Workflow runs

Workflow templates and workflow runs

A workflow template is the playbook you build once. A workflow run is what your team actually does each time the template fires. This page explains the difference, where each lives in Pilla, and how to move between them.

What a workflow template is

A workflow template is built on the canvas, the visual builder on the web app. The template defines what staff are asked to do, in what order, and the trigger that decides when it should run. You add steps (called elements) and wire them together: input elements (text, number, photo, and so on), choice elements (checklist, choice, rating scale, user choice), guidance elements (written, photo, and video instructions), groups (collapsible containers of elements), and Poppi steps (the AI briefings, decisions, and actions).

A template needs three things before it can fire: a name, a tag, and one or more teams that will run it. The trigger you choose decides how the template turns into runs:

Manual (Trigger manually) -- a member of staff starts the workflow on demand from the mobile app
One-time (Run just once) -- the workflow runs once at a specific date and time
Recurring (Run on a schedule) -- the workflow runs on a schedule (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.)
External (Run from external trigger) -- an outside service triggers the workflow through an integration (coming soon, not yet available to set up)

For step-by-step canvas building, see the canvas section.

What a workflow run is

A workflow run is a single execution of a template. Each time a template fires (someone taps Run on mobile, the schedule comes around, or an external trigger arrives), a new workflow run is created. The run is what your team works through and finishes. One template produces many runs over time.

A run carries everything from the template plus what staff add as they work: their answers, photos uploaded, choices ticked, the start time, the finish time, and whether it was completed on time or late.

The Workflow templates view on web

The Workflow templates view shows every template in your account, grouped by how it gets triggered. Open it from the "workflow templates" card on the Dashboard. Staff do not see this view.

The view has three columns side by side, in this order:

External triggers -- templates fired by an integration
Manual triggers -- templates that staff start themselves on mobile
Scheduled triggers -- templates that fire on a date or recurring schedule

Each column shows the count of templates in brackets and lists them alphabetically. A template that has been saved but not yet published shows a small "Draft" badge. Click any template row to open it on the canvas. You can also click the three-dot button on a row, which opens a menu with Edit workflow (open it on the canvas), Duplicate template (start a fresh canvas pre-filled with a copy of this template's steps), and Delete template.

At the top of the view you can filter by team or tag, search by template name, click the New template button (a plus icon next to the label) to start a fresh canvas, or click Pilla templates to open a library of ready-made templates you can start from.

The Workflow runs view on web

The Workflow runs view is a data table where each row is a single run. Open it from the "workflow runs today" card on the Dashboard.

Each row shows:

Date -- the day the run is scheduled for, with the start and end times below
Name -- the workflow name with the team below
Tag -- the progress (for example "5/8") with the tag name below
Frequency -- how often the parent template repeats (Daily, Weekly, etc.) with "Recurring" or "Single Event" below

A coloured strip on the left edge of each row tells you the status at a glance. See Filtering and status for the full meaning.

At the top of the view you can pick a date or date range, filter by team, tag, or status, and search by name. Click a row to open the run and see every element, the answers staff have entered, and a "Completed by {name} · {date} {time}" line on each finished step (when your account allows it). The three-dot button on each row opens a menu with Message team about this, DM user about this, Reset this workflow run (clear all answers and reopen the run), and Delete this workflow run. Tick the checkbox on two or more rows and the menu switches to a single Delete {count} work option for deleting them in one go.

On the mobile app

Staff build nothing and do not use the Workflow templates view; they work entirely from the mobile app. The first tab on mobile (a tick-square icon, no label) shows the work runs scheduled for the selected date as cards, sorted by time. Staff tap a card to work through the run and mark it complete. The screen header shows the date and an overall status line such as "All on track" or "Behind schedule". Tap the Info (ⓘ) button in the header to open an "About workflows" explainer. For the full mobile flow see Completing a work run on mobile.

