Build Workflows
Important
Some context (right-click) menu options are not available for Basic users. These are identified as "Full User".
A workflow consists of connected tools that perform different functions to process data. When you build a workflow, you do so by adding and connecting tools on the canvas. You also configure those tools and workflow properties. To build a new workflow, select File > New Workflow.
Workflow connections move in a downstream direction, vertically or horizontally, based on the workflow layout you choose in the Workflow Configuration window.
Add or Remove Tools
To add a tool to a workflow, select any tool from the tool palette and drag it onto the workflow canvas, or right-click the workflow to access a menu to insert tools. Go to Tool Categories for more information.
To remove a tool from a workflow, select the tool and use the Delete key on your keyboard. You can also right-click the tool and select Delete.
Connect Tools
To connect tools in a workflow, drag a tool from the tool palette onto the canvas near the output anchor of another tool. You can also drag the output anchor from an existing tool to the tool you just added.
Connections enter through the left side (or top) of a tool and exit through the right side (or bottom) of a tool. Some tools accept multiple inputs indicated by multiple input anchors. Some tools have optional inputs indicated by a gray input anchor. All tools with an output anchor can be output to multiple streams.
Select a tool to display the incoming and outgoing connector indicators. The connector input to a tool is green, and the connector output from a tool is blue.
Select the connection and use the Delete key on your keyboard, or right-click and select Delete Connection. Downstream tools are not deleted.
Select the connection and use the Connection Configuration window to select the Wireless checkbox. Alternatively, right-click the connection on the canvas and select Make Connection Wireless. When wireless, the connection arrows are set to be invisible. Input and output anchors are marked with a wireless symbol to indicate a wireless connection. The color of the bars is indicative of how many connections are coming into or out of the anchor. One bar indicates 1 connection, 2 bars indicate 2 connections, and 3 bars indicate 3 or more connections.
Connections with a staple can also be made wireless. Both sides of a connection with a staple are made wireless together. If 1 or more connections are not wireless, the staple is visible. If all connections are wireless, then the staple also disappears.
Preview Feature
Connection Staples are in Preview during the 2025.2 release and require a Full User role.
Connection Staples are a new visual and functional enhancement in Designer that lets you group and organize connections between tools on the canvas. Staples visually group related tool connections, reducing clutter and helping users quickly identify which tools work together as part of a logical process. Staples are lightweight, non-intrusive, and do not affect the logic or execution of the workflow.
Connection Staples Limitations
There are several important limitations to be aware of when you use connection staples:
Staples are not compatible with older versions of Designer. This means that if you add connection staples in Designer 25.2, those staples are not supported when the workflow is opened in a previous version of Designer.
Staples don't work with a single connection. You must select at least 2 connections.
Staples don't connect to Interface tools and In-Database tools.
You can't add new connections to existing staples.
There are no staple configuration options, and you can't add annotations to staples.
Staples do not work with more than 20 tool connections.
To add a Connection Staple...
Select at least 2 or more connections and right-click to open the connection context menu. The connections can be from the same or different tools, and there is no limit on the number of connections that you can staple.
Select Add Connection Staple (Preview). The selected connections are grouped into a "staple" on the canvas.
Once a connection staple is in place, select a tool to see which connection from the input/output of the staple it is associated with. Additionally, when a staple is on the canvas, you can access the staple's context menu by right-clicking on the staple. The context menu has these options:
Zoom: Select to...
Zoom In
Zoom Normal: Return to the default zoom level.
Zoom Out
All: Zoom to fit all tools in the window.
Selected tools: Zoom to fit all selected tools in the window.
Make Connections Wireless: All connections going through the staple are made wireless.
Remove Connection Staple (Preview): Select one or more staples to delete the staple and rewire the connections.
Select the connection and change its color using the Line section of the Connection Configuration window. Alternatively, select the connection on the canvas and right-click it to select Change Connection Color.
Please note that this is a workflow-level setting, and it overrides your connection color settings in User Settings > Themes > Connection Settings. Custom connection colors don't work in Designer versions prior to 2024.2, but will not break your workflows.
There are several options for inserting tools into an existing connection:
Right-click the connection and select Insert in Connection, then select a tool.
