Using Workflow Data

Using Workflow Data

Almost every workflow step needs values from somewhere — a field on the source record, a value from a previous step, the logged-in user, an app variable, a custom number you typed in. Tadabase calls these value sources, and you'll see them everywhere there's a value picker (in step inputs, condition right-sides, value mappings).

Every value source at a glance

Source	What it gives you	Use when…
Custom Value	A static value you type.	You want a fixed value (a status, a hardcoded email, a number).
Source Record Value	A field on the record that triggered the workflow.	You want to use data from the record (customer name, order total, status).
Connected Value	A field on a connected record (one connection hop away).	You want a value from a related table (e.g. the customer's email when working on an order).
Logged-in User Field	A field on the currently logged-in user.	You want the user who triggered the workflow (their name, email, role, manager).
Auto-logged User	A reference to the logged-in user (for connection fields to the Users table).	You want to assign a record to whoever is logged in.
Action Record Value	A field on a record produced by an earlier action step.	You did a Lookup Record / Create Record / Update Record earlier and want one of its field values.
Action Response Value	An output from an earlier step (Custom Code returnData, AI Prompt response, integration response, etc.).	You want to use what an earlier step produced — not a field, but an output value.
Pipe Value / AI Prompt Value / Integration Value	Specific shorthand for outputs from those step types.	You want a structured field from a Pipe / AI / Integration response.
Generated Password	A new random password.	Account creation flows — generate a password and store the hash.
Current Date / Time	The current timestamp.	Stamp a "Created At" / "Last Modified" field.
Set Blank Value	Clear the field.	You want to null out a field's existing value.
Arithmetic	Add, subtract, multiply, or divide two values.	Increment a counter, calculate a total, etc.

Source Record Value

The most common source. The "source record" is whichever record triggered this workflow — the record that was created/updated, or the record being looped over for a scheduled workflow.

Pick the field from the dropdown. Tadabase shows the field's current value during testing so you can confirm you've picked the right one.

Connected Value

If the source record is connected to another record (via a connection field), you can pick a field from that connected record. This is one hop only — for multi-hop relationships, do a Lookup Record step first.

Example: A workflow on the Orders table can use Connected Value to read the customer's email from the connected Customer record without a separate Lookup step.

Logged-in User Field

Pick a field from the user record of whoever triggered the workflow.

For schedule and system-triggered workflows, there's no logged-in user, so this source returns null. Don't rely on it for scheduled flows.

Example: Stamp Created By Name on a new record using the logged-in user's Name field.

Action Record Value

Pick a field from a record produced by an earlier step. Available when an earlier step in the workflow created, updated, looked up, or copied a record.

Example: Step 1 looks up the Project this Task belongs to. Step 2 sends an email — use Action Record Value pointing at Step 1 and pick Project Manager Email.

Action Response Value

Pick a value an earlier step output via its response. Used for Run Custom Code (the keys you set with returnData), AI Prompt (the response fields), Pipe (the parsed response), Integration (the API response), Lookup Record (count, records, etc.).

The picker shows you the step name, then the available output keys. Pick the one you need.

Example: A Custom Code step returns { subtotal, tax, total }. The next step (Update Record) uses Action Response Value to set the order's Total field from the code's total output.

Arithmetic value

Combine two values with +, −, ×, or ÷. Either side can be a static number, a field from the record, or any other value source.

Example: Increment a record's Login Count field by 1: pick the field as the left side, +, custom value 1 as the right side.

Current Date / Time

The current timestamp at the moment the workflow runs. Use it to stamp Last Modified, Last Login, Status Changed At, etc.

Custom Value

A static value you type in. Looks the same as a hardcoded string anywhere else in the system. Use for fixed labels, statuses, magic numbers, or constants.

App Variables and Settings

App Variables (configured in your app's settings) are app-wide values you can reference from anywhere. Best for:

• API keys (so you don't paste secrets into every step).
• Reusable URLs (your support email, your portal URL).
• Toggles ("send Slack notifications?" Yes/No).

Inside a Custom Code step, read them with getAppVariable("slug", default).

Set Blank Value

Available in Update Record and similar actions. Clears the existing field value (sets it to null).

Append vs. replace (multi-value fields)

For multi-select fields and connection fields that hold multiple records, you can choose whether to append the new value to the existing list or replace the entire list. The toggle is shown next to the value picker on those field types.

Finding the right source

The value picker is context-aware. It only shows sources that are valid where you are:

• Source Record / Connected Value — only if the workflow is record-scoped.
• Action Record / Action Response — only if there are earlier action steps producing them.
• Logged-in User — only if a user can be logged in for this trigger type.
• Field-type compatibility — when you're setting a Number field, only number-compatible sources show up.

If a source you expect isn't in the picker, check the trigger type and the position of your step in the workflow.