Publishing a workflow makes it live straight away, so it starts running on its trigger. You can pause it at any time, and you can set a ceiling on how much it does.
Live and Paused
The toggle in the top bar, which reads Live or Paused, controls whether a published workflow runs. It appears once the workflow has been published, and the workflow starts out Live. When it's Live, the workflow fires on its trigger. When it's Paused, nothing new enrolls, and records already in progress stop where they are. They carry on from there when you set it back to Live.
Run manually
While a workflow is Live, you can run it on demand with Trigger workflow. The button shows on workflows with a Manual trigger. A Paused workflow can't be run on demand, so resume it first. To try a draft before you publish, use Test workflow.
Set a run limit
In the workflow's Settings, turn on Set a total run limit and enter a number under Maximum runs, then click Save settings. Manual, scheduled, and trigger runs all count toward it. When the limit is reached, the workflow pauses automatically.
Let the Assistant start it from chat
In Settings, turn on Let the assistant start this workflow to let Ocean's chat Assistant run this workflow when someone asks for it by name — a company or person the chat is already discussing can seed the run directly. It's on by default once a workflow is published, and needs a published version before you can turn it on. Runs started this way show as Assistant in Runs. Credits and plan limits apply the same as any other run.
Turn it off for a workflow you only want to start yourself — from a schedule, an event, or your own click.
Why a workflow paused itself
A workflow pauses itself for one of two reasons, shown as a tooltip on the Status column in the workflow list, so you don't have to open it to find out which:
Run limit reached — it hit the ceiling you set. Raise the limit or clear it to let it run again.
Ran out of credits — your workspace ran out of credits mid-run. Ocean emails your workspace managers when this happens. Records already in flight when this happens show as Blocked in Activity, not Failed — they pick up automatically once you top up credits and resume the workflow.
Best practice
Set a run limit on a new workflow while you watch its first runs, then lift it once you trust it.
Review a Test workflow run in Runs before you publish, because publishing makes the workflow live straight away.