Two Kinds of Workflows
Docsumo has two kinds of workflows. They are built in the same editor with the same blocks, but they answer different questions, and the difference decides which blocks and tabs you get.
| Case workflow | Workflow | |
|---|---|---|
| What it produces | A case: a container with stages, case fields, a document checklist and a review screen | Nothing to review. Its value is what it does: an API call, a case it updated, a file it exported |
| How it starts | Documents arrive by upload, email or API and become a case | On a schedule, when a person runs it, when a case moves to a stage, or when files arrive |
| Where you see the result | The case, in the Case Type view | The run, in run history |
| Tab in Agents Builder | Case workflows | Workflows |
Which one do I need?
Ask one question: when this finishes, does someone need to open and review something?
- Yes. Build a case workflow. A loan application, a vendor onboarding pack, a claim: anything a person will look at, approve or send back.
- No. Build a workflow. A nightly sync to your ERP, a weekly digest of stuck documents, a CRM update when a case is rejected, an inbox that files emails into the right case.
How the kind is decided
The kind is set by the trigger block, the first block of every workflow.
| Trigger | Kind |
|---|---|
| Upload, set to Upload as: Case | Case workflow |
| Upload, set to Upload as: Files | Workflow |
| Schedule | Workflow |
| Case Event | Workflow |
| Manual | Workflow |
While a workflow is a draft you can change the trigger freely. The first publish fixes the trigger and the kind. After that the trigger cannot be deleted or replaced, and a workflow cannot be converted from one kind to the other. To change your mind, duplicate the workflow and pick a different trigger in the copy.
What a workflow without a case does not have
Because there is no case, a few things are not available:
- The Documents and Preview tabs in the editor are disabled. Hover them to see why.
- Blocks that display or record results on a case are not offered: Views, Charts, Tables, Summary cards and the Validation table. The block library lists them under Not available in this workflow.
- No stages, case fields or document checklist.
Everything the workflow does is recorded in its run history: each block's input and output, approvals waiting on a person, and any files it exported. See Runs and Run History.
Four examples
Nightly ERP sync. Schedule trigger at 02:00 UTC → Lookup finds cases that moved to Approved today → External API posts each one to your ERP → Case Update marks them Synced.
Weekly digest. Schedule trigger every Monday → Lookup finds cases still in Review → LLM block writes a summary → Webhook sends it to your team channel.
Rejection follow-up. Case Event trigger on the Rejected stage → External API creates a task in your CRM → Case Update records the ticket number on the case.
Route emails into existing cases. Upload trigger set to Files → Data Extraction reads the invoice number → Lookup finds the case with that number → Case Action uploads the document to it. The case's own workflow takes over from there.
Updated 32 minutes ago