What is a Workflow?
Learn how to design and configure the step-by-step logic that powers every RiskOS™ evaluation, from input collection to final decision.
A workflow is a configurable sequence of steps that automates decision-making in RiskOS™. When an evaluation is triggered, RiskOS™ executes the specified workflow — processing data through input collection, enrichment calls, conditional logic, and rules — to reach a final decision.
You build workflows visually in the RiskOS™ Dashboard using the Workflow Editor.
Workflow categories
RiskOS™ supports two workflow delivery models. Both use the same evaluation runtime, enrichment pipeline, and decision model.
| Aspect | Custom workflow | Hosted Flow |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Built and managed by the customer in the Workflow Editor | Preconfigured workflow with a Socure-managed end-user UI |
| Configuration | Customer selects steps, enrichments, rules, and decision logic | Socure provides an opinionated, pre-built flow |
| End-user UI | Customer-built (API + SDK) | Socure-hosted (web-based) |
| Lifecycle management | Customer manages (Draft → Published → Live) | Socure manages the workflow; customer customizes branding |
| Extensibility | Full — any step type, any enrichment, any rule | Limited — template customization and branding |
Both categories produce evaluations, return decisions, and follow the same lifecycle states. Evaluations that route to manual review create cases in Case Management. The distinction is operational — ownership and configuration model — not architectural.
For the full Hosted Flow ontology, see Hosted Flows.
What a workflow does
A workflow defines:
- What data to accept — The Input step specifies required fields in the evaluation payload.
- What data services to call — Enrichment steps call Socure products or third-party APIs for additional signals.
- How to evaluate the data — Condition steps, Rule Scorecards, and Transformation steps apply logic to route and score data.
- What decision to return — A Decision step or Manual Review step terminates the workflow with an outcome.
Step types
Every workflow consists of steps. Each step has a single purpose:
| Step | Category | Purpose | Async capable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input | Data | Defines the evaluation payload schema | No |
| Enrichment | Data | Calls a data service to add external signals | No |
| Transformation | Logic | Manipulates data with stateless functions | No |
| Condition | Logic | Branches the workflow based on boolean evaluation | No |
| Advanced Condition | Logic | Multi-group conditional logic with nested groups | No |
| Tag | Logic | Attaches metadata labels to the evaluation | No |
| Reason Code | Logic | Attaches explanatory codes to the evaluation outcome | No |
| Rule Scorecard | Logic | Assigns risk scores based on rule evaluations | No |
| Matrix Rule | Logic | Evaluates a tabular set of rules | No |
| Grouped Rules | Logic | Evaluates collections of related rules together | No |
| Decision Rules | Decision | Combines condition + decision in a single step with fallback | No |
| Decision | Decision | Assigns a final evaluation outcome (ACCEPT, REJECT, REVIEW) | No |
| Manual Review | Decision | Routes the evaluation to a human reviewer in Case Management | No |
| Wait | Pause | Pauses execution until an external API call resumes it | Yes |
| OTP | Pause | Sends a one-time passcode and pauses until the user verifies | Yes |
| Hosted Flow | Pause | Triggers a Socure-hosted end-user experience | Yes |
| Note | Documentation | Adds inline documentation to the workflow canvas | No |
For step-level configuration and field definitions, see Workflow Steps Reference.
Workflow lifecycle
Workflows move through three states:
| State | Description | Can be edited | Processes evaluations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Draft | Initial state after creation. Can be edited and tested. | Yes | No |
| Published | Frozen configuration. Can be tested but not edited directly. | No | No |
| Live | Actively processes evaluations via the Evaluation API. | No | Yes |
A workflow must be Published before it can be set to Live. Only one version of a workflow can be Live at a time.
Versioning
- Major version: Duplicate a published workflow to create a new independent version.
- Minor version: Edit a published workflow to create a patch (available only for certain changes).
For lifecycle management details, see Manage Workflow Lifecycle.
Workflow modes
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Live | Processes production evaluations and returns real decisions |
| Shadow | Processes evaluations in parallel without affecting the live decision (for testing) |
| A/B (Champion-Challenger) | Splits traffic between two workflow versions to compare performance |
Terminal steps
Every workflow must end with one of:
- A Decision step — assigns an automated outcome
- A Manual Review step — routes to a human reviewer
A workflow without a terminal step can't be published.
Related concepts
- Evaluations — What triggers a workflow
- Decisions — The outcomes a workflow can produce
- Enrichments — Data services called during workflow execution
- Rules & Conditions — Logic that routes and scores data within a workflow
- Signals & Attributes — The data that flows through a workflow
- Statuses & Lifecycle — Workflow states (Draft → Published → Live) and evaluation states
- Hosted Flows — Preconfigured workflows with Socure-managed UI
- Synchronous vs Asynchronous Evaluations — How async steps affect workflow execution
- Terminology Governance — Canonical naming: "Workflow Editor" (not "Workflow Builder")
- Create and Edit a Workflow — Tutorial: build a workflow
- Test Workflows — Tutorial: test before going live
Updated 5 days ago