Tips

One template, many runs. Edit the template on the canvas to change every future run; edit a single run to change only that one
The Workflow runs view is date-scoped: pick a date or range at the top to control what you see
The Workflow templates view is not date-scoped because templates do not have a date themselves; only their runs do
On the Dashboard, clicking a day on the chart opens the Workflow runs view filtered to that day
External triggers are coming soon, so you won't see the option in the trigger picker yet

Filtering and status

The Workflow runs view on the web app lets you narrow down what you see and tells you at a glance how each run is doing. This page covers the web filter bar, the date picker, the colour-coded status strips, and how to clear everything. The mobile app has its own, simpler set of filters on the Upcoming Work screen, covered at the end of this page, and shows the same status colours.

The date picker

The date picker is the first button on the filter bar, on the far left. It shows the current date (for example "9 Jun") or, when you pick a range, both ends ("9 Jun - 12 Jun"). It controls which workflow runs you see by date.

Click the date button on the left of the filter bar
Click a single day, or click one day and then another to pick a range
Click anywhere outside the popup to close it -- the table updates straight away

When a range is selected the date button gets a darker outline so you can tell at a glance that the table is filtered by date.

A checkbox sits under the calendar labelled "Hide carried-over work". Tick it to hide runs that started before your date range but are still open, so the table only shows runs that actually started inside the dates you picked.

Filter by team

Click "All Teams" on the filter bar to pick the teams you want to see runs for. Tick the teams in the list and the table updates straight away. The button shows a darker outline whenever the table is filtered, which means at least one team is unticked.

The first row of the popup is "Select All" / "Deselect All". When every team is ticked the row reads "Deselect All" and the button has its plain outline; click it to clear the table down to nothing. When nothing is ticked the row reads "Select All"; click it to bring every team back and remove the filter.

Filter by tag

Click "All Tags" on the filter bar to pick the tags you want to see runs for. Tags are how you group workflow templates by purpose (cleaning, audits, opening checks, etc.). For more on tags see Workflow tags.

Tick the tags you want and untick the ones you do not. The button gets a darker outline whenever the table is filtered, which means at least one tag is unticked. The "Select All" / "Deselect All" row at the top of the popup ticks or unticks every tag at once.

Filter by status

Click "All Statuses" on the filter bar to pick which states you want to see. The options are:

Not Started -- the run is scheduled but no one has opened it yet
In Progress -- someone has started filling it in but has not finished
Completed -- the run is finished
Skipped -- the run was marked as skipped
Virtual -- the run has not been created yet (it sits in the future based on the template's schedule)

Tick the states you want and untick the rest. The button gets a darker outline whenever the table is filtered, which means at least one state is unticked. The "Select All" / "Deselect All" row at the top of the popup ticks or unticks every state at once.

Search by name

There are two ways to search by run name, and they share the same search text. One is the search box on the right of the filter bar, with the placeholder "Search work...". The other is the small search icon next to the "Name" heading at the top of the table, which opens its own little search box. Type into either one and the table narrows to runs whose name contains what you typed. The match is not case sensitive and partial matches are fine. To remove the search, delete the text in the box. In the small box that opens from the "Name" heading you can also press Escape to clear it.

Colour-coded status strips

Every row in the Workflow runs table carries a coloured strip on the far left edge, next to the row's tick box. The colour tells you the state of that run without having to open it.

Colour	What it means
Green	Finished on time
Orange	Finished, but after the end time
Red	Not finished and the end time has already passed (overdue)
No colour	Future run, a run in progress that is not yet overdue, or a virtual run that has not been created

Hover over any strip for a short tooltip that says the same thing in words.

On mobile. Staff and managers see the same colours in the mobile app, but on the work cards rather than in a table. Each work card carries a coloured left edge using the same rules: green for finished on time, orange for finished late, red for unfinished and overdue, and no colour for future or in-progress work. The mobile app has a built-in legend: tap the Info (i) button in the top-right of the Upcoming Work screen to open the "About workflows" explainer, which shows a "Colours show work status" key with dots labelled "Unfinished and late", "Finished late" and "Finished on time".

How filters combine

All the filters above work together: a run only shows up if it matches every filter that is narrowing the table. So if you pick one team, one tag and the "Completed" status, the table shows runs that belong to that team, carry that tag, and are completed.

