Understand Action Types

While configuring a workflow, you can choose between two Action Types:

• Actions - individual operations performed on your directory or resources. 
• Flows - use them to add complex decision-making logic and efficiency into your workflow.

Some of the actions and flows are explained in more detail below.

Understanding Actions

Actions are individual operations performed on your directory or resources. These are typically linear and execute a single specific task. Use an Action when you have a definitive task to perform once a trigger or condition is met. 

You can either use:

• Custom Actions: Displays a curated list of common admin tasks such as user and user group activation, binding applications and policies to devices and device groups, email actions and so on. . You can search and select an action and then quickly configure the details in the workflow canvas. This doesn’t require any JSON input.

• JumpCloud API Actions: Displays a list of direct API calls that you can utilize to achieve more advanced or granular directory operations. Select the appropriate API action and then configure the details in the workflow canvas. You can refer to the JumpCloud API docs to understand the parameters. 

Refer to each section to learn more:

• Use JumpCloud API Actions
• Understand Email Actions
• Understand External App Connectors

Understanding Flows

Flows allow you to move beyond simple linear automation. You can use them to add complex decision-making logic and efficiency into your workflow.

You can use two types of flow components—or combine them—to control how your automation executes:

• If else: Evaluates a specific condition or rule. If the condition is true, the workflow follows one path; if it is false, it runs an alternative path.
  
  • Example Use Case: Compliance checks. When a device state changes, use an If/else flow to check if full disk encryption is enabled. If True, the workflow logs the device as compliant. If False, it routes to an action that alerts the security team and restricts user access.
    
• Loops: Automates repetitive tasks by iterating over a set or array of items, allowing you to execute a specific block of actions multiple times efficiently.
  • Example Use Case: Bulk resource allocation. When a department group changes, a loop can cycle through every individual user inside that group to automatically provision a specific set of applications or update their local user variables, saving you from configuring separate actions for each person.