Clio Operate processes workflows through a set of dedicated processing streams. Each stream is assigned a priority level that determines how quickly workflows on that stream are processed.
Overview
High-priority streams serve interactive, user-facing workflows. Lower-priority streams handle background tasks and scheduled processes. Separating these workloads prevents background processing from affecting system responsiveness for users.
Priorities are assigned automatically based on rules that analyse how each workflow is triggered and used. Configurators can override the assignment on any workflow where the default behaviour needs adjusting.
The five priority streams
| 1 | Interactive processing workflows | Selected for workflows that generate tasks and which users interact with in a single process flow on a single case. |
| 2 | High priority workflows | Selected for workflows where users may be interacting with several activities on a single case. |
| 3 | Normal priority workflows | Default processing queue for all existing workflows and the default for all new workflows. |
| 4 | Low priority workflows | Selected for workflows where there is no direct user involvement, such as those waiting on the next stage in a case or task. |
| 5 | Scheduled processing | Selected for workflows or processes where large numbers of events need to be collected but no immediate processing is required. |
Automatic Priority Assigning
The system calculates a workflow's priority when any of the following occurs:
- A workflow trigger is changed.
- A workflow is changed.
- A workflow is added to a menu, data load, or bulk action.
The following rules are evaluated in order. The first rule that matches determines the priority assigned.
| Condition | Assigned priority | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Called from a menu with a completion message | Priority 1 — Interactive processing workflows | Workflows triggered directly by a user from a menu. |
| High-priority script plans | Priority 1 — Interactive processing workflows | Specific script plans identified by the system as high priority (for example, Work Item Merge and Legal Form Handler). |
| Other script plans | Priority 4 — Low priority workflows | All other script plans. This priority cannot be overridden. |
| Bulk action | Priority 4 — Low priority workflows | Workflows called from a bulk action. |
| Data table upload | Priority 4 — Low priority workflows | Workflows called from a data table upload. |
| Maintenance plan (only trigger) | Priority 5 — Scheduled processing | Workflows triggered solely by a maintenance plan. |
| No rule matches | Priority 3 — Normal priority workflows | Default for all new workflows. |
Sub-workflows
When a workflow creates triggers to execute its steps, those triggers use the same stream as the parent workflow. Sub-workflows inherit the priority of the parent and cannot be assigned a different stream.
Configure priorities
Default priorities are configured in the Execution Engine Global Feature. The table above explains the default priorities and levels.
Manually Override Priority
Configurators can override the auto-assigned priority on any visual workflow.
Script plans (other than identified high-priority plans) are always assigned Priority 4. This cannot be overridden.
Override the priority on a workflow
- Modeller > Workflow > Edit the workflow.
- In the Plan tab the Execution Priority section states that the priority has been automatically calculated.
- Select Click here to override.
- The dropdown shows the system-calculated priority as the current selection. If no rule matched, this defaults to Priority 3.
- Select a priority from the dropdown. Each option displays the priority name and description so you can choose the correct level.
- Save the workflow.
Revert to the auto-calculated priority
- Modeller > Workflow > Edit the workflow.
- In the Plan tab the Execution Priority section states it has been overridden.
- Select Click here to Revert.
- The system recalculates the priority based on the current rules.
- Save the workflow.
Execution Engine Active List
Admin > Diagnostics > Workflow
Workflow priority is available as a column in the workflow list view. You can sort and filter the list by priority. This is useful for reviewing stream assignments across all workflows in a configuration, or for identifying workflows where a manual override may be needed.