Workflow Builder Guide
Welcome to the Pro-tonn Workflow Builder! Think of it as your Discord server's new best friend - one that never sleeps, never forgets, and actually follows instructions (unlike that one friend we all have).
Our workflow system transforms your Discord events into intelligent automation. Whether you're welcoming new members, managing roles, or setting up complex moderation systems, our visual workflow builder makes it as easy as connecting digital LEGO blocks.
Core Components
Triggers
The starting point of every workflow. These little digital detectives watch for specific events and spring into action when they spot something interesting.
- Message events (someone said something!)
- User join/leave detection
- Reaction-based interactions
- Scheduled automation (because robots don't need sleep)
Actions
The workhorses of your workflow. These components actually DO things - send messages, manage roles, moderate users, and more.
- Send messages (with personality!)
- Role management (no more manual clicking)
- Moderation actions (be the sheriff)
- Channel creation and management
Conditions
The decision makers. These smart components check if certain criteria are met before continuing - think of them as the bouncer at your workflow's VIP section.
- User permission checks
- Message content analysis
- Time-based restrictions
- Account age verification (bye bye, spam bots!)
Utilities
The Swiss Army knife of workflow components. Need to wait? Log something? Send data elsewhere? These utility components have got you covered.
- Delays and wait states
- Rate limiting (preventing spam since day one)
- Webhook integrations
- Execution logging for when things go sideways
Pro Tip
The workflow engine processes events faster than you can say "automation" - usually under 500ms for simple workflows. That's quicker than most people can manually click a button!
Account Limits & Fair Usage
We believe in keeping things fair and fun for everyone. That's why we have different tiers - think of it like a buffet where everyone gets to eat, but some folks get access to the fancy dessert station.
Subscription Tiers
| Feature | Free Tier | Premium Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Active Workflows | 1 per server | 10 per server |
| Saved Workflows | 10 drafts | Unlimited |
| Maximum Connections | 10 per workflow | 25 per workflow |
| Execution Priority | Standard queue | High priority lane |
| Advanced Features | ||
| Support Level | Community forums | Priority support desk |
Account Safety
We take Discord's Terms of Service seriously (and ours too!). Accounts that create workflows violating Discord's rules or our terms may face suspension or termination.
This includes but isn't limited to: spam workflows, harassment automation, or anything that would make Discord admins sad. Let's keep it wholesome, folks!
What happens when you hit limits?
When you reach your account limits, the system politely stops you from creating more. It's like a bouncer at a club - firm but fair. Your existing workflows keep working perfectly fine, but you'll need to upgrade or clean house to add more.
Variables & Dynamic Content
Variables are like magic placeholders that get replaced with real information when your workflow runs. Think mail merge, but cooler and for Discord.
Essential Variables
User Magic
{user}, {user.mention}, {user.id}
Gets information about whoever triggered your workflow. Perfect for personalized messages that don't sound like they came from a robot (even though they did).
Server Info
{server}, {guild.member_count}
Grabs your server's details like name and member count. Great for bragging about how awesome your community is.
Message Context
{message.content}, {message.url}
Access the message that triggered your workflow. Warning: message content is automatically cleaned to prevent any shenanigans.
Time Stamps
{time}, {date}, {timestamp}
Time-related variables in UTC (because time zones are complicated enough without workflows getting confused too).
Discord Formatting Tricks
**Bold text** - Makes text thicc
*Italic text* - Makes text fancy
`Code text` - Makes text look techy
~~Strikethrough~~ - For when you change your mind
# Channel mentions: <#123456789>
# Role mentions: <@&987654321>
# User mentions: <@123456789>
Variable Processing
Variables are processed safely - no XSS attacks here! Undefined variables become empty strings (because nature abhors a vacuum, but code abhors undefined variables).
Trigger Components
Triggers are the alarm clocks of your workflows - they wake up and start the party when specific things happen in your Discord server.
Message-Based Triggers
Message Sent
Watches for messages like a digital hall monitor. Can be configured to watch specific channels or keywords.
Key Settings:
- Target Channel: "Default" = all channels (chaotic good)
- Message Contains: Leave empty to trigger on ANY message
- Case Sensitive: Defaults to "nope" (because who has time for that?)
