OKTA Workflows & Automation

Learn how to automate user lifecycle management and business processes using OKTA Workflows. This guide covers workflow creation, connectors, triggers, actions, and automation best practices.

Table of Contents

1. Workflows Overview

OKTA Workflows is a no-code automation platform that enables you to automate identity and access management processes, integrate with external systems, and orchestrate complex business workflows. It provides a visual workflow builder with drag-and-drop functionality.

Key capabilities:

  • User lifecycle automation: Automate onboarding, offboarding, and updates
  • Application provisioning: Automate application access management
  • Integration: Connect with external systems and APIs
  • Conditional logic: Implement if/then logic and branching
  • Data transformation: Transform and manipulate data
  • Error handling: Handle errors and retries
  • Approval workflows: Implement approval processes

1.1 Use Cases

Common workflow use cases:

  • Automate user onboarding (create accounts, assign applications, send notifications)
  • Automate user offboarding (deactivate accounts, revoke access, archive data)
  • Sync user data between systems
  • Automate access requests and approvals
  • Integrate with HR systems for user provisioning
  • Automate group membership based on attributes
  • Send notifications and alerts
  • Generate reports and analytics

2. Workflow Concepts

Understanding core workflow concepts is essential for building effective automations.

2.1 Workflow Structure

A workflow consists of:

  • Trigger: Event that starts the workflow
  • Cards: Individual steps or actions in the workflow
  • Connections: Links between cards that define flow
  • Variables: Data passed between cards
  • Conditions: Logic that controls workflow execution

2.2 Workflow Types

OKTA Workflows supports different workflow types:

  • Event-driven: Triggered by events (user created, group updated)
  • Scheduled: Run on a schedule (daily, weekly, monthly)
  • API-triggered: Triggered via API calls
  • Manual: Manually triggered by admins

2.3 Workflow Canvas

The workflow canvas is the visual interface where you build workflows:

  • Drag and drop cards onto the canvas
  • Connect cards to define flow
  • Configure card settings
  • Test workflows before activating
  • Monitor workflow execution

3. Connectors

Connectors enable workflows to interact with external systems and services. OKTA provides built-in connectors and supports custom connectors.

3.1 Built-in Connectors

OKTA provides connectors for:

  • OKTA: User, group, and application management
  • Slack: Send messages, create channels, manage users
  • Microsoft 365: Manage users, groups, licenses
  • Google Workspace: User and group management
  • ServiceNow: Create tickets, update records
  • Salesforce: Manage users, accounts, opportunities
  • Jira: Create issues, update tickets
  • Email: Send emails via SMTP
  • HTTP: Make API calls to any REST API

3.2 Connector Configuration

To use a connector:

  1. Add connector card to workflow
  2. Configure authentication (API keys, OAuth, etc.)
  3. Select the action to perform
  4. Map input variables
  5. Configure output variables
  6. Test the connector

3.3 Custom Connectors

For systems without built-in connectors:

  • Use HTTP connector to call REST APIs
  • Configure authentication (API key, OAuth, Basic Auth)
  • Define request/response mappings
  • Handle errors and retries
  • Create reusable connector templates

4. Triggers

Triggers are events that start workflow execution. OKTA provides various trigger types.

4.1 Event Triggers

Event triggers fire when specific events occur:

  • User created: New user added to OKTA
  • User updated: User profile or status changed
  • User deactivated: User account deactivated
  • Group created: New group created
  • Group updated: Group membership or attributes changed
  • Application assigned: Application assigned to user
  • Application unassigned: Application removed from user

4.2 Scheduled Triggers

Scheduled triggers run on a schedule:

  • Daily: Run once per day at specified time
  • Weekly: Run on specific days of the week
  • Monthly: Run on specific dates each month
  • Custom interval: Run at custom intervals (e.g., every 4 hours)

4.3 API Triggers

API triggers allow external systems to start workflows:

  • Workflow exposes HTTP endpoint
  • External system calls endpoint with data
  • Workflow processes the request
  • Returns response to caller
  • Useful for integrating with custom systems

4.4 Trigger Filters

Use filters to control when triggers fire:

  • Filter by user attributes (department, location)
  • Filter by group membership
  • Filter by application
  • Filter by event properties
  • Combine multiple conditions

5. Actions

Actions are the steps that perform work in a workflow. OKTA provides various action types.

