Flows, Stages & Actions
The building blocks of every stepbase Flow.
Flows
A Flow is a reusable blueprint for a process \u2014 for example, a grant application that opens, collects documents, routes to a reviewer, and either approves or requests changes. You build it once, then run it hundreds of times.
A Flow is made up of stages (where people do work), decisions (where the Flow branches), and the connections between them.
Flow lifecycle
- Draft — being designed, not yet available
- Published — live and ready to use
- Archived — retired versions; anything already in progress keeps running on its original version
Each time you publish, you create a new version. Approvals already in progress stay on the version they started with \u2014 new submissions use the latest one.
Stage Blocks
Stage Blocks are the steps in your Flow where someone does work: filling out a form, reviewing a submission, or marking the final outcome. Each one defines who handles it, what they see, and which actions move it forward.
| Type | What it's for | What people do |
|---|---|---|
| Form Block | Collect information through a form | Fill out the form and submit |
| Review Block | Review a submission and decide | Approve, reject, or request changes |
| Compare & Select | Rank competing entries side-by-side (e.g., vendor bids, grant proposals) | Pick an overall winner, or the best per item |
| Multi-Review | Have multiple people score the same submissions independently | Each reviewer scores or evaluates on their own |
| Status Block | Mark a final or intermediate outcome | Nothing. It just labels the result (Approved, Rejected, etc.) |
Automation blocks
Most Flows mix interactive stages (where people decide) with automation blocks (where stepbase acts on its own). For example, after a form is submitted, a Condition Block can auto-route high-value requests to a senior reviewer, and a Notify Block can email the applicant when a decision is made.
| Type | What it does |
|---|---|
| Condition Block | A decision point (shown as a diamond) that routes work based on rules such as 'if amount > $10k, send to CFO' |
| Data Block | Automatically read from or save to your company's data tables (employees, budgets, vendor records, etc.) |
| Transform Block | Calculate a value from earlier Flow data (total cost, days elapsed) and make it available to later steps |
| Notify Block | Send email notifications to users or teams |
| Connector Block | Call an external system over the web (CRMs, HR platforms, risk APIs) |
| AI Agent Block | Let an AI agent make a decision based on the Flow data |
| Merge Point | When parallel branches need to come back together, wait for them all (or some) to finish before moving on |
Actions
Actions are what users do at a stage to move work forward. Each stage defines its available actions.
- Approve — accept and advance
- Reject — deny and route to rejection path
- Request Changes — send back for revision
- Escalate — push to a higher authority
- Route — send to a specific path
- Complete — finish the stage
- Custom — any action you define
Flow Instances
A Flow Instance is one specific run \u2014 one grant application, one purchase request, one vendor approval. Each instance tracks its own data, where it is in the Flow, who's assigned, and what's happened so far.
Shared Context
The Shared Context is the running record of everything the Flow has gathered so far \u2014 every form answer, every decision, and who made it. It's organized by stage, so you always know which step collected which piece of information.
Conditions, forms, and visibility controls all read from the same Shared Context, so every part of the Flow sees a consistent picture.
Transitions
Transitions are the paths between stages \u2014 the lines you draw on the canvas that decide where work goes next. There are three kinds:
- Action-based — a specific button triggers the path (e.g., clicking Approve goes to the next stage; Reject goes back)
- Condition-based — a Condition Block decides which path to take based on the data so far
- Automatic — automation blocks (Data, Transform, Notify, Connector) run and pass work on without anyone clicking anything
Workspaces
Everything in stepbase lives inside a Workspace. Each workspace has its own users, teams, flows, and connectors, and nothing is shared across them \u2014 one team's work can never be seen by another.