Reaction Added
Detects when someone adds an emoji reaction. Perfect for role-assignment systems or just acknowledging someone's amazing meme.
Configuration:
- Supports Unicode emojis (👍) and Discord shortcodes (:thumbsup:)
- Can monitor specific channels or go wild with "Default"
User Event Triggers
User Joined
Fires when someone new joins your server. Time to roll out the digital red carpet!
User Left
Detects when someone leaves. Whether they ragequit or just moved on, this trigger knows.
Scheduled Triggers
Scheduled Time
Your workflow's personal assistant. Set it to run daily, weekly, or monthly - it never calls in sick!
Schedule Options:
- Daily: Every day at your chosen time
- Weekly: Pick a day, any day (or let it surprise you with "Random")
- Monthly: First of the month, last day, or somewhere in between
Time Zone Reality Check
All scheduled times are in UTC. Yes, we know it's not convenient, but it prevents the chaos of "wait, what time zone are we in again?" Just use a UTC converter - your future self will thank you.
Action Components
Actions are where the magic happens - they're the "doing" part of your workflow. Think of them as your digital employees, except they actually do what you tell them.
Messaging Actions
Send Message
The bread and butter of Discord automation. Sends messages with all the personality you can cram into 2000 characters.
- Auto-truncates long messages (we're not monsters)
- Checks permissions before sending (no embarrassing failures)
- Supports all Discord formatting and variables
- Smart channel fallback when your target is missing
Send DM
Slides into someone's DMs (professionally, of course). Perfect for private notifications or warnings.
- Gracefully handles users with DMs disabled
- Won't break your workflow if blocked
- Content sanitization included (safety first!)
Delete Message
Makes messages disappear faster than your motivation on Monday morning. Deletes the message from the previous workflow step.
Role Management
Add Role
Grants roles to users with the precision of a Swiss watch. Includes comprehensive safety checks.
- Role hierarchy validation (no accidental admin promotions)
- Duplicate role detection
- Managed role protection
- Permission requirement verification
Remove Role
Takes roles away with the same safety features as adding them. Democracy in action!
Moderation Actions
Kick User
Temporarily removes troublemakers. They can come back, but they'll have to think about what they did.
- Owner protection (can't kick the boss)
- Role hierarchy safety checks
- Audit log integration
Ban User
The nuclear option. Permanently removes users with optional message history cleanup (0-7 days).
Moderation Reality Check
With great power comes great responsibility. Moderation actions are irreversible (mostly), so double-check your conditions and test thoroughly. Your community will thank you for not accidentally banning everyone.
Conditional Logic
Conditions are the brain cells of your workflow. They make decisions so your automation doesn't accidentally become a chaos engine.
User Has Role
Checks if someone has a specific role. Perfect for VIP-only features or admin-only actions.
User Is Bot
The most important condition for your sanity! Prevents infinite loops when your workflow responds to its own messages.
Message Contains
Analyzes message content for specific words or phrases. Case sensitivity optional (because life's too short).
Account Age
Checks how old a Discord account is. Great for spam prevention - new accounts are suspicious!
Infinite Loop Prevention 101
Always, ALWAYS add a "User Is Bot" condition after message triggers. Otherwise, your workflow might respond to its own messages, creating an infinite loop that would make even Inception jealous. Trust us, we've seen servers cry.
Timing & Utility Components
Sometimes you need to add a little pause for dramatic effect, or prevent your users from spamming faster than a caffeinated teenager. These components handle the timing and housekeeping.
Timing Controls
Wait
Adds a pause to your workflow. Perfect for dramatic timing or giving users a moment to read something before the next action.
- Configurable duration (0.1 to 3600 seconds)
- Doesn't block other workflows
- Handles cancellation gracefully
Rate Limiting
Prevents spam by enforcing cooldowns. Choose between per-user limits (individual timeouts) or global limits (server-wide cooldowns).
- Per User: Each person gets their own timer
- Global: One cooldown rules them all
- Automatic cleanup of expired timers
Utility Components
Log Action
Creates a paper trail of your workflow's activities. Essential for debugging and proving your automation actually works.
