Create Your First Workflow

Beta

Workflows are currently in beta.

This tutorial walks you through creating a simple but useful workflow: sending a welcome message to every new member. By the end, you’ll understand how to build any workflow in Kanri.

What we’re building:

When a new member is added, wait 10 minutes, then send them a welcome email using a message template.

Before you start:

• You’ll need a message template already set up. Create a template →
• You’ll need Manage Workflows, plus the permissions required by the steps to test the published workflow. For Send message on members, that includes Manage Members.

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Step 1: Open Workflows

1. In the left sidebar, click Workflows.
2. Click New Workflow.

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Step 2: Name your workflow and choose a record type

You’ll see a template picker first. For this tutorial, skip it and build from scratch — but keep in mind templates are a fast starting point for common scenarios like this one.

You’ll see a form with two fields:

1. Name — Enter something descriptive, like “Welcome New Member”. This name appears in the workflow list and in run history.

2. Record type — Choose Member. This tells Kanri that each run of this workflow is about one member.

3. Click Create.

Kanri creates the workflow and opens the workflow builder — a visual canvas where you’ll design the automation.

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Step 3: Choose a trigger

The trigger is what causes your workflow to start. For a welcome message, we want to fire when a new member is created.

1. On the canvas, click the Trigger node (it appears at the top or left).
2. Choose Action Event Occurs.
3. Under Event, search for and select Member Create.

This means: “every time a new member is added, start a run of this workflow.”

Tip

“Member Create” includes newly created Lead, Contact, and Staff profiles, not only full Member profiles. Add a Branch on Member type if you only want one of those groups. Member type does not identify exactly how the person registered. Reusing an existing lead is not another creation, so it does not start a fresh welcome run for that lead.

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Step 4: Add a Delay step

It’s often good to wait a few minutes before sending a welcome message — it gives the system time to finish setting up the member’s profile, and it feels more natural than an instant automated message.

1. Click the + button to add a step after the trigger.
2. Choose Delay.
3. Set the duration to 10 minutes.
4. Recheck trigger starts on, but does not add a filter check to an Action Event Occurs trigger. Add a Branch after the delay if you need to check current member details.
5. Click the + button below the delay to continue.

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Step 5: Add an Action step — Send a message

1. Click + and choose Action.
2. Under Action, select Send message.
3. Under Target, leave Workflow record selected. This means the member this run is about.
4. Under Template, search for and select your welcome message template.
5. Under Message type, choose Email (or SMS if you prefer).
6. Leave this as the last step (no “next” step). When the message sends, the run is done.

This action includes the member and eligible linked contacts, not just the member’s own address. For a child’s profile, a guardian with Receive Communications or Can Manage enabled can receive the message. Check the template’s student and recipient placeholders.

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Step 6: Save your draft

Your workflow is saved manually using the Save Draft button. Nothing runs until you publish it.

1. Click Save Draft to save your current work.

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Step 7: Publish the workflow

When you’re ready to go live, click Publish (top right of the builder).

Kanri will check for any errors (like missing required fields). If everything is valid, the workflow is published as version 1. It’s immediately live and enabled — the trigger will start firing for new members right away.

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Step 8: Test it

To make sure everything works:

1. Choose a safe existing test record. If you create a new test member after publishing, that creation already starts an automatic run, so starting Test Run as well can send twice.
2. In the builder, click Test Run and select the member.
3. Confirm the warning, then follow the run detail page as it refreshes while the workflow runs.
4. On a waiting Delay step, click Skip delay to continue immediately.

Note

Test runs use the published workflow and perform real actions. Messages send and data changes apply. Use test records, and check each selected record before starting. Skipping a delay advances the run but does not skip later actions.

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What you’ve built

You now have a fully working welcome workflow. Here’s what it does:

1. Trigger: fires every time a new member is created.
2. Delay: waits 10 minutes.
3. Action: sends a welcome email using your template.

From here, you could add more steps — a branch to check whether the member is a lead or a full member, or a second message 3 days later if they haven’t booked a class yet.

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Next steps

• Triggers — learn about all the other ways a workflow can start
• Steps — discover all the step types available
• Run History — how to monitor and debug your workflows
• Publish and Enable — more on the publish lifecycle