Use to build workflows from a natural language description. Describe what you want to automate and Copilot generates the trigger, steps, and connections for you. Copilot cannot publish workflows directly. After Copilot builds a workflow, open the workflow editor to review and publish it.
Create your first workflow
1
Navigate to workflows and create
Open Workflows from your workspace sidebar, select or create a collection, then click New → Workflow. Ravenna creates an untitled draft and opens it in the builder. Rename the workflow from the header once you start designing it. To start from a pre-built structure instead, click New → Template (see Templates).
2
Add and configure a trigger
Select a trigger that defines what event starts your automation. Add filters to ensure the trigger only activates for relevant events, such as specific channels, ticket properties, or custom field values.
3
Add and configure actions
Connect actions that perform the tasks you want to automate. Set up each action with the appropriate inputs and use dynamic values to reference data from the trigger or previous steps.
4
Test and publish
Use manual triggers to verify each step works correctly, then publish to make the workflow active
Working with triggers and actions
Every workflow needs exactly one trigger and at least one action. Triggers respond to events in your workspace, external systems, or run on schedules. Actions perform tasks using information from the trigger and previous steps.Common trigger types:- Ticket triggers: Activate when tickets are created, updated, assigned, or change status
- Slack triggers: Respond to reactions or messages in Slack
- Schedule triggers: Run workflows at specific times or intervals
- Manual triggers: Start workflows on demand for testing or batch operations
- Ticket actions: Create, update, assign, or manage tickets
- Messaging actions: Send messages to Slack, email, or other channels
- Integration actions: Create issues in Jira, Linear, or manage users in Okta
- AI actions: Summarize tickets, make decisions, or run custom prompts
- Control flow: Branch execution with conditional logic, wait for events, or loop
Integration requirements
Some actions require configured integrations. Actions that depend on third-party services show a Setup Required badge. Hover to see which integration is needed, then connect it from your workspace settings.See all available triggers and actions with detailed configuration options
Converging branches
merge multiple parallel paths back into a single step. Use them when your workflow branches out for parallel work and then needs to rejoin for a shared next step, like sending notifications through multiple channels before updating a ticket.Connect and disconnect steps
Connecting steps
Connecting steps
Open the connector menu on a step and drag a connection to the target step. Connect two or more steps to the same target to create converging paths.
Connecting multiple steps to create a converging branch
Disconnecting steps
Disconnecting steps
Click the line between two steps and click the delete button that appears to remove a connection.
Disconnecting a step from a converging branch
You can only remove individual connections when a step has multiple parents. If a step has a single parent, delete the step itself to remove it from the workflow.
Execution behavior
Update ticket status waits for both Send Slack message and Create Jira issue to finish before it runs. What happens next depends on how those paths resolved:Data flow and dynamic values
Reference data from triggers or previous actions using dynamic values. This lets workflows adapt to the specific event that triggered them.Trigger data
Access information from the event that started your workflow, including ticket properties (title, description, priority, status, Display ID, Short ID), requester information (name, email), custom field values, Slack thread data, and timestamps.Example: Use ticket priority from the trigger to determine which Slack channel receives a notification.Example: Include the Slack thread link in a webhook payload so external systems can link back to the original conversation. Access it via Ticket > Slack > Thread > Link.Ticket identifiers
Tickets expose three identifiers in the variable picker. Use the one that matches what your downstream system or message expects:Example: Pass the Display ID into a Slack message body so the recipient sees
BUGZ-123 instead of an internal ID. Access it via Ticket > Display ID.Example: Append the Short ID to an external URL (https://example.com/?ref=abc12345) so you can correlate the ticket later without exposing the channel prefix. Access it via Ticket > Short ID.Action outputs
Reference results from previous workflow actions, including created ticket IDs, Jira or Linear issue keys, Okta user IDs, Slack thread links, and API response data.Example: Add a Jira issue link to the original ticket after creating it.Using the value picker
Click a field input in the workflow builder and select from available data sources. Values resolve when the workflow runs. The builder highlights invalid references before you publish.Managing steps
Right-click any step in the workflow builder to open a context menu with quick actions, or use the step menu (three-dot icon) on the step card.Reorder steps
Drag a step to reposition it in the workflow. Grab a step by its card and drop it onto a highlighted target to move it up or down within a linear chain, or to swap it with another step. Ravenna rewires the surrounding connections for you, so dynamic values from earlier steps keep resolving in the new order.Some steps stay pinned and cannot be dragged:- Trigger and placeholder steps
- Loop boundary markers
- Branch group roots, such as the top of an If/Else split or an approval branch
Reordering a step changes the order actions run in. Check that any dynamic values referenced by a moved step still come from a step that runs before it.
Duplicate a step
Copy a single step or an entire branch to reuse configuration:- Duplicate node copies the selected step and inserts it directly below the original. Use the context menu or press ⌘ + D (Mac) / Ctrl + D (Windows/Linux).
- Duplicate tree copies the selected step and all of its downstream steps, preserving the branch structure. Use the context menu or press ⌘ + Shift + D (Mac) / Ctrl + Shift + D (Windows/Linux).
Steps inside loops cannot be duplicated.
Delete a step
Remove steps from the workflow using the context menu or step menu. When deleting a step that has downstream steps, you can choose:- Delete node removes only the selected step
- Delete tree removes the selected step and all of its downstream steps
See all keyboard shortcuts including workflow builder shortcuts
Testing workflows
Test workflows before publishing to verify they work correctly.1
Use manual triggers
Manually trigger your workflow with test data
2
Check execution logs
View detailed logs showing what happened at each step
3
Verify outputs
Confirm each action produced the expected results
4
Test edge cases
Try different scenarios like missing fields or error conditions
Draft workflows can be edited and tested but will not execute automatically. Publish your workflow to make it active.
Templates
Start faster with pre-built templates. Templates provide ready-made workflow structures for common IT operations that you can deploy and customize.1
Open the template picker
From the workflows list, click New → Template to open the template library. Browse available templates filtered by tags or search by name.
2
Select and deploy
Select a template and click Create Workflow. The template is copied to your workspace with a pre-filled name and description.
3
Configure inputs
Fill in the step-specific inputs for your organization, such as selecting an Okta application, choosing a Google group, or specifying a Slack channel
4
Test and publish
Test the workflow to verify it works with your configuration, then publish to make it active
Tips
- Start simple. Begin with linear workflows that handle one specific scenario. Add complexity gradually as you confirm each piece works.
- Name steps descriptively. Clear step names make workflows easier to understand and debug, especially when multiple team members work with them.
- Test with realistic data. Use data that represents actual conditions. Pay attention to edge cases and error conditions.
- Plan for failures. Add conditional logic that checks action results. Consider what should happen if external systems are unavailable.
- Keep workflows focused. Create separate workflows for distinct processes rather than one workflow that handles everything.
Learn more about triggers and actions, publishing, and monitoring workflows