Automation Canvas

The Automations tab is where you build an automation. You place Tool cards on a canvas, connect them, add rules to the connections, test with Run, and save the result with Publish to Library.

Open the Canvas

Choose Automations from the desktop command bar. There is one Automations tab for the whole app. Opening it again brings the existing tab forward, and it keeps your drafts and your selected automation when you switch projects. You don't need a project open to build an automation.

Use the selector at the top to pick an automation. New creates one, Rename renames the selected draft, and Delete removes the draft after you confirm. Deleting a draft doesn't remove anything you already published or placed.

Add Cards

  • Add Tool picks a saved Tool. You can also expand the Project Navigator column on the left and drag a Tool onto the canvas.
  • Input marks where the automation's input enters.
  • Merge brings two or more paths back together.
  • Output marks a finished result.

Every Tool card has its own settings, so you can use the same Tool twice with different instructions or options.

A simple chain of Tools doesn't need Input, Merge, or Output cards. As soon as you add one of them, the automation needs exactly one Input and at least one Output, and every card must sit on a path that starts at the Input and reaches an Output.

You can also drag project documents onto the canvas as reminders. Document cards are visual only: they don't run, don't feed a Tool, and aren't included when you publish. Double-click one to open the document.

Connect Cards

  1. Right-click the card the result should come from.
  2. Right-click the card it should go to.

A dashed line follows the pointer until you pick the target. Press Escape to cancel. Right-click a line to delete it.

A Tool card or Output card accepts only one incoming line. When two paths need to meet, connect both of them to a Merge card and continue from there.

You can't connect the same two cards twice. The canvas lets you draw a loop while you're editing, but Run and Publish to Library refuse an automation that loops back on itself.

Choose Which Path a Result Takes

Select the source Tool card to open Tool Info. Under Outgoing Connections, choose Configure route on the connection you want to change. The Connection route dialog offers three choices for Route type:

  • Always (fan-out) — the result always goes down this line.
  • When condition matches — the result goes down this line only when its rule is true.
  • Default route — the line to take when none of the rules match.

Use one style for all of a card's outgoing lines. Either every line is Always (fan-out), or every line has a condition except exactly one Default route.

A condition has three parts:

  • Envelope path — where to look in the previous Tool's result, such as content.category. The Tool has to return structured output for the path to find a value.
  • Operator — how to compare. The choices are equals, not_equals, contains, greater_than, greater_than_or_equal, less_than, less_than_or_equal, exists, and not_exists.
  • Value — what to compare against, such as support.

Priority (lower runs first) sets the order ThinkForge checks the rules. Give each conditional line a different number. The first rule that matches wins.

When a line goes into a Merge card, the dialog also asks for a Merge input name, such as approved or rejected. Each line into the same Merge card needs its own name. Tools after the Merge find each incoming result under content.inputs. followed by that name.

Run a Tool Once per Item

Select a Tool card and choose Configure iteration under Iteration. In the Tool iteration dialog:

  • Run once is the normal behavior.
  • For each item runs the Tool separately for every item in a list from the previous result. Set Array path to where the list is, such as content.items, and set Maximum items to a number from 1 to 100.

The results come back together, in order, for the next card. The run stops with an error if the path doesn't point to a list or the list is longer than your maximum.

This setting belongs to this card only. It doesn't change the Tool.

Move Around the Canvas

  • Drag cards to move them. A card's position never affects the order things run.
  • Middle-drag or Ctrl+left-drag to pan.
  • Use the mouse wheel or the + and - buttons to zoom.
  • Center resets the view, Fit fits all the cards on screen, and Layout arranges the cards for you.

Change or Remove a Tool Card

Select a Tool card. Tool settings changes that card's settings only. Remove from automation takes the card and its lines off the canvas. Neither one changes or deletes the saved Tool.

Test With Run

Run checks the automation and runs it from the canvas without publishing it. It starts with empty input, so it works best with Tools that don't need a file to start or that gather their own data. Document cards are ignored.

While it runs, each card shows whether its step is running, succeeded, failed, was skipped because its path wasn't taken, or was cancelled. A run log appears when it finishes.

A few things aren't available on the canvas yet:

  • You can't choose input for a canvas run.
  • There's no Stop button.
  • Results appear in the run log only. There's no saved run history.

Publish to Library

Publish to Library checks the automation and saves it to the shared library. It doesn't ask where to save. Changes you make on the canvas afterward don't reach the library until you publish again.

Publishing doesn't place the automation anywhere. See Deploying Automations to put it on the Tools page, the Ribbon, a project folder, or Power Strip.