testUser123_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}"}
        {key: "access" value: "${{ :secrets:testUser123_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}"}
        {key: "token" value: "${{ :secrets:testUser123_AWS_SESSION_TOKEN }}"}
        {key: "region" value:"us-east-2"}
        {key: "username" value: "Julien"}
      ]
    ) {
      runId
    }
  }

Parameters explained:

• scope: The account ID where your workflow definition is stored
• definition: The name of the workflow to run (must match the name field in your workflow definition)
• workflowInputs: Key-value pairs that override the default values in the workflowInputs section of your workflow definition

The mutation returns a runId (for example, 7bd25287-2af8-42e1-b783-80f4e760a40b). Use this ID to query the logs and view the output:

Schedules

Manage scheduled executions for this workflow:

• View all active schedules
• Create new schedules
• Delete existing schedules

Use the CreateSchedule API to schedule workflows to run automatically at specific times. Scheduled workflows run recurring tasks without manual intervention.

When to schedule workflows:

• Regular health checks
• Periodic data processing
• Daily/weekly reports
• Scheduled maintenance windows
• Recurring backups or cleanups

Cron expression reference

Schedules use cron expressions to define when workflows run. Format: minute hour day month weekday

Example: Schedule a daily health check

The following example schedules the lambda1 workflow to run every day at 9 AM Eastern Time:

mutation {
    workflowAutomationCreateSchedule(
      scope: {type: ACCOUNT, id: "1"}
      definition: {name: "outdated_agents_multiple_nrql", version: 22}
      workflowInputs: [{key: "emailDestinationId", value: "04ea4bf6-e52a-4df1-bd5d-9c0271652a93"}, {key: "accountId", value: "1"}]
      timezone: "America/New_York"
      cronExpression: "0 12 * * *"
    ) {
      scheduleId
    }
  }

What you get back: scheduleId, Unique identifier for the schedule (use this to update or delete the schedule later)

Workaround: Sub-10-minute intervals

If you need to check something more frequently than every 10 minutes, schedule your workflow at the minimum 10-minute interval and use a wait step within the workflow definition to create additional polling intervals.

Example workflow with 5-minute polling:

name: frequent-health-check

  steps:
    # First check happens immediately when scheduled
    - name: firstCheck
      type: action
      action: newrelic.nrdb.query
      version: 1
      inputs:
        query: "FROM Transaction SELECT count(*) WHERE appName = 'MyApp' SINCE 5 minutes ago"

    # Wait 5 minutes
    - name: waitStep
      type: wait
      seconds: 300

    # Second check happens 5 minutes after the workflow started
    - name: secondCheck
      type: action
      action: newrelic.nrdb.query
      version: 1
      inputs:
        query: "FROM Transaction SELECT count(*) WHERE appName = 'MyApp' SINCE 5 minutes ago"

Schedule this workflow to run every 10 minutes using */10 * * * *. This gives you effective 5-minute polling:

• 0:00 - Workflow starts, runs firstCheck
• 0:05 - secondCheck runs (after wait step)
• 0:10 - Next scheduled workflow starts, runs firstCheck
• 0:15 - secondCheck runs (after wait step)

Manage schedules

After creating a schedule:

• View active schedules: See all scheduled runs in the Schedules tab on this Entity Overview page
• Update schedule: Use the UpdateSchedule API to change frequency or inputs
• Delete schedule: Use the DeleteSchedule API to stop recurring runs

For complete API documentation, see Workflow Automation APIs.

Settings

View workflow configuration:

• Display workflow settings and parameters
• Configuration information only (editing is done through the editor)

Run workflows from this page

To manually execute a workflow from the entity overview page:

1. Click Run workflow
2. The workflow executes immediately
3. After execution completes, click View logs to see the execution details in the Logs tab

To edit a workflow, click the Edit button to open the workflow in the editor.

Related topics