Baserow Workflow Management - Draft, Test, and Publish
A Baserow workflow moves through three states - Draft, Paused, and Live - and will not process any data until it is explicitly published; this page covers the transitions between those states, the test run that precedes publishing, and how to read run history and understand automatic disabling.
Overview
Workflow management in Baserow covers the full lifecycle of an automation, from the first build to a production run. The platform keeps that process safe and predictable through clearly separated execution states and visibility into every run; for how triggers and actions fit together inside a workflow, see the automation section overview .
A critical point: a workflow does not run while in the Draft state. Every new workflow starts out as a draft by default, and it will not touch any data until the Publish button in the top right corner of the workflow editor has been clicked explicitly.
Workflow Execution States
A workflow can be in one of three states at any time.
| State | Toggle Appearance | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Draft (default) | Gray, not clickable | The workflow is still being built and does not execute |
| Paused | Gray toggle (clickable) | Temporarily stopped but the configuration is preserved |
| Live (published) | Green toggle (clickable) | Active and listening for trigger events |
The typical progression runs Draft to Test to Publish to Live, and a live workflow can be toggled to Paused and back at any time.
Testing and Publishing
Testing. Every node in the workflow needs to be configured before a test run - the full list of available free nodes is covered in automation actions . The “Start test run” action executes the whole workflow once, for validation. Results land in the run history tab with a success indicator (a green checkmark) or an error warning (red).
Publishing. Once a test run succeeds, clicking Publish moves the workflow into production: it now monitors for trigger events continuously and runs automatically every time the trigger fires.
Pausing and resuming. A live workflow can be toggled to Paused without deleting it - execution stops temporarily while the trigger, action, and node configuration stay exactly as they were. The same toggle brings it back to Live.
Run History and Monitoring
The run history tab lists the status of every run, its timestamp, a result message, and whether it was a test or a live execution. A failed run shows which node broke and why. This is a separate feature from tracking edits to a single record - individual row versions are covered in row change history .
When one of the workflow’s actions calls an external webhook, it helps to check the webhooks documentation for the request format and how retries are handled on the receiving end.
Automatic Disabling
Baserow automatically disables a workflow after a run of consecutive failures - typically 5 to 10 failed executions in a row, persistent configuration errors, repeated authentication failures, or continuous timeouts. This protects data from a workflow that keeps failing in the same way. Renaming, duplicating before debugging, or deleting that workflow is covered in automation settings .
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a test run and publishing? A test run executes the workflow once, manually, to check the configuration. Publishing turns on automatic execution every time the trigger fires.
What happens when editing an already-published workflow? The edits create a draft version, while the currently published version keeps running unchanged until that draft is published again.
Does a test run touch real data? Yes - a test run performs real actions on live data, and those changes are permanent, so treat a test run with the same caution as a live one.
Why is a workflow not running at all? The most common reason is that it is still sitting in Draft and has never been published; check the state toggle in the top right of the editor first.
Checking that toggle before digging through node logs or rebuilding the trigger saves time when a workflow looks like it has gone silent.