Process Instance Actions

Discover how to control and manage process instance actions.

Last published at: November 18th, 2025

Create a new Process Instance.

Navigate to the Process - Instances page and select Actions - Create a menu option. 

 

The Create Instance pop-up window appears for configuration. Select the Process Definition from the drop-down list. Use the buttons to sort the Process Definition list by last modified date or by name. Enter the new Instance name or click the Generate button to create and insert the new Instance name into the text box. Check the box to execute the Process Instance after creation. Check the box to run the Process Instance in Test Mode as a different user. Choose the test mode user from the drop-down list. Click the Create & Execute button to continue. 

 

The Process Instance is created, and a confirmation message appears in the top-right corner. The instance status remains “not started” until the FlowWright process engine executes it, as long as the service runs automatically. Select the Execute - Run Engine menu option to manually start the process engine.   

 

The Process Instance runs, and its status is shown according to the context. Note: All dates and times are stored in the database as UTC and are displayed based on the user's local time zone. Engine runtime data is in ISO + UTC format. 

 

 

View the Process Instance by status.

On the process instance page, select the “By Status” filter and pick any status from the list. The table will then be filtered based on your selection. 

 

The list of process instance statuses is provided here. 

Not Started The Process Instance is created and not started for execution.
Executing The Process Instance execution is in progress.
Sleeping The Process Instance is waiting for human intervention to continue, or a time delay is in effect.
Reset The Process Instance has been reset manually.
Error The Process Instance has encountered an error and requires manual intervention for resolution. For example, either the step configuration is missing or incorrect, like a file path that does not exist.
ErrorWait The Process Instance has encountered an error and requires manual intervention for resolution. For example, error getting the DB connection string during execution.  
Completed The Process Instance has completed successfully.
Aborted The Process Instance has been aborted manually.
Debugging The Process Instance is in “debug” execution mode, which means the execution is controlled by human intervention.  
DebugEnded The “debug” Process Instance has completed successfully.
AgentTested The Process Instance has been executed by an “Agent Test.”

 

Reset Process Instance.

A process instance in “Sleeping / Error / Aborted” status can be reset to its original state by selecting it from the list and clicking the Actions—Reset—Selected menu option. This is helpful after executing an Instance if the process design changes. A new Instance based on the definition does not need to be created to retest it.

A process instance can be reset to the start or any prior step within the Instance. This useful feature makes debugging an Instance easier.

 

Note: All relevant data for the chosen instance will be removed from execution. 

 

Select a Process Instance from the tables and click the Actions - Reset - To Step menu option to reset the instance to a chosen step. 

 

Choose the preferred step from the pop-up window.

 

Click the OK button to start the reset process. A confirmation message appears in the top-right corner once it's complete. 

 

 

Remove the Process Instance.

A process instance can be permanently deleted by selecting it from the list and clicking the “Remove” option. 

 

When an instance is deleted, all related data, including sub-workflows, tasks, and other elements, will also be removed.

 

 

Mark the process instance as a favorite.

Each user can keep a list of favorite process instances. If you are working on or monitoring a large workflow, you can easily access it by adding it to your favorite list.

 

Add process instance to favorites.

Adding a process instance to favorites will include it in the favorites section.

 

 

Remove the process instance from favorites.

You need to navigate to the Favorites tab.

 

Select the process instance from the table and choose 'Favorites' > 'Remove' from the menu. 

 

The process instance is unmarked and moved from Favorites to the All folder. A confirmation message appears in the top-right corner. 

 

 

Abort process instance.

A workflow instance that is sleeping or waiting can be aborted by selecting it from the list and clicking the “Abort” menu item. The abort menu item is only enabled when the instance is in the “Sleeping” status.

 

 

Execute process instance.

This function starts a process instance that has not yet begun. To create process instances for later use, uncheck the "Execute" checkbox in the "Create Instance" box. 

Select the process instance from the table and go to the Execute - Selected menu option. 

 

Click OK to confirm the execution of the process instance. 

 

 

Execute the process instance in Test Mode.

This function initiates a process instance that has not yet started. To create process instances that can be run later, uncheck the Execute checkbox on the Create Instance box. 

Choose the process instance from the table and select 'Execute - Selected in Test Mode' from the menu. 

 

Click OK to confirm the execution of the process instance in test mode. 

 

Choose the user from the drop-down menu and click the “Execute” button to continue. 

 

 

Execute process instance with input parameters (Generate AI Test Data) 

This function offers a UI for entering values into variables and globals prior to execution.  

On the Process Instance page, choose the "Execute - With Params" menu option, as shown below. 

 

A user interface for input parameters will be created based on the variables defined for the Instance. It might look like this: Enter the variable values and select 'Execute' or 'Execute in Test mode' as needed. The process instance will run with the provided parameters. 

 

You can click the “Generate AI Test Data” button to fill in the variables and globals. The process instance will run with the given parameters. 

 

 

Render process instance.

Select the process instance from the list and click the View—Render menu item. The process instance will open in a new tab, showing the process workflow from the start step to the current step (for a sleeping status) or until the last step (for a completed status).

 

Select the Items - Tasks menu option to view the tasks created by the process instance. The task list appears as a table on the same page. 

 

Select the Items—Forms menu option to view the form task created by the process instance. The form task list appears as a table with a clickable link on the same page. This list also includes forms from sub-workflows.

 

You can search within the process instance for tasks, steps, forms, and reports by their names if you'd like. Enter the information into the Search textbox and press Enter. The search results will appear in a pop-up window as clickable links. Click the search item, and the background workflow will align correctly with the result. 

 

Navigate to Items - Variables - Select the Start or Latest variables menu option to search for variables by their names within the rendered process instance. 

 

A pop-up window displays the list of variables and their values during the “Start” event. 

 

You can look for variables and globals using the Search textbox. 

 

Navigate to Items—Variables. Select the Change Tracking option to monitor variable changes within the process instance. 

 

Select the variable from the dropdown menu to view the changes, along with the date and time stamp.