Creating workflows
You can either create workflows from scratch or install them from Nexthink Library to accelerate adoption. Customize Nexthink-library workflows using the workflow designer.
To set up new workflows from scratch, follow these steps:
Create a workflow
Select Workflows from the main menu, and click New at the top of the navigation panel to open the workflow designer.
To access and edit the configuration of existing workflows:
Click on the workflow hyperlink located in the table on the Manage workflow page.
Click the Edit workflow button located in the selected workflow dashboard.
Then, continue to follow the steps listed below.
Design workflow logic
From the workflow designer, build the workflow structure using the visual interface and canvas.
In the Toolbox tab on the right-side panel, drag and drop the building blocks onto the workflow canvas, according to the required structure and logic:
Add Thinklets to execute available Nexthink actions or integrate with 3rd party systems via APIs.
Add Flow controls to drive workflow progression and decision logic based on values collected by the workflow or Nexthink data.
Add Connectors to use pre-configured integrations to third-party APIs.
Position elements freely on the canvas to organize them as needed. Use the Auto-layout button to automatically arrange components in a clean, consistent structure.
Zoom in and out, and frame the entire workflow using the workflow map controls.
The window in the bottom left corner shows the overall workflow and your current position
Link and sequence the added workflow components, in the preferred order, using your cursor:
Hover an element on the workflow canvas to reveal its blue circle or anchor.
Left-click and drag from the blue circle to another component to create a connection. See the image above.
Adhere to workflow design principles when incorporating steps
A thinklet can have multiple entry points from other thinklets.
A thinklet can only have one exit path to another thinklet.
Every path of the workflow must finish with an End block thinklet.
Every possible outcome of a workflow condition must have a pathway leading from it.
Thinklets for remote actions and campaigns can handle expired scenarios—such as offline devices, no user response—without breaking workflow sequence.
Condition flow-control thinklets support manual custom fields—
userordeviceattributes—to drive workflow decision logic.
Refer to the manual custom fields documentation to create and configure custom fields for workflows.
Remove existing links between components using the Delete key to establish a new preferred connection, while keeping the overall workflow design.
As a result, you can streamline workflows from the Nexthink Library by swiftly detaching and removing unnecessary workflow conditions.
Define workflow details
From the workflow designer, fill in the Workflow details using the right-side panel:
Name: The workflow name displays on the Manage workflows page and in related NQL queries ran within Nexthink.
NQL ID: The system automatically generates a unique identifier from the workflow Name. Use the NQL ID to query this workflow within Nexthink. Once saved, you cannot edit the NQL ID.
For workflow Triggers and Targets, see the next steps below.
Choose workflow triggers
From the workflow designer, on the Workflow details tab in the right-side panel, select the Trigger mechanisms to define when and how the automation starts running.
Refer to the Triggering workflows documentation to configure the workflow trigger most suited for your use case.
If you configure workflow Parameters, you can add input values to the selected workflow Triggers.
Define workflow targets
From the workflow designer, on the Workflow details tab in the right-side panel, define workflow Targets:
Devices
Enable the workflow as an available action when listing Devices, including Device View and Amplify.
Sessions
Enable the workflow to be triggered on VDI sessions—refer to Using session view documentation for more information. When targeting a VDI session, choose from:
Client: Targets the physical client devices used to initiate the session. Client devices can only be targeted if they are managed by Nexthink.
VDI: Targets VMs in the virtual infrastructure. When selecting VDI, the user is choosing a VM in the VDI session to which the client devices connect.
Allow User Override Selection: allows users to manually change the target when executing a workflow on the VDI session dashboard.
Targeting Sessions in workflows requires Nexthink VDI experience.
Workflows require both user and device context to start execution. Refer to the How do workflows identify the user and device when triggered? documentation to learn how the systems identifies user-device pairs.
Add workflow parameters
Workflow parameters are optional inputs you can define when creating a workflow. These parameters allow you to:
Set values at the start of the workflow that remain constant during execution.
Adapt a single workflow design to different scenarios or use cases.
