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Message and People Steps

Message steps tell people things: E-mail, SMS, WhatsApp, Letter and Notify. People steps wait for a person to act: Approval, Verification and Signature. A people step parks the run until the person answers, then sends it down the port that matches the answer.

Where to find it

Architect Panel → Automation:

  • Workflow Builder — the Messages and People groups of the Steps palette
  • Approvals Inbox — where back-office approvers decide Approval steps

E-mail

  • To, Cc, Bcc: addresses or {{field}}, several separated by commas.
  • Send from: with more than one e-mail account, choose one; the step will not guess. See E-mail Accounts.
  • Template, or a Subject and Message written here.

SMS and WhatsApp

  • SMS: To (a mobile number or {{field}}), Send from, Message, and optionally Message template, GOV.UK Notify template (required for a GOV.UK Notify account), Sender ID and Provider reference. Every 160 characters is one billed part (70 with characters outside the GSM alphabet).
  • WhatsApp: To (international form or {{field}}), Send from, and Send: An approved template (Template name exactly as approved, Template language, Template parameters by position) or Free text, which works only inside WhatsApp's 24-hour reply window.
  • Both offer Do not keep the message text in the log for one-time codes and reset links. See SMS & WhatsApp.

Letter

Write to (blank for this record, or datastore:id for another), Send from (required with more than one letter account, because a letter cannot be recalled), Which address (general, correspondence, billing or registered office), and the Document template ID printed as the letter, or a GOV.UK Notify letter mapping. See Letters & Physical Mail.

E-mail, SMS, WhatsApp and Letter each have Carry on if it cannot be sent. Off, a failed send fails the run.

Notify

  • Tell: e-mail addresses, {{field}}, or group:ID or name for everybody in a security group. Or pick a group fills it in for you.
  • How: In the app (their in-tray), By e-mail, or Push notification (see Push Notifications).
  • Title and Message.

Approval

  1. Enter a Request title, such as "Approve {{name}}": what the approver sees.
  2. Enter the Approver: an e-mail address, group:id or name, team:key, several of these separated by commas (any one may decide), or a {{field}} holding one. Anything else, such as "Smith, John", is read as one person's name.
  3. Tick E-mail them a link to decide for approvers without back-office access, then choose Send the e-mail from and an E-mail subject.
  4. Connect Approved and Rejected.

The request appears in the approver's Approvals Inbox, on their "Waiting for my approval" page, in their in-tray and on the record's Processes pane. A rejection with no Rejected path ends the run. See Approvals.

Verification

Choose the Verification type, and Who is verified: the person whose e-mail is on the record (then Their e-mail is in) or the person who started the run. The run goes down Verified or Rejected. Verification types must be set up first; see User Verification.

Signature

Choose the Signature type (it decides the provider, the signer roles and their order), the field holding the document under Document to sign is in or a fixed document under Or always this document, a Subject and Message, and under Signers the record's name and e-mail fields for each signer role. The run goes down Signed or Not signed. See Electronic Signatures.

Approval, Verification and Signature can be marked A person may skip this step while it is waiting. Skipping counts as approved, verified or signed and needs a reason.

What goes wrong

  • "With more than one account, choose one." The step will not guess which account to send from.
  • An approver never sees the request. The approver was typed as a display name nobody matches, or they have no back-office access and the e-mail link was not ticked.
  • No verification or signature types to choose. Set them up first; the step's list says so.

Worked example

A membership application workflow e-mails the applicant an acknowledgement, then asks group:Membership Committee to approve with Request title "Approve {{applicant_name}}". On Approved, a Notify step tells the membership secretary in the app and a Letter sends the welcome pack; on Rejected, an E-mail gives the outcome. Simulate shows the exact wording of all three messages before anything is published.

Recommendations

  • Choose the sending account on every message step.
  • Name approvers by e-mail address or group, never by display name.
  • Tick the e-mail link for approvers outside the back office.
  • Connect every rejection route, even if only to tell the requester.