A filter only narrows the table when at least one of its options is unticked. If every option in a filter is ticked, that filter does nothing.

Clearing filters

Each filter has its own clear behaviour:

Date -- click the date button and pick a single fresh day to replace the range
Team, Tag, Status -- open the popup and click "Select All" so every option is ticked
Search -- delete the text in the search box (or press Escape in the small search box that opens from the "Name" heading)

There is no single "Reset all filters" button, and the filters stay put as you move around the web app. They do not reset when you visit another view and come back, so clear each one yourself when you want a fresh start.

Filtering on the mobile app

The mobile app has its own smaller set of filters on the Upcoming Work screen, reached from the menu rather than from a filter bar. Tap the "Menu" button at the bottom-right of the screen to open the menu, where you will find these filters:

Filter teams -- opens the "Filter Work Teams" screen. Tap the teams to tick or untick them, or use "Select all" / "Deselect all" in the top-right. The screen narrows to runs for the ticked teams.
Hide carried-over workflows -- a tick toggle that hides runs which started before the selected date but are still open
Hide completed workflows -- a tick toggle that hides runs that are already finished
Show workflow runs by tag -- lets managers and admins pick a tag and see runs that carry it

When any of these filters is active the screen title shows "(filtered)" after the date. If the filters leave nothing to show, the screen reads "No workflows to see" with "Try removing a filter" underneath. To clear a filter, open the menu again and turn the toggle back off, or tap "Select all" on the team screen. Some of these menu options can be switched off for individual staff, so a staff member may not see every one.

Tips

A darker outline around a filter button is your signal that the table is filtered on that field; the plain outline means that filter is showing everything
The "Select All" / "Deselect All" row at the top of each filter popup is the quickest way to tick or untick every option at once
Status colours line up between the web table and the mobile work cards, so staff, managers and admins all read the same green, orange and red signals
Tick the "Hide carried-over work" checkbox in the date popup when you want a clean picture of work that began inside your date window, ignoring older runs that are still open

Workflow tags

Tags are how you group your workflow templates by purpose. A tag might be "Opening checks", "Cleaning", "Audits", or anything else that fits your business. Every workflow template needs one tag, and the tag carries through to every run the template produces.

What a tag is

A tag is a short label you attach to a workflow template. Once attached, every workflow run produced by that template inherits the tag. Tags let you:

Filter the Workflow runs view on the web app to show runs from a single category (see Filtering and status)
Open a screen on the mobile app that lists every run carrying a single tag
Group templates so they are easier to find when you have lots of them

A template can only have one tag. Pick the tag that best fits the workflow's purpose.

Creating a tag

Tags are created from the canvas when you are setting up a workflow template. You do not need to leave the builder. Tags are created and applied on the web app only.

Open the canvas (either start a new template from the Workflow templates view, or click an existing template to open it)
In the bar across the top of the canvas, find the button labelled "Tag" (it shows the current tag name, or "Select tag" if none is set yet)
Click the button to open the dropdown
Type the new tag name in the input at the bottom of the dropdown, where it says "New tag..."
Click the + button to the right of the input (or press Enter) to create the tag

The new tag is created in your account and immediately selected for the template you are editing. It is now available to apply to any other template you build.

Applying a tag to a template

You apply a tag to a template on the canvas, in the same "Tag" button you use to create one.

Open the template on the canvas
Click the "Tag" button at the top of the canvas
Click the tag you want from the list (a tick appears next to the selected tag)
The dropdown closes and the tag name shows on the button
Save the template

Every workflow run produced by the template from now on will carry the tag. If the list shows "No tags", create one first using the steps above.

Viewing runs for a tag on mobile

On the mobile app, managers and admins can open a screen that lists every workflow run carrying a single tag. There is no tag selector on the canvas in the mobile app, so you create and apply tags on the web app, but you can browse runs by tag on mobile.

