Execute Workflow

workflow.workflow Workflow v0.1.0

Runs one or more sub-workflows in sequence (output → next input) or in parallel (one labelled output each).

The Execute Workflow step on the Studio canvas — The **Execute Workflow** step as it appears on the Studio canvas — input pins on the left, output ports on the right.

Finding it in the library

Search the builder's node library for Execute Workflow (it lives under Workflow). A single click opens the in-editor docs panel shown here — description, ports, and every property, without leaving the canvas. Double-click (or drag) to add it to the workflow.

Execute Workflow in the node library, with the in-editor docs panel open — The library entry and the in-editor docs panel for **Execute Workflow** — the same reference this page is generated from.

Wired up in the builder

Execute Workflow in a real, runnable flow — captured live from the Studio editor, exactly as it looks on your canvas. This is the same workflow used for the example input & output below.

Execute Workflow wired into a runnable workflow in the Studio builder — **Execute Workflow** wired into a runnable flow — input on the left, output on the right.

How it’s configured

The node’s settings as the builder shows them — every field laid out with real values. In the Studio these are edited on the node: click the chevron on the divider under its ports to open them.

The Execute Workflow node's settings in the Studio builder — The settings for **Execute Workflow**, showing the values from the flow above.

Ports

Ports are the node’s contract with its neighbours. In the editor a port label renders bold when wired and italic when optional; ◈ ports accept attachment carriers rather than data wires.

Direction	Port	Label	What flows through it
Input	`input`	Input
Output	`output`	Output

In parallel mode there is one labelled output handle per configured sub-workflow (w0, w1, …); sequential mode has a single output.

How data flows through it

Execute Workflow consumes the content of the incoming envelope — when it is fed directly by a trigger, the trigger’s wrapper is unwrapped at the node boundary so the node sees the actual data, not the metadata shell. Its output becomes the payload for the next node, while the envelope (trace ids, correlation, binary refs) rides along untouched. In the Runs view you always see the whole envelope for both sides of this node.

Expressions in the config

None of this node’s properties are string-typed, so {{ }} expressions don’t apply here — JSON- and code-typed fields are always taken literally.

Build it with AI

Every node in this reference is reachable through Flowdrome’s AI Copilot and the MCP tools — say what you want, and the graph surgery happens server-side. Node types resolve fuzzily, so the catalog label (Execute Workflow) works as well as the exact type id (workflow.workflow).

In the Copilot panel (or any connected AI):

add a execute workflow node after the trigger

As a step in a create_chain_workflow call:

{"type":"Execute Workflow","config":{}}

Raw MCP call — add this node to a workflow with add_node

curl -s -X POST http://localhost:4800/mcp -H "content-type: application/json" -d '{ "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": "1", "method": "tools/call", "params": { "name": "add_node", "arguments": { "workflowId": "<id>", "type": "Execute Workflow" } } }'

Example input & output

Captured from a real test run of the workflow above — this is what the Runs view shows after pressing Test workflow.

Input — what the node received

The Execute Workflow node's input envelope in the run data viewer — The input envelope in the Runs view — Flowdrome always shows the whole envelope, with the payload inside `body`.

Output — what the node produced

The Execute Workflow node's output envelope in the run data viewer — The output envelope after the step ran.

Property reference

Every setting, with its type and default — the same fields shown configured above.

Property	Type	Default	Description
Execution mode `executionMode`	`select`	`"sequential"`	Sequential: run the workflows in order, each output feeding the next. Parallel: run them all at once, each with its own labelled output. `parallelsequential`
Workflows `workflows`	`workflow-list`	`[]`	The sub-workflows to run (add at least one). Parallel gives each its own output port (labelled by name); sequential threads each output into the next.

Using it

Run other workflows as steps

Pick one or more saved workflows in Workflows, choose how they run, and this node calls them as sub-workflows on the same engine:

Sequential — they run in order, each one’s output becomes the next one’s input; the final result leaves on output. A clean way to build a pipeline out of reusable pieces.
Parallel — the same input fans out to every sub-workflow at once; each gets its own output port (named after it), and the node completes only when all of them finish.

The node passes the content ($json) it receives into each sub-workflow, and hands back whatever the sub-workflow’s last node produced.

Making a workflow usable as a sub

Any saved workflow qualifies — there’s no special “sub-workflow” type. For it to receive the caller’s data, start it with a Manual Trigger, which forwards the input as $json (an Inject trigger would ignore it and emit its own fixed payload instead). Whatever the sub-workflow emits at the end flows back to the Execute Workflow node.

They come along on deploy

When you deploy (or export) a workflow that uses this node, the sub-workflows are checked, brought along, and inlined into the installed document — so the host serves one self-contained workflow, every node is tracked in a single run history, and the sub-workflows don’t clutter the fleet as separate deployments. A missing sub-workflow (or a variable/credential it needs) blocks the deploy with a clear list.

Tips

Build small, reusable sub-workflows (validate, enrich, notify) and compose them — sequential mode makes each step’s output the next step’s input.
The node excludes the current workflow from the picker, so you can’t accidentally recurse into yourself; a genuine cycle across workflows is caught at deploy time.
Step-debugging into a paused Execute Workflow node offers Dive into a sub-workflow — it runs the child seeded with the same input, with a breadcrumb and Return.

Related nodes

The rest of the Workflow group — the same folder you’d scan in the editor’s library.

This page is generated from the node registry by gen-node-docs.mjs on every site build — ports, properties, defaults and visibility rules cannot drift from the code. The screenshots and example data are captured from a live Flowdrome by npm run shots:nodes and npm run gen:examples. The hand-authored notes above are merged in.