- Pretty formatted log messages
- Channel fallback logic
- Non-blocking (failures don't stop workflows)
Webhook
Sends data to external services. Connect to Google Sheets, Notion, or your custom APIs.
- JSON payload support
- Variable interpolation
- HTTPS enforcement (security matters!)
- Request timeout protection
Random Choice
Adds unpredictability to your workflows. Set a percentage chance for continuation - because sometimes life needs a little chaos.
How Workflows Actually Work
Ever wondered what happens behind the scenes when your workflow springs to life? Here's the technical magic, explained without the boring parts.
The Execution Journey
Event Detection
Our system constantly watches Discord events like a very attentive security guard who never takes bathroom breaks.
Trigger Matching
When an event matches your trigger conditions, the workflow engine creates a unique execution context and starts the show.
Node Chain Execution
Your connected workflow components execute in order, following the purple connection lines like a digital treasure map.
Completion & Logging
Once finished, the system logs everything for posterity and updates execution statistics. Because data is beautiful.
Performance Facts
Simple workflows execute in under 500ms. Complex multi-node workflows typically complete within 1-3 seconds. That's faster than most people can manually perform the same actions!
Edge Case Handling
Murphy's Law states that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. We've prepared for Murphy and his entire extended family.
Common Failure Scenarios
Missing Channels
When target channels disappear (deleted, permissions changed, etc.), our smart fallback system finds the next best option.
- Falls back to system channel if target is missing
- Searches for first available text channel
- Gracefully skips if no valid channel exists
Permission Failures
When the bot lacks permissions, workflows handle it gracefully instead of exploding dramatically.
- Permission checks before attempting actions
- Detailed error logging for debugging
- Workflow continues with other valid actions
Blocked DMs
Users can disable DMs or block the bot. We handle this like mature adults (no tantrum throwing).
Deleted Messages
If someone deletes a message before your workflow can process it, we shrug and move on with life.
Graceful Degradation
When things go sideways, our system prioritizes continuing workflow execution over perfectionism. Better to complete 80% of actions successfully than fail completely because one step had issues.
Rate Limiting & Performance
We implement multiple layers of rate limiting to keep things running smooth as butter and prevent any single server from hogging all the resources.
Rate Limiting Layers
Per-User Limits
Each user gets their own personal cooldown timer. Think of it as a "you need to chill for a moment" system.
Global Limits
Server-wide cooldowns prevent entire communities from overwhelming the system during peak excitement.
Discord API Compliance
We automatically handle Discord's rate limits with intelligent queuing and retry logic. No manual babysitting required!
Performance Expectations
| Workflow Type | Typical Response Time | Rate Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Simple Message Response | < 500ms | 5 per second |
| Complex Multi-Node | 1-3 seconds | 2 per second |
| Scheduled Execution | < 1 second | 1 per minute |
| External Webhook | 2-5 seconds | 1 per 5 seconds |
Deployment & Going Live
Ready to unleash your workflow upon the world? Here's how to deploy without breaking everything (we've made that mistake so you don't have to).
Pre-Flight Checklist
Validation
Our system checks your workflow for common issues before deployment. Think of it as spell-check for automation.
- Workflow structure integrity
- Required property completion
- Connection path validation
- Permission requirements
Save First!
Always save before deploying. This isn't a video game - there's no auto-save to bail you out.
Deployment Process
Deployment is a one-click operation, but the magic happens behind the scenes:
- Workflow compilation and optimization
- Zero-downtime activation
- Health monitoring setup
- Rollback preparation (just in case)
Testing Advice
Test your workflows in a private channel first. Nothing's more embarrassing than accidentally spamming your entire server because you forgot to add a rate limit. We speak from experience.
Troubleshooting Guide
When workflows misbehave, don't panic! Here's your systematic guide to figuring out what went wrong and how to fix it.
Common Issues
Workflow Not Triggering
The most common issue. Usually it's something simple (and slightly embarrassing).
- Check if workflow is actually active (green badge)
- Verify trigger configuration matches your test
- Confirm bot has necessary permissions
- Add a "User Is Bot" condition if testing with bot messages
Variables Not Working
Variables showing up as {user} instead of actual names? Here's the fix.
