Inputs
None.Outputs
Reference the actor in a later block as
{{ steps.manual_run.actor }} and the start time as {{ steps.manual_run.timestamp }}.
Behavior
Manual run fires once each time you start it from the editor. Each click produces exactly one run. The trigger carries no record or list entry. As a result, later blocks can only read the actor and the timestamp. They get nothing about a specific company, person, or deal. The run begins with no working set, that is, no records to act on. So a useful workflow built on this trigger almost always opens with a Find records or Find list entries block that defines what to operate on. From there the run behaves like any other. Blocks execute in order, and a Loop block iterates over the records you fetched.Gotchas
- No record reaches the workflow. Manual run passes only the actor and timestamp. A block that expects a record receives nothing, so the run fails. Open the workflow with a Find records block, or switch to a trigger that carries a record.
- The run cannot act on the record you are viewing. Manual run has no record context, so it never targets the open record. Use Record command to add a Run workflow button to a record instead.
- The run cannot act on the list entry you are viewing. Manual run has no list entry context either, so it never targets the open entry. Use List entry command to run the workflow from a single entry.
Examples
Sweeping records that need attention
Start a maintenance flow by hand to confirm it works before you move it onto a schedule.
Clicking the Run test button fetches the matching deals. It then creates one task per deal, so you can verify the logic before swapping in a Recurring schedule trigger.
Testing a webhook-style flow without an inbound call
Use a manual start to dry-run the processing half of a webhook workflow while you build it.
Running it on demand confirms the lookup and write behave as expected. You can later replace Manual run with a Webhook received trigger and trust the downstream blocks.