For example, you may use workflow parameters to change target groups, thresholds, or integration settings without modifying the workflow itself.
Refer to the Parameters and dynamic values documentation to learn how to use workflow parameters.
Once defined, you can assign values to workflow parameters when configuring the workflow Triggers, under the Workflow details.
Optionally modify the workflow in NEAL
For advanced scenarios, you can use the NEAL tab (Nexthink Experience Automation Language) in the right-side panel, as the scripting language and underlying code behind the workflow.
This code is automatically generated as you design and construct the workflow logic visually. The workflow visual designer and the NEAL script stay synced, meaning you can safely switch between views.
Refer to the NEAL documentation to learn how to read and script workflows in NEAL.
Validate and save the workflow
At the bottom of the workflow design page, the system warns you when the designed workflow is malfunctioning, assisting you in troubleshooting and configuring it for proper functionality.
Open the Errors side panel to trigger validation and review any issues identified. Invalid steps are highlighted in red on the workflow canvas for easy correction.
Remember to Save your workflow regularly, even if it's incomplete or contains errors (invalid). When saving workflows, keep in mind:
When you modify and save an active/valid workflow, ongoing executions are automatically canceled. A warning message appears, asking for confirmation before applying changes.
When you update the workflow's triggering or scheduling settings without modifying its design, it does not affect ongoing executions.
Resolving existing validation issues may uncover further problems, as some issues could be obstructing the validation of other design elements.
Validation messages are not available in the NEAL tab.
Workflow design use cases
Leverage the workflow visual designer to adapt your smart automations to specific use cases, such as handling expiration scenarios or building user-adaptive pause behaviors.
Handling expirations in workflows
Some workflow thinklets—like Remote Actions and Campaigns—depend on a user or device being available to complete their task. If unavailable, the workflow expires.
To manage these expiration scenarios, the Remote Actions and Campaigns thinklets have a Timeout property that sets how long the workflow should wait before triggering the thinklet's Expired path—see the image below.
When the Expired path is triggered, the workflow can take a fallback action, such as:
Creating a ServiceNow ticket
Sending an email
Retrying a different path
If you do not connect the thinklet's Expired output, the workflow stops when that timeout is reached. Use a longer Timeout if the device is often offline or users need more time to respond.
Refer to the Campaign thinklet and Remote action thinklet documentation to learn how to set up these types of workflow thinklets.
Building adaptive wait behavior in workflows
To further flexibilize workflows, you may configure Wait thinklets to use Dynamic time delays based on user inputs, workflow parameters, or context—such as the user's time zone.
Dynamic time delays allow workflows to pause intelligently based on employee choices or responses to timing, ensuring notifications or restarts happen at the right moment for each user.
Use case example: You need to reboot a user's device, but want to let them decide when (timing).
Add a Message thinklet asking: When can we restart your device?
Provide options such as Now, In 1 hour, In 2 hours, or By end of day. See the image below.
Add a Condition flow control to check the user's response.
If the response is By end of day, use a Function thinklet to calculate the end of the current business day based on the user's time zone, then trigger the reboot.
Otherwise, use a Wait thinklet with a Dynamic time delay based on the selected option. In this case, the number of Hours provided by the user to the preceding Message thinklet.
Refer to the Configure flow controls documentation to learn how to configure Wait thinklets in detail.
Updating custom fields in workflows for downstream use
Use the Update custom fields thinklet to write values to Device or User custom fields. This enables you to record workflow outcomes and pass structured data to dashboards, investigations, or other workflows.
The table below lists common use cases for Update custom fields thinklets:
Device refresh scheduling
After scheduling a hardware replacement, update a device field (for example, Scheduled for refresh = Yes) so L1 teams can deprioritize non-urgent issues.
Compliance enforcement
Mark a device as Compliant = Yes at the end of a successful remediation flow. This helps IT track compliance progress and surface results in dashboards.
Store employees' preferred communication channel.
Set a user field such as Employee communication channel based on campaign answers. This can trigger follow-up workflows or training reminders.
Refer to the Update custom fields thinklet to learn how to set up this type of workflow thinklet.
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