Custom Notifications by Workflow Step

🎯 Objective

In this article, you will learn how to configure custom notifications for specific moments of the workflow, understand the language rules for sending messages, and know how these notifications behave in the context of documents — including priorities, delivery channels, and responsibility transfers.

Este artigo contém as seções:

• What are Custom Notifications by Step?
• How to configure Custom Notifications
• Language rules
• Behavior in the document
• Frequently asked questions
   

💡 What are Custom Notifications by Step?

Notifications by step allow administrators to configure customized announcements for specific moments of the flow, ensuring that the involved users receive clear and contextualized instructions regarding the document and the workflow stage.

The main benefits are:

• Contextualized communication: the recipient knows exactly what needs to be done, why they are being notified, and who the current assignees are to direct follow-ups;
• Multilingual messages: the information is sent in the preferred language of each user registered on the platform — Portuguese, English, or Spanish.

💡 Learn also about Flow Notifications, which work complementarily to this feature.
 

🛠️ How to configure Custom Notifications

To configure custom notifications in a workflow template, follow these steps:

1. Access the workflow configuration tab within the editing area of the desired template.
2. Click on "Configure notifications" in the upper right corner — the same component used for general flow notifications.
3. Navigate to the "Customize by steps" tab.
4. View the notifications already configured or click on "Configure notification by step".
   
   

5. Define the Recipients: choose between the document Author, specific Users, Teams, or Management properties (of User and Team types) for variable recipients per document.
6. Choose the steps in the "Send to steps" field: check one or more steps that will trigger the notification.
7. Define the Sending Moment: choose between When starting the step, When completing the step, or When rejecting the step. Each custom notification triggers at a single moment.
8. Write the Message: insert plain text (1,000-character limit) in each available language tab — Portuguese, English, or Spanish. It is mandatory to fill in at least one language.
   
   

9. Save and publish the changes to apply the new rules to the workflow.
    

🌐 Language rules

The delivery of custom messages respects the following translation priority order:

1. The user receives the message in the language configured in their personal profile, if there is a corresponding message (Portuguese, English, or Spanish);
2. If there is no message in the user's language, they receive the message in the general company language configured in the environment;
3. As a last resort, the user receives the message in the available registered language if no other translations are included.
    

⚙️ Behavior in the document

When the configured triggers occur in created documents, notifications are dispatched to the recipients. Check the behavior rules:

• New activity notification: if the recipient of the custom notification at the beginning of the step is also the assignee for the step, the customized message will be sent along with the standard new activity email.
• Sending to observers: if the recipient is only an observer (not an assignee), they will receive the custom notification as a new independent email.
• Priority when starting a step: if there is a configuration for both a general "Step Start" notification and a custom notification for the same recipient, the system will give priority to the custom message — only that one will be sent.
• Delivery channels (Slack vs. email): the delivery respects the environment integrations. If the Slack integration is active, the alert is sent via Slack; otherwise, it is sent by email.
• Grouping parallel steps: if more than one parallel step covered by the same notification is opened simultaneously by a single action, the system will send a single grouped communication, listing all involved steps.
• Responsibility transfers: in permanent transfers (deleted user), notifications start going to the definitive substitute. In temporary transfers (vacation), only tasks are redirected — custom notifications continue to be sent to the original user.
   

❓ Frequently asked questions

Can a custom notification be configured for more than one step at the same time?
Yes. In the "Send to steps" field, it is possible to select multiple steps that will trigger the same notification.

Is it mandatory to fill out the message in all three languages?
No. It is mandatory to fill in at least one language. For unfilled languages, the system applies the priority order described in the language rules section.

Does a custom notification replace the general step start notification?
Yes, when both are configured for the same recipient. The system prioritizes the custom message and sends only that one, avoiding duplicate communications.

What happens if Slack is integrated into the environment?
The alert is sent via Slack instead of email. The delivery channel always respects the active integration in the client's environment.

Do custom notifications work for all workflow step types?
The functionality covers step start, completion, and rejection moments. Each notification is configured to trigger at only one of these moments.