5.1 OKTA Actions

OKTA connector actions:

  • Create User: Create new user account
  • Update User: Update user profile
  • Deactivate User: Deactivate user account
  • Assign User to Group: Add user to group
  • Remove User from Group: Remove user from group
  • Assign Application: Assign application to user
  • Unassign Application: Remove application from user
  • Get User: Retrieve user information
  • List Users: Get list of users

5.2 Logic Actions

Logic actions control workflow flow:

  • If/Then: Conditional branching
  • Switch: Multi-way branching
  • Loop: Iterate over arrays
  • Filter: Filter arrays
  • Transform: Transform data
  • Set Variable: Set variable values

5.3 Utility Actions

Utility actions provide common functionality:

  • Delay: Wait for specified time
  • Error Handler: Handle errors
  • Retry: Retry failed actions
  • Log: Log messages for debugging
  • Comment: Add comments to workflow
  • Stop Workflow: Stop workflow execution

5.4 Data Actions

Data manipulation actions:

  • Parse JSON: Parse JSON data
  • Build JSON: Create JSON objects
  • String Functions: Manipulate strings
  • Math Functions: Perform calculations
  • Date Functions: Work with dates
  • Array Functions: Manipulate arrays

6. Workflow Examples

Here are practical workflow examples:

6.1 User Onboarding Workflow

Automate new user onboarding:

  1. Trigger: User created event
  2. Filter: Check if user is employee (not contractor)
  3. Assign to groups: Add user to default groups
  4. Assign applications: Assign standard applications
  5. Create accounts: Provision accounts in external systems
  6. Send notification: Email welcome message to user
  7. Notify IT: Send notification to IT team

6.2 User Offboarding Workflow

Automate user offboarding:

  1. Trigger: User deactivated event
  2. Unassign applications: Remove all application assignments
  3. Remove from groups: Remove user from all groups
  4. Deactivate accounts: Deactivate accounts in external systems
  5. Archive data: Archive user data
  6. Notify manager: Send notification to user's manager
  7. Create ticket: Create IT ticket for hardware return

6.3 Access Request Workflow

Automate access requests with approval:

  1. Trigger: API call or form submission
  2. Validate request: Check user eligibility
  3. Request approval: Send approval request to manager
  4. Wait for approval: Pause workflow until approved
  5. If approved: Assign application and notify user
  6. If denied: Notify user of denial

6.4 Group Sync Workflow

Sync groups between systems:

  1. Trigger: Scheduled (daily)
  2. Get users: Retrieve users from source system
  3. Loop through users: Process each user
  4. Check group membership: Compare groups in both systems
  5. Update groups: Add/remove users from groups as needed
  6. Log changes: Record all changes

6.5 Best Practices

  • Start with simple workflows and iterate
  • Test thoroughly before activating
  • Add error handling for all external calls
  • Use filters to avoid unnecessary executions
  • Document workflows with comments
  • Monitor workflow execution and errors
  • Use variables for reusable values
  • Implement retries for transient failures
  • Set up alerts for workflow failures
  • Review and optimize workflows regularly

Summary

OKTA Workflows provides a powerful no-code automation platform for automating identity and access management processes. Workflows consist of triggers, actions, and connectors that enable integration with external systems. Event-driven, scheduled, and API-triggered workflows can automate user lifecycle management, application provisioning, access requests, and many other processes. Understanding workflow concepts, connectors, triggers, and actions enables you to build effective automations that reduce manual work, improve consistency, and enhance security.

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