Drag a tool from the tool palette or anywhere on the canvas and hover over an existing connection. You can also drag multiple selected tools on the canvas into an existing connection.
Right-click the output anchor and select Insert After, then select a tool.
You can use the Paste in Connection option to insert a tool or group of tools into an existing connection. To access this option...
First, select and copy a tool or group of tools on the canvas.
Next, right-click on an existing connection and select Paste Tools in Connection. The copied tools are inserted into the connection. Note that you can also drag the selected tools over a connection to insert them.
The original connection automatically disconnects between the 2 tools and makes 2 new connections: one for input and one for output. The downstream tool shifts automatically based on the length of the grouped tools. Additionally, only open anchors can get new connections.
If you make a mistake while inserting a group of tools into a connection, you can use the Undo (Ctrl+Z) option in the toolbar.
You can view a list of possible tool connections and make multiple connections at the same time. This is useful for connecting multiple data inputs to a single downstream tool.
To make multiple connections...
Select a tool on the canvas. If the tool accepts both an input and output, specifically select the input anchor or output anchor of the tool to determine the list of possible connections to or from that anchor.
Right-click the selected anchor and select View Possible Connections.
In the Possible Connections window, select one or more tools from the Output Connections list to connect to one or more tools from the Input Connections list.
Under Connection Type, select whether to make the connection Wired or Wireless.
Select Connect.
If you view possible connections for multiple selected tools, only valid connections from output to input anchors are shown.
Double-click any connection to view and modify its properties in the Configuration window:
Name: Enter a name for the connection.
Wireless: Select to set a connection to wireless.
Line: Select the "..." button to choose a custom color for the connection.
Fields: In the table, view data going through the connection.
For wireless connections, a wireless connection icon 
with colored bars indicates the number of connections coming into or out of an anchor:
1 bar equals 1 connection.
2 bars equal 2 connections.
3 bars equal 3 or more connections.
The connection becomes invisible unless the tool is selected.
Workflow Tab Right-Click Options
Select a workflow tab on the canvas to open it, then right-click the tab to display a menu with these options:
Close: Close the workflow.
Close All But This: Close all open workflows except this one.
Close All: Close all open workflows.
Duplicate: Create a duplicate of this workflow.
Designer can change path dependencies from relative to absolute. Go to Workflow Dependencies for more information.
Tool Right-Click Options
Select a tool on the canvas, then right-click to display a menu with these options:
Cut: Cut the selected tool from the canvas.
Copy: Copy the selected tool.
Delete: Delete the selected tool.
Zoom: Select to...
Zoom In
Zoom Normal: Cancel zoom.
Zoom Out
All: Zoom to fit all tools in the window.
Selected tools: Zoom to fit all selected tools in the window.
View Possible Connections: View a list of possible tool connections to or from a selected tool.
Add to New Container: Add the selected tools to a Container tool. For more information, go to Tool Container Tool.
Add to New Control Container: Add the selected tools to a Control Container tool. For more information, go to Control Container Tool.
Bring to Front: If tools are overlapping, send the selected tool to the front. This is useful for layering Comment boxes or ordering overlapping tool annotations. For more information, go to Comment Tool.
Send to Back: If tools are overlapping, send the selected tool to the back. This is useful for layering Comment boxes or ordering overlapping tool annotations. For more information, go to Comment Tool.
Toggle between Make Outgoing Connections Wired and Make Outgoing Connections Wireless to change how the connections display. Input and output anchors with a wireless connection display the wireless connection icon, which presents colored bars indicating the number of connections coming into or out of an anchor (connection becomes invisible unless the tool is selected):
1 bar equals 1 connection.
2 bars equal 2 connections.
3 bars equal 3 or more connections.
(Full User) Convert to Macro: Convert all or part of your workflow to a macro. Go to Convert to Macro to read about important limitations and instructions.
(Full User) Cache and Run Workflow: Runs the workflow and caches all data up to the selected tool.
To cache a tool...
Right-click the tool.
Select Cache and Run Workflow. Alteryx creates multiple cache points simultaneously. You can work with multiple cache points by holding down the Control key and clicking individual cache points.
