Activity Outputs
Overview
Activity Outputs provide access to the values produced by activities that have already executed in the current workflow.
Whenever an activity exposes one or more output properties, those outputs become available to downstream activities through the Process Data Explorer, allowing data to flow naturally through the workflow without requiring intermediate variables.
Activity Outputs are available wherever the Process Data Explorer supports data binding.
How Activity Outputs Work
Many workflow activities return one or more output values after they complete.
These outputs can be consumed by downstream activities to:
- Pass data between workflow steps.
- Build expressions.
- Evaluate conditions.
- Populate Model Data.
- Configure integrations.
- Assign Workflow Outputs.
Although references to Activity Outputs are configured at design time, the values themselves are populated during workflow execution.
Available Activity Outputs
The Activity Outputs node displays only outputs that are available to the currently active activity.
The Process Data Explorer automatically:
- Displays activities that expose output values.
- Includes only activities that appear earlier in the execution path.
- Hides activities that cannot be referenced from the current location.
- Prevents activities from referencing their own outputs.
This ensures that workflows can reference only data that is available when the workflow executes.
The available Activity Outputs vary depending on the activity currently being configured and its position within the workflow.
Simple Outputs
Activities that return primitive values expose those values directly beneath the activity.
For example:
Get Employee
├── Employee Name
├── Employee Id
└── Department
Individual output values can be bound directly to compatible activity properties.
Complex Outputs
Activities may also return structured objects or collections.
In these cases, the Process Data Explorer displays the complete object hierarchy.
For example:
Get Employee
└── Employee
├── First Name
├── Last Name
├── Email
└── Address
├── City
└── Country
You can bind either:
- The complete object.
- Individual properties within the object.
Using Activity Outputs
Activity Outputs can be referenced anywhere the Process Data Explorer is available.
Typical uses include:
- Passing data between workflow activities.
- Populating Model Data.
- Calling external services.
- Building expressions.
- Configuring conditions.
- Assigning Workflow Outputs.
The designer validates data types automatically and prevents incompatible bindings.
Activity Outputs and Model Data
Although both are available through the Process Data Explorer, they serve different purposes.
| Data | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Activity Outputs | Temporary values returned by previously executed activities. |
| Model Data | Workflow state maintained throughout the workflow execution. |
If an output value will be used only by the next activity, it is often sufficient to reference the Activity Output directly.
If the value needs to be reused later in the workflow or updated over time, consider storing it in Model Data.
Runtime Behavior
Activity Outputs exist only for the lifetime of the current workflow execution.
The Process Data Explorer displays references to these outputs during design time, while the actual values are populated dynamically as each activity executes.
Because Activity Outputs depend on execution order, only outputs from upstream activities are available for binding.
Best Practices
- Use Activity Outputs for short-lived values passed between activities.
- Store values in Model Data when they need to be reused throughout the workflow.
- Prefer binding directly to Activity Outputs instead of creating unnecessary intermediate variables.
- Use complex outputs directly when downstream activities accept compatible object types.