Workflow
The planner
What do you want to automate?
Describe it the way you'd say it to a coworker. You'll get the trigger, actions, and rule to build.
Browse all 21 recipesA document is stuck in — or skipped — approval
Work out which of three states a misbehaving document is in — never started approval, waiting on one step, or finished but still in a queue — and fix the one that applies.
A scheduled workflow didn't run — or ran on everything
Find out why a scheduled workflow rule never fires (or fires on far too much), fix the date logic and reprocess window, and prove a successful run in the log.
Alert IT when the scanner or hot folder goes quiet
If no new documents of a type have arrived within a set time, email IT — a Content Delay trigger and a Send E-mail action — so a stopped scanner, a stuck hot folder, or a dead mailbox is noticed in an hour instead of a week.
Alert the AP manager when invoices sit in the Coding Queue too long
An hourly check that emails the AP manager when any invoice has waited in the Coding Queue longer than two days — a Coding-Queue Age trigger and a Send E-mail action — so uncoded documents can't quietly pile up.
Approval settings that change behavior
The reference layer behind every approval process: the system-wide switches — checkout during approval, hiding routed documents, PIN requirements, button relabeling — and the per-process options that tune one process without touching the rest.
Archive or delete documents older than a set age
A nightly check that moves documents past a certain age into an Archive folder — or deletes them — using a Content Age trigger. Includes when to use a retention policy instead, and the two settings that stop a first run from touching everything at once.
Build a reference number from other fields
Combine two fields into one — vendor code plus invoice number into a single reference, say — the moment a document is filed, with a Content Capture trigger and a Merge Field Values action, so the combined value exists for searches, file names, and exports without anyone typing it.
Drop approved documents and their data into a folder another system watches
Every approved document is written to a folder as a file plus its field values — a Movement on Process trigger with Content - Export and Export Data actions — the universal hand-off for any system that can import from a folder.
Email someone when a capture form is submitted
The moment a capture form comes in, an email with the form's values goes to whoever needs to know — a Content Capture trigger filtered to Capture-Form Submission, a message template, and a Send E-mail action.
Escalate an approval that has waited more than 3 days
When a document sits on one approval stage past your limit, email the approver's manager and bump the item's priority — an Age of Stage trigger on the approval process plus Send E-mail and Change Priority actions, checked every hour.
Export approved invoices to QuickBooks or Sage
The moment an invoice clears its final approval, it's posted as a bill in your accounting system — a Movement on Process trigger and one of the accounting export actions, with the status field and Export Queue that tell you whether each post succeeded.
File the document and notify the requester after final approval
When the last approver signs off, the document moves to the Approved folder and the person waiting on it gets an email — a Movement on Process trigger set to Approval by Final Member, plus Move to Folder and Send E-mail actions.
Invoices over a dollar amount need a second approver
Send small invoices down the normal path and large ones through a longer one — two approval processes, two Content Capture triggers with a field-value Range condition, two rules. No one has to look at the amount.
Keep a copy of every approved document in a shared folder
When a contract or policy clears its final approval, a copy lands in a folder another team browses — a Movement on Process trigger and a Copy to Folder action — so the people who need the signed version see it without being part of the approval.
Look up vendor details from your ERP when an invoice arrives
Fill in vendor name, terms, and GL account from your accounting database the moment an invoice with a vendor number is filed — a Content Capture trigger and a Perform Field Lookup action — for documents that arrive already coded and never pass through a person's hands.
Manage work queues
The administrator's side of work queues: the Admin Queue view across every user and group, the expiration limits and hiding rules in System Settings, and the workflow triggers that watch queues so you don't have to.
Move a document to the right folder when its type is changed
When someone re-classifies a document into this type, it lands in this type's folder automatically — a Content DocType Change trigger and a Move to Folder action — so a fixed classification never leaves a misfiled document behind.
Rebuild folder and file names retroactively
A one-time workflow recipe that re-applies folder and file building to documents already on the shelf — how it works, the version-history cost per document, and when the support-assisted Refile is the better tool.
Remind the owner 30 days before a contract expires
A daily check that emails whoever owns a contract when its expiration date is within 30 days — a scheduled Content Query on a date field with a day offset, a message template, and a Send E-mail action — including the date math that makes reminders fire once instead of never or forever.
Run your own script or program when a document arrives
Hand a new document to a program you wrote — a PowerShell script, a command-line tool, an API caller — the moment it's filed: register the program in the Configuration Manager, then a Content Capture trigger and a Run External Application action.
Send a rejected document back to whoever submitted it
When an approver rejects, the document goes to a corrections work queue and the submitter gets an email with the reason — a Movement on Process trigger set to rejections, plus Work Queue - Assign and Send E-mail actions.
Send documents to a work queue
Route a document to a person or team with Send to Work Queue — the two-toggle dialog, what lands in the recipient's Work tab, and how items move between queues and leave them.
Send new documents to a team's work queue
Every new document of a type lands on a team's Work tab without anyone forwarding it — a Content Capture trigger and a Work Queue - Assign action, with an optional expiration so items don't pile up forever.
Set up an approval process
Route documents of a type through one or more approvers automatically — build the process, choose who approves and in what order, set the group sign-off rule, and test it with a real document.
Show approval status as a document field
Give an approval process a system field — Approved, In Progress, Rejected at a glance in grids and results — including the enable-it-twice step everyone misses and an honest note on where the field can't be used.
Stamp today's date when a status changes
Set a date field automatically the moment a status field is changed — Field Value Updated trigger, Update Date Field with Today's Date action — so nobody has to remember to type the date, and the value is always the real one.
Start an approval every time an invoice is captured
The moment an invoice lands in Content Central, put it on the approver's queue automatically — one Content Capture trigger, one Start Process action, one rule — plus the checkbox that does the same job with no rule at all.
When an invoice is marked Paid, clear it from queues and file it
The moment someone sets an invoice's status to Paid, it leaves every work queue and moves to the Paid folder — a Field Value Updated trigger and two actions in the right order. Reacts to the change itself, so there's no schedule to size and no reprocessing storm.
Workflow rules, triggers, and actions
How Content Central automation is built: triggers watch for events, schedules, or conditions; actions do the work; rules wire them together — with the full map of what each piece can watch and do.