Output Schema FAQ

Background

The Output Schema is a representation of the data your connector is making available to the rest of the workflow. This data can then be used by other connectors to achieve your desired outcome. 

Read more about the various ways to use the output of a connector in our Working with data and jsonpaths documentation.

Output Schema in the Logs

Once you have run your workflow at least once with a connector present, you can head to the Debug section, find the step that connector was used in the execution, and click the Use Output button to manually update the connector’s output schema. This will allow you to use the connector snake to use the output of that connector as input to other connectors.

How can I use an output schema?

As an alternative to using the connector snake, if you are well versed in JSON dot notation and understand how workflows are structured, you can choose the JSON data type for an input in a connector and type in the path you would like to populate that field, e.g. $.steps.object-helpers-1.result.team.id. Visual JSON will also attempt to autocomplete your JSON if the output schema was updated from the logs.

Why doesn't my JSON path show me the child nodes of the step result?

You likely haven’t updated the output, or, the service you are using may have different outputs depending on what information was available. If you're set on using the connector snake, you'll need to update your logs from a run that had the outputs you're looking for, or manually enter the path with visual JSON.

I have error handling configured, why can't I select the error output?

Errors are structured differently than successful step outputs. You can get error outputs in other connectors by using $.errors.<step-name>. If you’re trying to capture the output in a manual error handling branch, you’ll need to use a storage connector to store the two different output possibilities (success and error branches) and get the result from a storage connector once the branches come back together.

Output Schema in the Connector

To view the Output Schema of a connector, select the connector in your workflow, then click the Output data property. This will show you how the output schema is structured. 

What can I do with the connector output schema?

You can use the connector snake but in reverse! Instead of dragging the snake from the input of a connector to a previous connector to use its output, you can drag the output of a connector to a subsequent connector to use it as input!

Why does my output schema not match my logs?

You likely haven’t updated the output. Head to the Debug section, find the step that connector was used in the execution and click the Use Output button to manually update the connector’s output schema. For some connectors, like some triggers, this operation is not possible and you won't see any outputs.

I've updated the output schema, but I'm not allowed to drag from the output to the step I want to put it in!

You have likely run into a type mismatch! For example, some services will return a number as a string, which is when the number is wrapped in quotations (like “415”), but other services may require the input to be an actual number (415, with no quotes). You'll need to use a text helper with the Change Type operation to make your string into a number.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the JSON path I got from the connector snake have $ and steps in it anyway?

Those two sections of the JSON path actually give you a view into how the workflow itself is structured! You can think of $ as the symbol that represents everything in the workflow, and .steps is the organizational unit of the workflow that contains all your connectors and their output. In addition to steps, there are 3 other top-level organizational codewords: env, errors, and config. They each allow you to access information from different parts of the workflow at creation and runtime.

Why won't the JSON path I got from the connector snake stop saying unknown path even though my workflow runs?

Sometimes the UI gets stuck when a JSON path that was previously invalid is validated at run time, or something in the workflow changes to make it valid. Things that can be done to remove the warning are to click the Use Output button in the Debug section or refresh the page. However, keep in mind that the information displayed on your screen is powered by a different service than the one that actually runs your workflow. If the workflow runs, that should be the ultimate determining factor of whether or not your path is valid!