Assign steps to a role, not a name
Build a workflow once and give each step to a role — Approver, Reviewer, On-call Nurse. Then, every time you start a run, pick the person who fills each role for that run. The same process, the right people, every time.
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Steps assigned to roles — and to people — side by side.
Stop rewiring assignments every single run
When steps are pinned to named people, every vacation, hand-off, or new hire means editing the workflow. Assign to roles instead, and the workflow stays put — you just choose who plays each part when the run kicks off.
- Every workflow hard-codes one person per step
- Someone leaves — hunt down every step they owned
- Copies of the same workflow, one per teammate
- One workflow, roles that never need re-editing
- Update who's in a role once — every future run follows
- Pick the person per run, right when you start it
From role to running work in three steps
Create a role
Name a role — Approver, Reviewer, Shift Lead — and attach the people who can fill it. Leave it open to anyone, or narrow it to a specific short list.
Assign steps to it
In the workflow editor, assign any step to that role instead of a person. Different steps can go to different roles — and you can still assign some steps to a specific person.
Resolve it per run
When you start a run, Manifestly asks who fills each role this time. Their steps land in that person's assignments, and everyone gets notified as usual.
Give a step to a role while you build
Every step can be assigned to a person or a role. Picking a role means the step belongs to whoever fills that role in each run — no name baked in. Mix and match freely: a fixed owner for one step, a role for the next.
- Assign to a role, a specific person, or the run's initiator on any step.
- Reuse the same role across many workflows — roles live at the department level.
- See at a glance which workflows a role is used in before you change it.
Choose who fills each role, run by run
Start a run and Manifestly gathers every role your workflow uses and asks you to resolve each one to a specific person. Same workflow on Monday and Friday — different people, no edits. Once chosen, each person's steps show up in their assignments and they're notified.
- Roles resolve at every entry point — a run you start now, a scheduled run, or a shared run link.
- Add someone new to the role right from the run form when the person you need isn't on the list yet.
- Roles that map to one obvious person fill themselves in, so there's nothing to pick.
How a role decides who's picked
A role's people list shapes what you're asked when a run starts.
The role is open — pick anyone on the account to fill it for this run.
That person fills the role automatically — nothing to choose.
Choose from just the people who belong to that role — no scrolling the whole directory.
Resolves to whoever starts the run — perfect for “the person kicking this off.”
The same roles, wherever runs begin
However a run starts, Manifestly resolves its roles the same way — so a workflow behaves consistently no matter who launches it or how.
- Roles are managed at the department level and reused across every workflow there.
- The moment a role resolves to a person, their steps and notifications behave like any direct assignment.
- List your roles over the v2 API and pass them when you start a run so each one resolves to the right person.
# List the roles available to your token
GET /api/v2/roles
→ { "roles": [
{ "id": 41, "name": "Approver", "department_id": 8 },
{ "id": 42, "name": "Reviewer", "department_id": 8 }
] }
# Start a run and resolve each role to a person
POST /api/v2/runs
{
"run": {
"workflow_id": 305,
"roles_to_users": [
{ "role_id": 41, "email": "alex@acme.co" },
{ "role_id": 42, "email": "priya@acme.co" }
]
}
}The /roles endpoint returns the roles in the departments your token administers, each with its members. Role assignments also travel with a workflow's JSON export and import.
A built-in role for whoever starts the run
Every account has a reserved Initiator role. Assign a step to it and that step always lands on the person who started the run — ideal for “confirm the details you entered” or “close this out” steps. No list to maintain; it just follows the run's starter.
- Resolves automatically — the initiator is filled in before the run even begins.
- Works alongside your own named roles on the same workflow.
Where role-based assignments shine
Approvals & reviews
Send review and sign-off steps to an Approver or Reviewer role.
On this run the approver is Alex; next week it's whoever's covering — the workflow never changes.
Shift & on-call work
Assign steps to Shift Lead or On-call roles that different people fill each day.
Start the shift run and drop today's lead into the role — their steps route to them.
Onboarding & hand-offs
One onboarding workflow with IT, HR, and Manager roles reused for every new hire.
Pick this hire's manager at run start; IT and HR steps land with the right teams automatically.
Role-based assignments, answered
/roles endpoint lists the roles in the departments your token administers, each with its members. When you start a run over the API you can pass a roles_to_users list that maps each role to a person by email, and a workflow's role assignments travel with its JSON export and import.Other Features
Assign and Automate
Get the right work to the right people, on schedule — automatically.
Workflow Customization
Shape exactly how each workflow behaves — logic, data, timing, and documentation.
Track Progress and Reporting
See what's done, what's late, and what's coming — across every run.
Govern, secure & prove it
SSO, granular permissions, and a complete audit trail — the controls enterprise teams need to run their work and prove how it was done.
Communicate
Keep the conversation — and a permanent record of who did what, and when — in one place.
Trusted by organizations big and small for their recurring workflows
Assign Workflow Steps to Roles, Not Names
With Manifestly, your team will Never Miss a Thing.