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This guide walks you through building a simple authorization workflow from scratch. By the end, you will have a working workflow that authorizes a payment and sends notifications on every possible outcome.

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Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:
  • Access to the admin portal with permissions to create workflows.
  • At least one payment provider configured for authorization.

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What You Will Build

A workflow that:
  1. Receives an authorization request.
  2. Sends the authorization to a payment provider.
  3. Handles every possible outcome (Completed, Paused, Requested, and Updated).
  4. Sends a notification on each terminal path.

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Step 1: Create a New Workflow

  1. Navigate to Workflow Studio in the admin portal sidebar.
  2. Click Create Workflow to open a new, empty canvas.
  3. Give your workflow a description to describe its purpose, such as “Basic Authorization”.

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Step 2: Select a Payment Method

  1. Navigate to Workflows settings in the top left of the canvas and select Payment Options.
  2. Click Select Payment Options and select Card.
  3. Click Done and Continue Editing to go back to the canvas with your selection.

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Step 3: Add the Start Authorize Trigger

Every workflow begins with a trigger. For an authorization workflow, you need the Start Authorize trigger.
  1. Open the step menu by clicking the Add step button on the canvas.
  2. Under Triggers, select Start Authorize.
  3. The trigger step appears on the canvas. This is the entry point of your workflow — it fires whenever an authorization request is received.

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Step 4: Add the Authorize Action

Next, add the action that performs the actual authorization.
  1. Click the Add step button again.
  2. Under Actions, select Authorize.
  3. The Authorize step appears on the canvas.
  4. Draw a connection line from the Start Authorize trigger to the Authorize action by dragging from the trigger’s output to the action’s input.

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Step 5: Configure the Authorize Step

The Authorize action supports provider selection, so you need to specify which payment provider should handle the authorization.
  1. Click on the Authorize step to open its settings panel.
  2. In the settings panel, select your payment provider from the provider dropdown.
  3. Close the settings panel.

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Step 6: Handle the Outcomes

The Authorize action has four possible outcomes: Completed, Paused, Requested, and Updated. Each outcome represents a different result from the payment provider, and you need to handle every one of them. You can see the four outcome connection points on the Authorize step. Each one needs a path leading to a next step.

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Handle the Completed Outcome

The Completed outcome means the authorization finished successfully.
  1. Click Add step and select Notify from the Actions section.
  2. Draw a connection line from the Completed outcome on the Authorize step to the new Notify step.
  3. Click on the Notify step to open its settings panel and configure the notification for a successful authorization.

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Handle the Paused Outcome

The Paused outcome means the authorization is waiting for an external event (such as a shopper action) before it can continue.
  1. Add another Notify step to the canvas.
  2. Draw a connection line from the Paused outcome to this Notify step.
  3. Configure the notification to indicate the authorization is paused and awaiting further action.

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Handle the Requested Outcome

The Requested outcome means the authorization has been submitted to the provider and is pending processing.
  1. Add another Notify step to the canvas.
  2. Draw a connection line from the Requested outcome to this Notify step.
  3. Configure the notification to indicate the authorization has been requested.

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Handle the Updated Outcome

The Updated outcome means the authorization received a status update from the provider.
  1. Add another Notify step to the canvas.
  2. Draw a connection line from the Updated outcome to this Notify step.
  3. Configure the notification to indicate the authorization has been updated.

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Step 7: Review Your Workflow

Your completed workflow should look like this:
Where C = Completed, P = Paused, R = Requested, U = Updated, and N1-N4 are Notify steps. Verify the following:
  • The Start Authorize trigger is connected to the Authorize action.
  • Every outcome on the Authorize step has a connection line leading to a Notify step.
  • There are no unconnected outcomes or orphaned steps on the canvas.

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Step 8: Save and Activate

  1. Click Save to save your workflow.
  2. Review the workflow one more time to confirm all connection lines are correct.
  3. When you are ready, activate the workflow to make it live.
Save your workflow before activating it. You can deactivate a workflow at any time if you need to make changes.

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Summary

You have built a complete authorization workflow that:
  • Handles cards as a payment method.
  • Starts when an authorization request is received (Start Authorize trigger).
  • Sends the authorization to a payment provider (Authorize action with provider selection).
  • Handles all four possible outcomes (Completed, Paused, Requested, Updated).
  • Sends a notification on every terminal path (four Notify steps).
This pattern of handling every outcome with a Notify step is a best practice you should follow in all your workflows. It ensures your systems are always informed of the final result, regardless of which path the workflow takes.

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Next Steps

Now that you have built your first workflow, you can:
  • Add a Condition step before the Authorize action to route requests to different providers based on rules.
  • Insert a Fraud Check step before authorization to screen transactions.
  • Add a 3DS step to perform 3D Secure verification before authorizing.
  • Explore other triggers like Start Capture and Start Refund to build workflows for the full payment lifecycle.
Last modified on September 28, 2026