Manage workflow cases

Last updated: October 14, 2026Applies to current supported NIM releases

Workflows · Cases

See every request at a glance, find out what it waits for, and get a stuck case moving again.

A case is one request running through a published workflow configuration. NIM administrators manage cases in Studio, on the Cases tab of Configuration → Workflows. Supervisors who are not administrators manage cases from a NIM App: see Workflows in Apps.

Find a case

Open the Cases tab. The Workflow cases grid shows the newest case first:

Column	Shows
Case	The first eight characters of the case ID.
Subject	What the case is about.
Configuration and Definition	What the case runs on.
Status	The status, followed by the blocked reason, if any.
Waiting for	The open steps.
Started by	The initiator. Hover to see the e-mail address.
Started and Changed	When the case started and when it last changed.

Use the grid filter to narrow the list. Select the edit icon (Open the case) to open the case details.

Start a case from Studio

To test a configuration without its start form:

1. On the Cases tab, select Start case.
2. Choose the Configuration. Only published configurations are listed.
3. Select Start.

The case starts with you as the initiator and no start form data. Normally, cases are started from the start form App.

Open a case

The case details show Case with its short ID, the subject, the configuration and definition, the status, who started it, and the version. Use Refresh to reload and Close to return to the list.

Steps under way

The Steps under way grid lists the open and failed steps. Completed and withdrawn steps are not shown.

Column	Shows
Step	The step.
Performed by	The App, the nim service, the clock with its due time, a message from a participant, or the nim service, sending a message to a participant.
State	waiting, waiting for the service, waiting for the message, waiting for its moment, the service is running it, or failed with its reason.
Since	When the step appeared.

When the case waits for nobody, the grid shows This case is not waiting for anybody.

Case data and history

The Case data grid shows each Variable (an asterisk marks a required one), its Type, its Value, and its Description. The History grid shows the newest event first, with When, What, Step, Detail, and Who.

What a case holds

Part	Contents
Version	The published version of the configuration the case runs on, such as Access request@3.
Initiator	Who started the case: NIM user ID, login name, and e-mail address, recorded at the start. Empty when the case was started by the service or the API without a user.
Subject and result	Texts built from the case data with the configuration's Case subject and Case result templates.
Case data	The current value of every case variable, including the built-in variables.
Steps under way	The work items the case waits for.
Participants	The people resolved from case variables while the case runs.
History	Every event of the case, oldest to newest.

Case status

Show states and history reference

Status	Meaning
running	The case waits for a person, the service, a message, or a moment. A running case can be blocked: it waits for a correction, for example because a gateway found no branch for the case data. The reason is shown with the status.
stuck	Nothing can continue, while the case has not finished.
completed	Every path reached an end event.
cancelled	A supervisor cancelled the case. All open steps were withdrawn.

Step states

Show states and history reference

Each step under way is a work item in one of these states:

State	Meaning
open	Waiting for a performer, a message, or a moment.
running	The NIM service is running the step's actions.
completed	Done.
withdrawn	No longer needed, for example because a boundary event or a cancelling join took over, or the case was cancelled.
failed	An action, mail, or participant lookup failed. The step waits until a supervisor runs it again.

When the NIM service stops while a service task is running, NIM marks that step as failed: The service stopped while this step was running; check whether it happened before running it again.

History

Show states and history reference

The history records these kinds of events, each with its time, step, detail, and the user who caused it:

Kind	Recorded when
started	The case started.
work_item_created, work_item_started, work_item_completed, work_item_withdrawn, work_item_failed, work_item_retried	A step was handed out, started, completed, withdrawn, failed, or run again.
task_fired	The process moved past a gateway or event.
participant_resolved	NIM looked up who a participant is, including when a fallback stood in.
data_amended	A supervisor corrected a case variable, recorded as name: 'old' -> 'new'.
blocked	The case could not continue.
notified	NIM mailed someone about the case, or explains why it did not.
completed, cancelled	The case ended. A cancellation records the reason.

When a delegate completes a step, the history shows who did it on behalf of whom.

Act on a case

As an administrator, you can move a case along from its details.

Perform a user step

For an open user task, the Steps under way grid shows one button per outcome, such as Approved or Rejected, and Perform:

• Select an outcome button to complete the step with that outcome.
• Select Perform to open Perform step, then select Complete step.

An administrator who completes a step is recorded as the performer, not as acting on behalf of anyone.

Send a message

For an open message event, select Send. NIM asks: Send the message '…'? A step that waited beside it is withdrawn. Use this, for example, to withdraw a request for its initiator.

Run a failed step again

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Failed step

Run a failed step again

Resolution

1. Fix the cause first: for example, correct the target system, the script, the mail settings, or the case data.
2. Select Run again on the step. NIM runs the step again and records work_item_retried.

Check for partial execution

Check whether a failed service task did part of its work before you run it again. For example, an account may already have been created before a later action failed.

Correct the data of a blocked case

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Blocked case

Correct the data of a blocked case

What you see

The reason is shown in red with a Correct data button.

Resolution

1. Select Correct data.
2. Choose the case variable and enter the new value.
3. Select Amend.

NIM records the change as data_amended and tries to continue the case.

Cancel a case

Studio has no Cancel button. To cancel a case, use the Cancel workflow case action in a supervisor App. It withdraws every open step, sets the status to cancelled, and records the reason in the history. A finished case cannot be cancelled.

Delete cases

Select Delete in the case details, or the delete icon in the list. You can select several cases in the list and delete them together. Deleting removes the case and its history permanently. Only administrators can delete cases, from Studio.

caution

Deleting a case is not the same as cancelling it. Delete only test cases or cases you no longer need to account for: the history is gone afterward.

Related guides

• Workflows in Apps — give supervisors tools to correct, retry, and cancel cases.
• Validation reference — resolve drawing and configuration findings.

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