- Check variable syntax: {user} not {username}
- Ensure variables are available in current context
- Look for typos in variable names
- Test with simple variables first
Infinite Loops
Your workflow is responding to its own messages in an endless cycle of digital confusion.
- Add "User Is Bot" condition after message triggers
- Use specific channel targeting instead of "Default"
- Implement rate limiting
- Check for circular connection paths
Permission Denied
The bot is trying its best but Discord won't let it do the thing.
- Verify bot role has required permissions
- Check role hierarchy (bot role must be higher)
- Confirm channel-specific permissions
- Test with a simple action first
Debugging Tools
Add logging components throughout your workflow to track execution. Think of them as breadcrumbs leading you to the problem.
Pro Debugging Tip
Create a dedicated #workflow-logs channel and point all your log actions there. You'll feel like a detective solving the case of the mysterious automation failure.
Best Practices
Learn from our mistakes (and the mistakes of thousands of other users) with these battle-tested best practices.
Golden Rules
Safety First
Prevention is better than explaining to your server why the bot just banned everyone.
- Always include bot detection conditions
- Test in private channels first
- Use specific targeting over "Default" when possible
- Implement rate limiting for user-triggered actions
Performance Optimization
Keep your workflows lean and mean for the best user experience.
- Use conditions early to filter unnecessary executions
- Minimize external webhook calls
- Design linear workflows when possible
- Avoid deeply nested conditional chains
User Experience
Remember: your users don't care about your clever automation if it annoys them.
- Provide clear feedback for user actions
- Use appropriate delays between actions
- Handle edge cases gracefully
- Test from the user's perspective
Observability
You can't fix what you can't see. Add logging and monitoring from day one.
- Create dedicated log channels
- Log important workflow milestones
- Monitor execution frequency and failures
- Document your workflow logic for future you
Wisdom from the Trenches
Start simple and iterate. The most complex workflow started as a basic "when someone joins, send a welcome message." Build confidence with simple automations before attempting to recreate HAL 9000.
Frequently Asked Questions
The questions everyone asks, answered with the wisdom of thousands of support tickets and community discussions.
Do workflows work when I'm offline?
Absolutely! Once deployed, workflows run 24/7 on our servers. Your Discord server stays automated even when you're sleeping, vacationing, or binge-watching Netflix. The robots never sleep.
What happens if I hit my account limits?
When you reach your limits, you can't create new workflows or add more connections, but existing active workflows continue running normally. It's like reaching the speed limit - you can't go faster, but you don't suddenly stop.
Can workflows trigger other workflows?
Yes! If one workflow sends a message that matches another workflow's trigger, it can activate the second workflow. This creates powerful automation chains, but be careful not to create infinite loops (that's what the "User Is Bot" condition is for).
How do I find channel and role IDs?
Enable Developer Mode in Discord (Settings → Advanced → Developer Mode), then right-click on any channel or role and select "Copy ID". It's like getting the secret backstage pass to Discord's inner workings.
Why isn't my workflow triggering?
Check the usual suspects: Is it deployed and active? Do the trigger conditions match your test? Does the bot have permissions? Are you testing with bot messages but forgot the "User Is Bot" condition? 90% of issues fall into these categories.
Can I share workflows with other servers?
Not directly - workflows are server-specific for security reasons. However, you can recreate similar workflows on different servers. Think of it as making a recipe from memory rather than teleporting the actual cake.
What happens during Discord outages?
Our system automatically handles Discord API outages with retry logic and queuing. When Discord comes back online, queued workflows resume execution. We're like a patient friend who waits for you to finish your phone call.
Can my account get suspended?
Yes, if you create workflows that violate Discord's Terms of Service or our terms. This includes spam automation, harassment workflows, or anything that would make Discord (or us) unhappy. Play nice, and your account stays healthy!
How fast do workflows execute?
Simple workflows typically execute in under 500ms. Complex multi-node workflows usually complete within 1-3 seconds. That's faster than manually performing the same actions, unless you have superhuman clicking abilities.
Do I need coding experience?
Not at all! The visual workflow builder is designed for humans, not robots. If you can connect LEGO blocks or follow a recipe, you can build workflows. The most complex part is probably finding those Discord IDs.