--- title: Introduction to Workflow Automation source: https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/workflow-automation/introduction-to-workflow --- Workflow Automation automates incident response and infrastructure management without code. Build workflows that respond to alerts, integrate with tools like AWS and Slack, and execute operational tasks automatically. ## Requirements To use Workflows, you need: - A New Relic account - Advanced Compute (aCCU) pricing plan > #### ⚠️ IMPORTANT > > Workflow Automation and secrets management are included with Advanced Compute (aCCU). If you're unsure whether you have aCCU, check your [account settings](https://one.newrelic.com/admin-portal/plan-info/home) or contact your account representative. ## Key benefits - **Faster incident response**: Automatically resize EC2 instances, roll back deployments, or restart services when alerts fire—no manual intervention required. - **Connect your tools**: Integrate New Relic with AWS, Slack, Jira, ServiceNow, and any HTTP API to send enriched alert data where your team works. - **Add approval gates**: Include human oversight in critical workflows—request team confirmation before scaling production infrastructure or executing rollbacks. - **Handle complexity**: Use conditional logic, loops, and data transformations to automate your unique operational processes. ## Get started Choose your path based on what you want to build: ### Use a template Deploy pre-configured workflows for common scenarios—sending reports to Slack, rolling back deployments, resizing EC2 instances, and more. 1. Browse [available templates](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/workflow-automation/create-a-workflow-automation/use-a-template). 2. Select a template that matches your use case. 3. Configure inputs (credentials, entity GUIDs, queries). 4. Deploy and test. ### Build custom workflow Build workflows from scratch using the drag-and-drop interface. Chain actions, add conditional logic, and integrate with your tools. 1. Review the [EC2 auto-resize example](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/workflow-automation/create-a-workflow-automation/create-your-own). 2. Understand workflow patterns (switches, loops, approvals). 3. Browse available [actions](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/workflow-automation/setup-and-configure/actions-catalog/actions-catalog). 4. Build incrementally and test each step. ### Set up integrations Configure credentials and notification channels so workflows can interact with external services. **AWS workflows**: [Set up AWS credentials](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/workflow-automation/setup-and-configure/set-up-aws-credentials) (IAM roles, users, or session tokens). **Notifications**: [Create destinations](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/workflow-automation/setup-and-configure/create-destinations) (Slack, email, webhooks). ## Trigger workflows You can start workflows in three ways: - **From alerts**: Automatically start workflows when alert conditions are breached - **On demand**: Manually trigger workflows via API when needed - **On schedule**: Run workflows automatically at specific times using cron expressions For alert-triggered workflows, see [Send notifications from workflows](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/workflow-automation/setup-and-configure/create-destinations#trigger-from-alerts). ![Workflow Automation interface showing workflow steps, triggers, and action configuration](https://docs.newrelic.com/images/workflow-automation-overview-2.webp "Create and manage workflows in New Relic") ## Common use cases | Category | Examples | | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Incident response** | Automatically resize EC2 instances when CPU usage is high, roll back failed deployments within minutes, restart services when error rates spike. | | **Infrastructure management** | Scale services on schedules, create and delete AWS resources, execute runbooks automatically when conditions are met. | | **Notifications** | Send enriched alerts to Slack with context and charts, generate scheduled reports as CSV, format data for dashboards. | | **Integrations** | Update Jira tickets when alerts fire, sync New Relic data to external dashboards, trigger third-party APIs based on conditions. | Browse the [workflow examples](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/workflow-automation/workflow-examples/workflow-examples) page for detailed scenarios and ready-to-use templates. ## User roles and permissions [#permissions] Workflow Automation access is controlled by specific RBAC permissions. The following tables show the capabilities granted to different roles at the account and organization scopes. ### Account-scoped permissions [#account-permissions] The following table shows the capabilities available for account-scoped roles: | Role | Capabilities | | ------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `standard_user``all_product_admin``billing_user` | - `workflow_automation.read.workflow_definitions` - `workflow_automation.create.workflow_definitions` - `workflow_automation.update.workflow_definitions` - `workflow_automation.delete.workflow_definitions` - `workflow_automation.start.workflow_run` - `workflow_automation.stop.workflow_run` - `workflow_automation.signal.workflow_run` - `workflow_automation.read.schedules` - `workflow_automation.create.schedules` - `workflow_automation.delete.schedules` | | `read_only` | - `workflow_automation.read.workflow_definitions` - `workflow_automation.read.schedules` | ### Organization-scoped permissions [#organization-permissions] The following table shows the capabilities available for organization-scoped roles: | Role | Capabilities | | ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `organization_manager` | - `workflow_automation_org_scoped.read.workflow_definitions` - `workflow_automation_org_scoped.create.workflow_definitions` - `workflow_automation_org_scoped.update.workflow_definitions` - `workflow_automation_org_scoped.delete.workflow_definitions` - `workflow_automation_org_scoped.start.workflow_run` - `workflow_automation_org_scoped.stop.workflow_run` - `workflow_automation_org_scoped.signal.workflow_run` - `workflow_automation_org_scoped.read.schedules` - `workflow_automation_org_scoped.create.schedules` - `workflow_automation_org_scoped.delete.schedules` | ### Additional requirement to run workflows [#run-permission] To run a workflow, you must also have the `account.create.own_api_keys` capability in the account. This permission allows the workflow engine to create a user API key on your behalf during execution. If you do not have this permission, the workflow run will fail with the error: `You do not have permission to create user API keys for this account.` Contact your account administrator to have this capability added to your role. ## Related topics [#related-topics] [Use a template](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/workflow-automation/create-a-workflow-automation/use-a-template) Deploy pre-configured workflows for common scenarios [Create your own workflow](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/workflow-automation/create-a-workflow-automation/create-your-own) Build custom workflows with conditional logic and integrations [Workflow entity overview](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/workflow-automation/manage-workflows/workflow-entity-overview) Trigger workflows from alerts, manually, or on a schedule [Actions catalog](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/workflow-automation/setup-and-configure/actions-catalog/actions-catalog) Browse all available actions for AWS, New Relic, Slack, and more