What are Nova Workflows?
Nova Workflows are complex, multi-step automations that Nova builds for you. They can branch based on conditions (AND/OR logic), follow multiple decision paths depending on what happens, and connect with your other tools, like Gmail, Slack, or Salesforce, to keep work moving across systems automatically.
Because Nova has access to UpKeep’s full set of APIs, a workflow can do virtually anything you can describe — from routing requests by location, to updating asset status when conditions are met, to running scheduled maintenance tasks.
How are Workflows different from Nova Apps?
Just like Nova Apps, you build a Workflow by describing what you want to Nova in chat, and Nova writes the logic for you — so building a workflow does use credits. But once built, the workflow itself is not AI. It runs on hard-coded logic: “when this happens, do this, then this, check this, do that.” It’s durable and repeatable — it won’t hallucinate or behave inconsistently.
The one exception is if you deliberately add an AI step into a workflow — for example, a step that drafts an email, writes a work order description, or reviews a work order and suggests a PM. Anywhere you need judgment or generated content, add an AI step. Everywhere else, the workflow stays hard-coded and predictable.
Another key difference: Workflows are account-level, not personal. Only admins can build and manage them, because a workflow doesn’t just run for you — once published, it applies across the whole account and affects everyone the moment it triggers. You can scope a workflow with filters (for example, limiting it to a specific location), but it fundamentally operates account-wide.
What can a Workflow do?
Trigger on events — like a new request being submitted.
Trigger on a schedule — for example, the first of every month, every day at 5pm, or every Friday at 3am.
Branch with conditions — including OR logic across multiple values (e.g., “if location is Los Angeles OR Melbourne”), which previously required a separate Automated Workflow for each condition.
Take multiple actions in parallel — such as sending a Slack notification and assigning a team, from the same trigger.
Integrate with your connected tools — if your Nova is integrated with Gmail, Slack, Salesforce, etc., a workflow can use those integrations as steps (e.g., posting to a specific Slack channel, emailing specific recipients — including people outside UpKeep).
Include AI steps where judgment is needed — like naming a record, drafting content, or making a recommendation, while keeping the rest of the logic deterministic.
All supported triggers are listed in the FAQ of this article.
Building a Workflow
Open Nova Chat and describe the workflow you want, just like you would with a Nova App.
Nova reviews your request and writes the workflow logic for you.
Review the resulting workflow diagram, which shows the trigger, conditions, and actions as connected steps (gray nodes mark the end of a decision branch).
To make changes, describe the edit you want (e.g., “add a step that assigns damage-related requests to a specific person”) — Nova reviews the whole workflow and updates it accordingly.
Just like apps, you can save your progress and return to previous versions.
Publishing a Workflow
New workflows start unpublished by default, so they can’t accidentally trigger while you’re still building or testing. A workflow only goes live account-wide once you explicitly click Publish. If you never publish it, it won’t run — and you can delete it at any time.
Troubleshooting a Workflow
If a workflow isn't behaving the way you expected, you don't have to start from scratch. Every workflow keeps a run history, so you can see exactly what happened each time it triggered — which path it took, what conditions it hit, and where things went sideways.
Spot something off? Click Fix with Nova, describe what should have happened instead, and Nova will adjust the workflow for you.
Integrating other tools
To connect a tool (like Gmail, Slack, or Salesforce) for use in a workflow, go into Nova Chat and select “Connect your tools to Nova,” then follow the prompts to connect it. If you need a tool that isn’t currently supported, let your UpKeep contact know or reach out to our Support team at [email protected] — new integrations are always being added.
FAQ
Do Workflows replace Automated Workflows? No — they’re a separate system. Automated Workflows still exist; Nova Workflows offer a more flexible option for complex logic that Automated Workflows can’t handle (like multi-condition branching).
Who has access to Nova Workflows? Nova workflows are available on all paid plans but only full admins have the ability to build workflows. Once built the workflow will apply anytime the conditions are met.
Does building a workflow cost credits? Yes, building or editing a workflow with Nova consumes credits, since Nova is doing the work of writing the logic. Once built, running the workflow itself doesn’t involve AI unless you’ve added an AI step.
Can a workflow run for just one location or team? Yes — you can add filters to scope a workflow’s conditions (for example, only routing or notifying for a specific location), even though the workflow itself is account-wide.
Is there drag-and-drop editing? Not currently — the workflow diagram is a visual representation of the logic, not an interactive editor. Changes are made by describing them to Nova in chat.
Which triggers are supported?
Work Orders
A work order is created
A work order is updated
A work order's status changes
A work order is deleted
A custom field on a work order changes
PM / Recurring Work Orders
A recurring work order is created
A recurring work order is updated
A recurring work order is deleted
Work Order Schedules
A work order schedule is created
A work order schedule is updated
A work order schedule's status changes
A work order schedule is deleted
Purchase Orders
A purchase order is created
A purchase order is updated
A purchase order is deleted
A purchase order is approved
A purchase order is declined
Requests
A request is created
A request is updated
A request is approved
A request is rejected
Checklists
A checklist item is updated