Notes and Limitations:
Please note that not all tools can be cached:
The tool can have a maximum of 5 output anchors and it can't be part of a loop.
In-DB tools, Machine Learning tools, and Python tools can't be cached.
You can use multiple caches in a single workflow.
When you interact with a tool that has been cached, you can view the tool's configuration without clearing the cache. However, changing the tool's configuration releases the cached data.
Alteryx clears caches when you close the workflow.
(Full User) Clear Cache: Remove a cache. To clear the cache for a tool...
Right-click the tool.
Select Clear Cache. Alteryx clears multiple cache points simultaneously. To clear the cache on one or more tools individually, select the tool or tools, and then right-click to view the menu.
(Full User) Run Until Selected Tool: This option is available via the AMP engine only and lets you partially execute your workflow up until a specific tool. It's particularly useful during workflow development and testing since it lets you test and modify specific sections without the need to run the entire workflow.
When you select Run Until Selected Tool, the workflow runs immediately, and any tools after the selected tool are displayed as inactive in the workflow.
You can apply this option to multiple tools in a workflow as long as they are part of separate data streams. To do so, select multiple tools (hold the Ctrl key and select each tool on the canvas), right-click on one of the selected tools, and select Run Until Selected Tool.
This setting is compatible with cached workflows.
To clear the inactive tool overlay, run the entire workflow via the Run button or the Ctrl+R keyboard shortcut.
(Full User) Convert to Macro Input: Convert a selected input tool to a Macro Input tool.
Insert After: Select a tool to insert after the selected tool. Go to Tool Categories for more information.
Add Browse After: Add a Browse tool after the selected tool. If the selected tool has multiple output anchors, an option to add a Browse tool to each output will be available.
Open Macro: If the tool is a macro, select this option to open the underlying macro in a new workflow tab. You can also double-click the tool on the canvas to open the macro.
Properties: Place the focus on the Configuration window for the selected tool.
Select 2 or more tools to see alignment options:
Align Horizontally: The selected tools align horizontally with the selected tool that was placed on the canvas first.
Align Vertically: The selected tools align vertically with the selected tool that was placed on the canvas first.
Select 3 or more tools to see distribution options:
Distribute Horizontally: The selected tools are arranged to have even space between them along the horizontal axis.
Distribute Vertically: The selected tools are arranged to have even space between them along the vertical axis.
Tool Double-click Options
Certain tools on the workflow canvas give you quick access to additional features via a double-click. This option is available for the Browse tool and any tools that are macros:
Macros: Double-click the tool icon (on the canvas) for a tool that is a macro to open the underlying macro workflow in a new workflow tab and quickly inspect the macro details.
Browse tool: Double-click the Browse tool icon (on the canvas) to open the dataset in a new Results window and quickly investigate the workflow data.
Annotate a Workflow
Add annotations to individual tools in the tool Configuration window > Annotation, or add a Comment tool to the workflow. Refer to these resources for more information:
Canvas Options
Run Workflow: Run the workflow. You can also use Ctrl+R to run the workflow. The icon changes to Stop Workflow while the workflow is running.
Stop Workflow: Stop the workflow. You can also use Ctrl+R to stop the workflow.
Run As Analytic App: Run the analytic application.
Add Workflow to Schedule: Schedule workflows to run at specific times and frequencies.
Active Documents: Show open workflows, apps, or macros.
New Blank Workflow: Create a new workflow (.yxmd).
Zoom In: Increase the normal zoom by 3/2.
Zoom Out: Decrease the normal zoom by 2/3.
Copy and Paste
To control where an item pastes onto the canvas, select the item, copy it (Ctrl+C), select where you want to paste the item, and then paste it (Ctrl+V). Designer pastes the item at the same point as the cursor.
Save Files
Designer prompts you to save unsaved workflows when you have one or more unsaved workflows and you attempt to exit the application. Designer displays Save changes to the following workflows? and provides these options:
Save Selected: Select the workflows you want to save and then select Save Selected. Designer saves the selected workflows and closes. Any workflows you do not select are not saved.
Discard Changes: Select Discard Changes to discard all changes and exit without saving.
Cancel: Select Cancel to return to the canvas.