Open the Work Items tab on mobile (the tick icon in the bottom bar)
Tap the Menu button in the floating bar at the bottom
Tap "Show workflow runs by tag"
The screen opens with a tag already selected (its name shows in the title bar at the top)
Optionally tap "Start Date" and "End Date" below the title bar to narrow the list to a date range
Scroll the list to see every run carrying that tag
Tap "Change Tag" in the floating bar at the bottom to switch to a different tag

The list shows "No work items found for this tag" when nothing matches the tag and dates you picked. Whether this menu item appears is controlled by an account setting; an admin can turn "Show workflow runs by tag" and "Show workflow runs by team" on or off for managers and admins in the settings.

Filtering by tag in the runs view on web

On the web app you can filter the Workflow runs view by tag to see runs from one or more tags side by side. Click "All Tags" on the filter bar, then tick the tags you want and untick the ones you do not. See Filtering and status for details.

Tips

Pick tag names that describe the purpose of the work, not the team or the time of day. "Opening checks" works across teams; "Bar Monday" does not
One tag per template, by design. Use teams to slice work by who does it, and frequency to slice by when
If a tag becomes unused, leave it in place: the templates and runs already tagged with it keep working
Tag names show up in the runs filter dropdown and the runs table, so short names read better in the UI

Exporting workflow data

You can export workflow run data from Pilla as a CSV file. The file lands in your email as a download link so you can open it in a spreadsheet, share it with someone outside Pilla, or keep it for your records. Exporting is available to managers and admins.

Why you might export

A few common reasons:

Reporting -- send a weekly or monthly summary of completed work to a stakeholder
Audits -- keep a record of what was done, when, and by whom for a regulator or auditor
Archiving -- pull historical work out of Pilla into your own storage
Sharing -- give a copy to someone who does not have Pilla access

Exports are scoped: each export is for one tag or one team within an optional date range. You cannot export the entire account in one click.

Exporting workflow data is done from the mobile app. The web app does not have an export-by-tag or export-by-team screen; use the mobile steps below.

Exporting on the mobile app

On mobile, managers and admins can export by tag or by team. Both options are in the Menu on the Work Items tab.

Export by tag on mobile

Open the Work Items tab
Tap the Menu button
Tap Show workflow runs by tag
The screen opens with a tag already selected (the tag name shows in the title bar)
Optionally pick a Start Date and End Date below the title bar
Tap Change Tag in the floating bar at the bottom if you need a different tag
Tap the Download icon in the top right of the title bar

A popup confirms "Export Started -- Your export is being processed. You will receive an email with the download link shortly." Tap OK.

Export by team on mobile

Open the Work Items tab
Tap the Menu button
Tap Show workflow runs by team
The screen opens with a team already selected (the team name shows in the title bar)
Optionally pick a Start Date and End Date below the title bar
Tap Choose Team in the floating bar at the bottom if you need a different team
Tap the Download icon in the top right of the title bar

The confirmation popup and behaviour are the same as Export by tag.

On both mobile screens the Download icon is disabled (greyed out) when no runs match -- adjust the dates, tag or team, or tap Change Tag / Choose Team to pick a different one.

What the export includes

The CSV contains a row for every workflow run that matched your tag (and date range, if set) plus the answers your team gave to each element in the run. That means:

Workflow name
Team
Scheduled start and end times
Actual finish time
Status (on time, late, missed)
Tag name
Element-by-element responses (text answers, numbers, checklist ticks, choice selections, photo links, etc.)

The file is CSV format, UTF-8 encoded, suitable for Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers or any spreadsheet tool. The download link in the email is time-limited; download the file soon after you receive it.

Tips

Pick a Start Date and End Date for large exports. A whole-account export with no date filter can take a while to build
The download link in the email expires, so save the file straight away if you need to keep it
If you want a recurring export, run the same filters at the same time each week or month -- Pilla does not currently schedule exports for you
Exports always go to the email on your Pilla account, not the email you signed in with on a different device
If no runs match your filters the Download icon is greyed out. Loosen the date range or pick a different tag or team
The export reflects the data at the moment you click Export. Late changes after that are not in the file