Workflow examples

This page shows common automation scenarios you can build with Workflow Automation. Use these examples as starting points for your own workflows, or explore the template library for ready-to-deploy solutions.

Incident response and remediation

API gateway rollback

Revert API gateway configs to a previous state so you can fix errors and misconfigurations.

What this workflow does:

• Detects recent deployments related to an issue using New Relic change tracking
• Sends Slack notifications with approval buttons (:+1: or :-1:)
• After approval, creates an AWS Systems Manager document to automate the rollback
• Rolls back the API Gateway integration to the previous Lambda version
• Creates a new deployment to apply the rollback
• Sends success or failure notifications to Slack
• Cleans up the SSM document after completion

Requirements:

• AWS credentials with permissions for API Gateway and Systems Manager
• A configured Slack app for receiving notifications and approvals
• New Relic entity monitoring with change tracking

Key actions: newrelic.nerdgraph.execute, slack.chat.postMessage, slack.chat.getReactions, aws.systemsManager.writeDocument, aws.systemsManager.startAutomation, aws.systemsManager.waitForAutomationStatus, aws.systemsManager.deleteDocument

EC2 instance management

Automate provisioning, scaling, and termination of EC2 instances for optimal performance and cost.

What this workflow does:

• Receives high CPU utilization alerts from New Relic
• Retrieves alert details and identifies the impacted EC2 instance
• Sends Slack notification with instance details and requests approval for resizing
• After approval, creates an SSM document to automate instance resizing
• Stops the instance, modifies the instance type, and restarts it
• Sends progress updates to Slack during the resizing process
• Waits for completion and sends success or failure status
• Cleans up the SSM document and sends final confirmation

Requirements:

• AWS credentials with permissions for EC2 and Systems Manager
• An active New Relic alert condition for EC2 metrics
• A configured Slack app for receiving notifications and approvals

Key actions: newrelic.nerdgraph.execute, newrelic.nrdb.query, slack.chat.postMessage, slack.chat.getReactions, aws.systemsManager.writeDocument, aws.systemsManager.startAutomation, aws.systemsManager.waitForAutomationStatus, aws.systemsManager.deleteDocument, utils.datetime.fromEpoch, utils.uuid.generate

Deployment rollback

Rollback deployment if entity becomes unhealthy and notify with either AWS SQS or HTTP.

What this workflow does:

• Monitors an entity's alert severity for a specified duration (default 30 minutes)
• Checks entity health every minute
• If entity becomes CRITICAL or WARNING, logs the unhealthy status
• Sends rollback notifications via AWS SQS (if configured) with entity details
• Sends rollback notifications via HTTP webhook (if configured)
• If entity remains healthy for the full duration, logs success
• Stops monitoring if entity is not found

Requirements:

• New Relic entity with alert severity monitoring
• (Optional) AWS SQS queue and role to receive rollback notifications
• (Optional) HTTP endpoint to receive rollback notification

Key actions: newrelic.nerdgraph.execute, newrelic.ingest.sendLogs, aws.execute.api (sqs.send_message), http.post

Data processing and reporting

Send a report to Slack

Send a NRQL query output as a CSV file on Slack.

What this workflow does:

• Executes a NRQL query against specified New Relic account(s)
• Generates a CSV file from the query results
• Posts the CSV file to a specified Slack channel with a message

Requirements:

• A New Relic credential and a functional NRQL query
• A configured Slack app with a token and a target channel

Key actions: newrelic.nrdb.query, utils.transform.toCSV, slack.chat.postMessage

JSON Parsing

Parses the New Relic public status API JSON (HTTP) and optionally logs operational and non-operational components.

What this workflow does:

• Fetches JSON data from the New Relic status API
• Extracts and categorizes components by their operational status
• Conditionally logs operational components (if enabled)
• Conditionally logs non-operational components (if enabled)
• Handles HTTP errors and logs error messages

Requirements:

• Access to the New Relic status API (summary.json)
• Permissions to send logs via newrelic.ingest.sendLogs

Key actions: http.get, newrelic.ingest.sendLogs

Available template workflows

The templates listed above are available directly in the New Relic Workflow Automation UI. To access them:

1. Go to one.newrelic.com > All Capabilities > Workflow Automation
2. Click Create workflow
3. Select Use a template
4. Browse the template library and choose a workflow that matches your use case

Each template includes:

• Pre-configured workflow steps and logic
• Example input parameters
• Required credentials and integrations
• Documentation of expected outcomes

You can use templates as-is or customize them to fit your specific requirements.

Passing data between steps

All workflows can reference outputs from previous steps using template syntax. This allows you to chain together actions and build complex automation logic.

Basic data passing

steps:
  - name: getAlert
    action: newrelic.nerdgraph.execute
    inputs:
      query: |
        {
          actor {
            account(id: 123456) {
              alerts {
                violation(id: 789) {
                  condition
                  entity {
                    name
                    guid
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }

  - name: sendToSlack
    action: slack.chat.postMessage
    inputs:
      channel: "#incidents"
      text: "Alert: ${{ .steps.getAlert.outputs.data.actor.account.alerts.violation.condition }}"

Using data in loops

steps:
  - name: listInstances
    type: action
    action: aws.ec2.describeInstances
    version: 1
    inputs:
      filters:
        - name: "tag:Environment"
          values: ["production"]

  - name: checkEachInstance
    type: loop
    for:
      in: "${{ .steps.listInstances.outputs.reservations }}"
      steps:
        - name: getInstanceMetrics
          type: action
          action: newrelic.nerdgraph.execute
          version: 1
          inputs:
            query: "SELECT average(cpuPercent) FROM SystemSample WHERE instanceId = '${{ .steps.checkEachInstance.loop.element.instanceId }}'"

Conditional logic with data

steps:
  - name: checkCPU
    type: action
    action: newrelic.nerdgraph.execute
    version: 1
    # ... query configuration

  - name: decideAction
    type: switch
    switch:
      - condition: "${{ .steps.checkCPU.outputs.data.actor.account.nrql.results[0].average > 90 }}"
        next: resizeInstance
      - condition: "${{ .steps.checkCPU.outputs.data.actor.account.nrql.results[0].average > 70 }}"
        next: sendWarning
    next: normalOperation

  - name: resizeInstance
    type: action
    action: aws.ec2.modifyInstanceAttribute
    version: 1
    # ... resize configuration

  - name: sendWarning
    type: action
    action: slack.chat.postMessage
    version: 1
    # ... warning message

  - name: normalOperation
    type: action
    action: newrelic.ingest.sendLogs
    version: 1
    # ... log normal status

Next steps

• Create your own workflow - Step-by-step guide to building workflows
• Actions catalog - Browse all available actions
• Use a template - Deploy pre-built workflows
• Set up AWS credentials - Configure AWS authentication