Selecting a step opens its panel on the right. It has three tabs: Settings to set the step up, Input for what reached it in the last test, and Output for what it gave.

Who can do this

Everyone can open the panel. Admins and Editors change settings; for Viewers every field is read-only.

Steps

  1. Open the workflow in the designer and select a step's card. The panel opens on Settings.
  2. At the top, the step's name can be changed (see Rename, duplicate, skip or remove a step); under it is what the step does.
  3. Switch between Settings, Input and Output with the tabs.
  4. Select Done at the bottom, the cross at the top, or press Esc, to close the panel. Selecting the empty canvas closes it too.

The Settings tab

From top to bottom, as the step needs them:

  • Connection, for a step that uses an outside service. Choose one of the workspace's connections for that service, or — under Variables — a Connection variable marked follows the environment. A connection that has stopped working says — not working beside its name. Add a connection opens Connections. See Manage a workflow's own variables.
  • Data from earlier steps — what reached the step in the last test, ready to drag into a setting. It only shows once a test has run.
  • The step's own settings. A setting that is not needed says (optional) after its name. A required one left empty says Fill this in before publishing. once you have tried to publish.
  • If this step fails — see Choose what happens when a step fails. Triggers do not have it.

At the bottom, a line such as Last run 12:04 · 1.2 s · 3 items says how the step went in its latest test, beside Run this step — see Run one step on its own.

Changes save as you leave each field. There is no Save button.

The Input tab

Input · data from earlier steps shows the items that reached this step in the latest test. With no test yet it reads No data yet — Start a test run, and what reaches this step appears here — ready to drag into its settings.

For a trigger: Nothing comes in before a trigger — It starts the run. What it brings is on Output.

The Output tab

What the step gave in its latest test. The heading says which: Output · last test, Output · ran at 12:04, or Output · pinned.

  • Pin this output keeps these items with the draft for later tests. See Pin a step's output.
  • If the step failed, a box reads This step failed in the last test with the reason in plain words, and Try again.
  • If it ran but gave nothing: This step ran but returned no items — It worked — there was simply nothing to return. Steps after it will not run for this item.
  • AI steps show what the answer cost: tokens in, tokens out, and how long it took.

Reading the items

Input and Output show the same items three ways. Choose a view at the top right of the data:

  • Schema — the fields of one item, with their type (string, number, boolean, list, object) and value. On Input, it also shows what each earlier step gave for this item. This is the view you drag fields from.
  • Table — every item as a row, up to 12 columns, headed All 40 items.
  • JSON — the items exactly as they are stored.

In Schema and JSON, step through items with the arrows beside Item 1 of 40. A Switch's output shows which path each item took.

Files an item carries — a form upload, an email attachment — are listed under its fields with their name, size and type, and a Download link from a test's output.

Good to know

  • Test runs fill Input and Output. Until a step has run in a test, they are empty. See Testing a workflow before you publish it.
  • Output shows the latest test's items, across the last five tests, until the step runs again.
  • A connection that lacks a permission the step needs shows Needs permission to … at the top of Settings, with Reconnect. Reconnecting asks for it on top of what is already allowed, and every setting is kept.
  • A step on a paid plan says On any paid plan. You can build and test it now; publishing asks you to upgrade. (HubSpot: HubSpot is on paid plans. …)

If something goes wrong

What you see Why What to do
There is no … connection in this workspace yet. under Connection The workspace has no connection for that service. Select Add a connection, connect the service, then choose it.
This connection no longer works. Reconnect it on Connections, or choose another. The service stopped accepting the connection. Reconnect it — see Reconnecting a connection that stopped working.
A variable warning such as api_base_url has no Development value. The step reads a variable with no value where this workflow tests. Select Set a Development value, or tick Same as Production on the variable.