Update user, tenant, and object function

The Data functions tab in the workflow builder includes three steps that update data in Knock during a workflow run: Update user, Update tenant, and Update object. They all work the same except Update object doesnt't support "Current object" mode. Use them when you need to change a user, tenant, or object based on workflow context so that downstream steps, audiences, or other workflows see the updated data.

Common use cases include syncing state from your trigger (for example, "last notified at" on a user, approval status on a tenant, or status on an object), making a user eligible for a dynamic audience or guide, updating preferences or tenant-level preference defaults, or storing channel data (for example, a Slack channel id on an object).

How you specify which entity to update depends on the step type.

Both steps support a current mode.

• Update user. By default, Knock updates the current workflow recipient (the user this run is for). You can leave this default, or select a property that resolves to a user id (or use a literal user id) to update a different user (for example, the actor or a user id from your trigger data).
• Update tenant. By default, Knock updates the tenant associated with the current workflow run (the tenant you passed in the trigger or that is otherwise in scope). You can leave this default, or select a property that resolves to a tenant id (or use a literal tenant id) to update a different tenant.

The update object step does not support a "current object" mode. You must specify which object to update.

• Collection. Choose from all object collections in your environment (for example, "Projects" or "Repositories").
• Object id. Select a property that resolves to the object id within that collection, or use a literal object id. This can come from your trigger data (for example, data.project_id), from the recipient when the recipient is an object (recipient.id), or from another source in the workflow run.

For all three steps, you set properties the same way. You can set any number of properties on the target entity. Each property has a key and a value.

• Key. The property name. You can set a value for an existing property or define a new property.
• Value. The value to set. You can use Liquid (for example, {{ data.foo }}, {{ recipient.email }}, or {{ tenant.id }}) so the value is resolved from workflow data, the recipient, the actor, or variables. You can also use a static value (for example, "bar" or true).

In the step editor you can edit properties as a JSON blob or in key-value form. Updated properties are stored in Knock and are available to subsequent workflow steps and to the Management API.

The update user step can also update the user's notification preferences. Use this when workflow logic should change what channels or workflows a user is opted in or out of, or when you want to set preference defaults from within a workflow.

You can use the workflow run logs to debug these steps. The logs capture the change made by the step so you can verify the pre-state, the properties that were set, and the post-state.

Update user, tenant, and object steps are also available in the Management API and can be included when you show or upsert a workflow.