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Execution Lifecycle

Each time you open the Workflow Builder, B2Win Suite creates or resumes an Execution — a long-running process that manages the workflow's triggers, monitors for new iterations, and coordinates node processing. Understanding this lifecycle helps you develop and test workflows efficiently.

Execution States​

Running​

The workflow is active. Trigger nodes (schedulers, file listeners, HTTP triggers) are listening for events and will fire new iterations when their conditions are met. You can also start iterations manually using the Run button.

This is the normal state while you are working in the builder.

Stopped​

All active triggers are paused and the Run button is disabled. No new iterations will start. The workflow's state and history are preserved — nothing is lost when stopping.

To return to running state, click Start.

Reset​

Clicking Reset gives you two options:

  • Archive iterations — The current execution and all its iterations are archived and can still be viewed in the future. A new clean execution is created.
  • Discard iterations — The current iteration history is discarded. A new clean execution is created.

Archived executions remain accessible in the Workflow Manager for debugging and audit purposes.

Opening the Builder​

New workflow: When you open a newly created workflow, the execution starts automatically and the workflow enters the Running state.

Previously active workflow: If the workflow had active triggers the last time it was open, a dialog asks whether to resume those triggers:

  • Keep active — Triggers resume immediately.
  • Auto-disable — Triggers start in a disabled state; you can re-enable them manually.

Closing the Builder​

When you close the Workflow Builder tab or window, the execution enters a 5-second shutdown window and then stops. This prevents development-mode triggers (such as schedulers) from continuing to fire when no one is actively working on the workflow.

The workflow's state, configuration, and iteration history are all saved automatically — there is no manual save needed for the execution itself.

Development vs. Production​

The lifecycle described above applies to the development execution in the builder. When a workflow is deployed to production, a separate production execution is created and managed independently. Production executions continue running even when no one has the builder open, and they are monitored from the Workflow Manager.