Data Actions

Data Actions

Data actions read from and write to your tables. They're the core of most Workflows: read the right record, look up related records, then create, update, or copy what you need.

At-a-glance summary

Action	Direction	Use when…
Update Record	Modify	You want to change fields on the source record.
Update Connected Records	Modify	You want to change one or more records connected to the source.
Create Record	Insert	You want a new, standalone record (no connection back to the source).
Create Connected Record	Insert	You want a new record that's linked to the source.
Duplicate Record	Insert	You want a copy of the source record in the same table.
Copy Record	Insert	You want to copy a record from one table into another.
Lookup Record	Read	You want to find one or more records to use later in the workflow.

Update Record

Modifies fields on the source record. The source record is whichever record triggered the workflow (for record events), the record being looped over (for schedules and manual triggers), or a record returned by a previous step.

Configuration:

• Field values to set — pick a field, then choose the new value: a custom value, a value from another field on the record, an arithmetic operation, the logged-in user, or any of the value mapping sources covered in the Using Workflow Data article.
• Append vs. replace — for multi-select and connection fields, you can append the new value to the existing list or replace it entirely.

Example: When an Order record's status changes to "Shipped," set Shipped Date to the current date/time and increment Shipment Count by 1.

Update Connected Records

Updates records on the other side of a connection field. Pick the connection (e.g. "Project this task belongs to"), then set the field values to update on those connected records.

Example: When a Task is marked complete, on the connected Project record set Last Activity to current date/time and recalculate % Complete.

If the connection points to multiple records, the action updates every one of them. Use trigger filters or a condition to narrow that down if you only want to update some of the connected records.

Create Record

Inserts a new, standalone record into a table you choose. There's no automatic link back to the source record.

Example: When a new Client is added, create a Note record that logs who added the client and when. Because the Note isn't connected, it survives even if the client record is later deleted.

If you need the new record to connect back to the source, use Create Connected Record instead.

Create Connected Record

Inserts a new record into a connected table and automatically links it to the source through the connection field you choose.

Example: When a new Project is created, automatically create three default Tasks ("Kickoff," "Mid-review," "Wrap-up"), each one connected back to the new project. Add three Create Connected Record steps in a row to do this.

Duplicate Record

Makes a copy of the source record in the same table. You can override specific fields on the copy (e.g. always reset the status to "Draft").

Example: When a customer clicks "Reorder" on an old order, duplicate the order with the status reset to "New" and the order date set to today.

Copy Record

Copies a record from one table into another. Tadabase auto-maps fields by name and type so matching fields carry over without manual mapping. You can override or supply additional values for fields that don't auto-map.

Example: When a Lead is marked "Won," copy it into the Customers table — name, email, and phone carry over automatically because the field names match.

Lookup Record

Searches a target table with filters and returns matching records. The records become available to later steps so you can update them, send emails to them, or read their values.

Configuration:

• Target table — which table to search.
• Filters — what to search for. Filters can use static values, values from the source record, or values from earlier steps.
• Sort — what order to return them in.
• Limit — how many to return (e.g. just the first match, the top 10, or all).

Outputs the step exposes:

• record — the first matched record.
• records — the full array of matched records.
• count — how many records matched.

Example: A scheduled workflow runs every morning. Step 1 looks up Tasks where Due Date is today. Later steps loop through those tasks to send each assignee a reminder.

Tips for working with data actions

• Always pick a meaningful step name. "Update record" is hard to skim later; "Mark order as shipped" is much clearer in History.
• Use Lookup Record + Update Record together when you need to update something that isn't the source record or a directly connected record.
• Watch for self-triggering loops. A "Record Updated" workflow that updates the same record can re-fire itself. Tadabase has chain depth guards, but the cleanest fix is a trigger filter or a condition step.
• For large updates, prefer schedule + filter. If you need to mass-update records (e.g. archive everything older than 90 days), make a scheduled workflow with a filter — it's cleaner than firing thousands of individual events.