Workflow Builder
You can create automated workflows in Cost Intelligence Workflow Builder. Flows are based on data in the Cost Intelligence dashboards.
These are some of the flows you can create:
- Send scheduled emails
- Generate alerts based on specific conditions
- Update custom datasets
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Prerequisites
An alert or action based on automatically identified anomalies (must be indicator, dial or bullet).
Create a Workflow
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Click Create New Flow.
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Add a trigger to the flow by dragging it. All flows require a trigger.
Triggers
- Scheduling: the flow starts according to a set date and time, and can be set to repeat.
- Records Added: the flow runs as soon as new data is received. For example, the flow starts when a new record is added to a data source, or each time a record is added by a data load process.
- Records Updated: the flow starts whenever information changes in an existing dataset or a record is updated by a data load process.
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You can add conditions if needed.
Conditions
Conditions can be added to any trigger to control when the trigger causes the flow to run. For example, you can add a condition to a Records Added trigger to define scenarios that must be met before the trigger runs. Another option is to add a condition to a Scheduling trigger, such as to send an alert if a metric is outside preset bounds.
Conditions can also be added to branch options of action components. For example, you can add a condition to the One Record Found branch option of a Search Records component to check the details of the record.
To add a condition, drag the If condition and drop it below the trigger or action. Define the conditions that need to be met.
Any actions you drag below the condition run when the condition is met. Actions dragged below the Else run when the condition is not met. For example:
If
- If Field allows you to specify a field that triggers the action.
- If Metric allows you to specify a metric threshold that triggers the action.
And – Or
And - Or must be used with an If statement. Drag the And - Or into an existing If condition.
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You can add send actions if needed.
Send actions
- Send to Webhook to send data to an external webhook URL. Enter the URL and click Add Parameters to add data or tokens.
- Send Email to send notifications and alerts in email. Enter a comma-delimited list of email addresses along with a subject and a message. The message body can be formatted with any of the standard options provided, including bold, italic, and underline. There are also justification and link options.
- Send SMS to send notifications and alerts in text messages. Enter a mobile phone number and type a message with up to 140 characters. Any attachments you include in your message are sent as links that your recipient can click on to open the attachment in their web browser.
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You can add data actions if needed.
Data actions
Record functions are used for uploaded CSV datasets, while Data functions work with connected data sources.
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Search Record to look up data based on the criteria you select. Use the branch options to perform actions based on the number of records found. Select the type and name of the dataset to search, then choose the fields and values you want to search for.
Below the search box are branch options where you can place actions depending on the number of results found. You can specify different sets of actions for each of these branch options. The Search Record action loops through multiple records found individually. For example, if five records are found, the actions under the Multiple Records Found are performed five times, once for each record.
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Submit Data to send data to a third party system using a URL. It is similar to a form POST in HTML.
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Update Token to update the value of a stored token. You can update tokens by selecting their name and providing a value. To create a new token, click Add/Manage Tokens.
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Sample Flow: Daily SMS
Here is a simple example of an SMS sent once a day for 3 days. It includes the month-to-date AWS cost of all configured AWS accounts.
Edit an Existing Workflow
To edit an active flow, click Pause.
Tokens
A token is a variable or parameter that acts as a container for data. When a metric is created in the Cost Intelligence dashboard, you can use it as a token in workflows. For example, you can use tokens in datasets, and to make alerts dynamic. This lets you generate workflows based on the same data you have in your dashboards. You can use metrics and formulas (tokens) created by any user in the same Spot organization.
System Tokens
System tokens can be used with any dataset and focus on more global variable types, for example:
{{CURRENT_DATE}}inserts the current date.{{LAST_MONTH}}inserts the last month.{{TOMORROW}}inserts the date for tomorrow.
Custom Tokens Automatically Created in Dashboard
When you create metrics, formulas, and other data points used in Cost Intelligence dashboards, a token is automatically created. You can then use these tokens in workflows.
Let’s say you have a chart in the Cost Intelligence dashboard with the number of EC2 instances month to date, filtered by a specific region and cloud account. This number would map to a token that you could then use in workflows.
Another example is a gauge chart that shows the cost of all your compute services month to date, filtered by a certain set of tags. Each chart generates two tokens: one for the name of the chart and the other for the value of the chart.
Custom Tokens Created in Workflow Builder
From the token dropdown menu, click Add/Manage Tokens to:
- Create tokens directly in the Workflow Builder.
- Give tokens a friendly name to the token by configuring its alias.
Workflow Activity Log
Every flow keeps a log of all its activities, including any changes made by users and every time the flow is triggered. If you’re not sure how your flow is performing, open the activity log. You can see detailed information about its activities, errors, and events.
To access the log, click Activity. You can search and filter the activity log.
Click Refresh to get new activity log events.