Draw the process in BPMN, publish it, and let Odoo run it
Pools, swimlanes, tasks and gateways on a real BPMN canvas - versioned, published, and executed against your own records, with a log of every node each instance went through.
Workflow Automation (technical name viin_workflow_automation) is an Odoo 17.0 app for Odoo Community and Odoo Enterprise and Viindoo Cloud, built for process owner, participant, manager, implementer.
At a Glance
The facts of Workflow Automation, version 0.3.1, in one place. Published by Viindoo.
Key Features
This is a BPMN engine inside Odoo, not a list of automated actions. You draw the process the way the business already describes it - a pool for the department, a lane per role, tasks, exclusive gateways and end events - then attach it to a model with a domain, publish a version, and the engine creates an instance per record and walks it through the diagram. Because versions are published rather than edited in place, the process a record started under is the process it finishes under, and the instance log shows which node it sat in and for how long.
Versions, not edits
A published version is frozen. Draw version 2 while version 1 is still running, and publish it when it is ready.
The node log
Every entry and exit, timestamped. This is what turns a diagram into a measurement of where work waits.
Lanes are roles
Responsibility is drawn, not configured in a rule nobody can find later.
Flows with conditions
Each outgoing flow of a gateway carries its own label and condition - Yes and No are records, not annotations.
How It Works
Three steps from a whiteboard drawing to a process the system runs.
Draw it
The canvas is BPMN, with the palette on the left: events, tasks, gateways, data objects, sub-processes. Lanes carry the roles - salesperson, sales manager, sales director - so the drawing already says who does what.
Point it at your records and publish
Choose the model, write the domain, and the form tells you how many records match right now. Publishing the version is what makes it live; unpublishing stops new instances without touching the ones in flight.
Watch the instances, not the guesswork
Each record that matches gets an instance. The instance shows the current node, and the node log records every transition with a timestamp - which is the difference between a process you can improve and one you can only complain about.
What You Get
A BPMN canvas with pools, swimlanes, start and end events, user tasks, exclusive gateways, data objects and sub-processes
Versions with a state: draft, published, unpublished - so improving a process does not rewrite history for records already running
Attached to any model with a trigger domain, and the form shows how many records currently match before you publish
Manual or automatic triggering, and recurrence for processes that start on a schedule
An instance per record, with a node-by-node log: when it entered, who acted, when it left
Roles come from the lanes, so who does what is part of the drawing rather than buried in a rule
More Screens
Everything below was taken on a database seeded with real business data, on this series - not a mock-up and not a screenshot from an older version.
The workflows defined in the database
Nodes across all workflows, with their type
Pools - one per organisation or department in the process
A version with its publish state
The nodes an instance has passed through
A flow with its source, target and condition
What This App Does Not Do
Read this before you buy. Everything below is something the app deliberately leaves to another app or to you.
It runs processes over existing models; it does not create fields, views or models for you.
The engine covers the common path - sequence, exclusive gateway, sub-process. Full BPMN 2.0 semantics, including parallel joins and boundary events, are not all implemented.
For a decision that is simply 'these people must approve this record', OmniApproval is lighter and faster to set up. Use this when the process itself is the product.
Participants act on the record and on their task, not on a portal drawn from the process.
Works Well With
Apps from the same stack, built to fit this one:
OmniApproval
For the approvals inside a process, or instead of one when the process is only an approval.
viin_approvalSafe field selector
The field picker the workflow conditions rely on.
viin_safe_field_model_selectorDocuments
File the document a process produces, automatically, at the node that produces it.
viin_documentWho Should Use Workflow Automation?
Process owner
Draws the process, publishes a version, and changes it later without disturbing what is already running.
Participant
Gets the task that belongs to their lane, and only that.
Manager
Opens an instance and sees exactly which node it is stuck in.
Implementer
Replaces a folder of automated actions and server actions with one diagram a client can read.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Workflow Automation do?
Pools, swimlanes, tasks and gateways on a real BPMN canvas - versioned, published, and executed against your own records, with a log of every node each instance went through.
What does Workflow Automation not do?
It is not Odoo Studio. It runs processes over existing models; it does not create fields, views or models for you. Parallel gateways and event sub-processes are limited. The engine covers the common path - sequence, exclusive gateway, sub-process. Full BPMN 2.0 semantics, including parallel joins and boundary events, are not all implemented. It does not replace the approval app. For a decision that is simply 'these people must approve this record', OmniApproval is lighter and faster to set up. Use this when the process itself is the product. The diagram does not generate a user interface. Participants act on the record and on their task, not on a portal drawn from the process.
Who is Workflow Automation for?
Process owner: Draws the process, publishes a version, and changes it later without disturbing what is already running. Participant: Gets the task that belongs to their lane, and only that. Manager: Opens an instance and sees exactly which node it is stuck in. Implementer: Replaces a folder of automated actions and server actions with one diagram a client can read.
Which Odoo version and editions does it support?
Odoo 17.0 - Odoo Community, Odoo Enterprise, Viindoo Cloud. Upgrades to a newer Odoo series are a separate purchase for that series.
What does it depend on?
It installs on top of: base, web, mail, base_automation, web_editor, viin_safe_field_model_selector. Odoo installs them with it.
How do I set it up?
Three steps from a whiteboard drawing to a process the system runs.
What works well with it?
OmniApproval (viin_approval): For the approvals inside a process, or instead of one when the process is only an approval. Safe field selector (viin_safe_field_model_selector): The field picker the workflow conditions rely on. Documents (viin_document): File the document a process produces, automatically, at the node that produces it.
Can I try it before buying?
Yes - the Live Preview button at the top of this page opens the module's own screen on a working database.
How do I get support?
Write to apps.support@viindoo.com with your Odoo version and the technical name viin_workflow_automation; pre-sales questions go to sales@viindoo.com.
See Workflow Automation in Action
Draw the process in BPMN, publish it, and let Odoo run it
Need help with Workflow Automation?
For questions, implementation support, or consulting services, contact Viindoo.
Pre-Sales & Partnership
sales@viindoo.comWhen contacting us, please include:
- Odoo/Viindoo version (Odoo CE / Viindoo Editions).
- Number of users and business scope.
- Other modules currently in use.
Technical Support
apps.support@viindoo.comFor faster troubleshooting, please provide:
- Order number or app reference.
- Odoo/Viindoo version & edition.
- Steps to reproduce the issue.
- Screenshots/logs if available.
Upgrades to a newer Odoo series are a separate purchase for that series.
Technical Requirement
Changes log
0.3.1 - Latest on the 17.0 line
- Versions can be published and unpublished, so a process can be improved without disturbing instances already running.
- The workflow form counts the records its trigger domain currently matches, before anything is published.
- Instance nodes keep their own log of entry and exit, with the user who acted.
- Lanes carry the role, and tasks inherit it from the lane they are drawn in.
| Availability |
Odoo Online
Odoo.sh
On Premise
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| Odoo Apps Dependencies |
Discuss (mail)
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| Community Apps Dependencies | Show |
| Lines of code | 10995 |
| Technical Name |
viin_workflow_automation |
| License | OPL-1 |
| Website | https://viindoo.com/apps/modules/17.0/viin_workflow_automation |
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