Trigger a workflow on form submission

Forms can do more than just collect data. Set a form to workflow trigger type and submitting it kicks off a workflow you’ve already configured. Useful for things like:

• An IT request form that automatically opens a ticket and emails IT.
• An expense claim form that emails the claimant’s manager and the finance team.
• A new starter declaration form that flips an onboarding step to done.

Prerequisites

You need a workflow already built and saved in the Workflows area. The workflow has the steps and notifications; the form is just the trigger.

Configure the form as a workflow trigger

1. Open the form in the builder.
2. In the metadata column (left side), set Form type to Workflow Trigger.
3. A new field appears: Linked Workflow. Pick from the dropdown.
4. Save.

When someone submits this form, the platform passes the form’s field values to the linked workflow as input, and the workflow runs.

What the workflow can do with the data

Inside the workflow, each form field’s value is available as a merge tag. So a workflow step like “Send email” can include the submitter’s text in the email body, or “Create task” can use the submitter’s selected option as the task title.

The exact way merge tags work depends on the workflow engine’s configuration. Typically you reference fields by their internal name (e.g. {form.expense_amount}).

Use cases

IT request:

• Form: short text “what do you need”, short text “by when”, choice “urgency”
• Workflow: send email to it@yourcompany.com with the form contents, create a task assigned to the IT lead, notify the requester it’s in the queue.

Expense claim:

• Form: number “amount”, short text “description”, date “when”, file upload “receipt”, employee select “manager”
• Workflow: send email to the picked manager for approval, send email to finance once approved, create a task to reimburse.

Internal nomination:

• Form: employee select “nominee”, long text “why”
• Workflow: send a thank-you to the nominator, log the nomination, notify the recognition committee.

Testing

Before sharing the form widely, test it:

1. Submit the form once with sample data.
2. Verify the workflow ran (check the Workflow runs view).
3. Check that emails sent and tasks were created as expected.

Workflows are fire-and-forget once triggered, so getting the configuration right before going live saves a lot of clean up.

Permissions

Building workflow-trigger forms is admin only, since workflows can do significant things (send emails, create tasks, change records). Whoever submits the form is whoever has the share link.

Limitations

The workflow runs once per form submission. There’s currently no in-built rate limiting, so a form that gets accidentally shared publicly could trigger many workflow runs. Don’t set up workflow trigger forms for anything that’s expensive or hard to undo without considering this.