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Workflows can run a lifecycle’s steps, start lifecycles, and act when one finishes:

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Run a step with a workflow

A Workflow step runs the workflow set to it when the step’s ticket opens. The step completes when its ticket closes, so the workflow ends by closing it with Set Status set to a done status.
1

Publish the step

In the template, set the step’s Kind to Workflow and publish the template.
2

Create the workflow

In the step’s Workflows section, click Create workflow. It’s created in the workspace where the step’s ticket opens, with the Lifecycle Step trigger set to the step and a Set Status action that closes its ticket, and turned on. It’s named after the step and the template. The button is available once the template is published, to members of that workspace.
3

Add actions

Click Open workflow and add what the step should do before the Set Status action.
You can also build one from scratch: add the Lifecycle Step trigger, choose the Template and the Step, and turn the workflow on. End it by closing the Step ticket. Only Workflow steps whose ticket opens in the workflow’s workspace can be chosen, and one active workflow runs each step: turning on a second one names the workflow that already runs it.

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Lifecycle data in the workflow

The Lifecycle Step trigger offers these values to later actions:A workflow can read a Form step’s answers when its step depends on that Form step, directly or through other steps, and the answers are shared with the whole lifecycle or kept in the workflow’s workspace.
Ravenna checks the wiring when you publish the template and when you turn the workflow on. Publishing fails if it would leave an active workflow without its step, in the wrong workspace, or without an answer it uses, and the step it’s about says how to fix it.

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Start lifecycles from a workflow

The Start Lifecycle action starts a lifecycle from a published template:It outputs Lifecycle ID and Lifecycle ticket.To start onboarding on every hire, pair it with the Employee Hired trigger, which outputs the Person and the Date (the start date). Employee Leaving does the same for a last day. To review each lifecycle before it starts instead, turn on Suggest from HR changes on the template and start each one from its suggestion.

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Act when a lifecycle completes

The Lifecycle Completed trigger fires when every step in a lifecycle is done or skipped. It outputs the Lifecycle ticket, Lifecycle ID, Person and Template ID, so you can post a summary, close the parent ticket, or start the next lifecycle.
Learn more about triggers and actions
Last modified on November 12, 2026