FastHook automation documentation

FastHook connects apps and APIs in event-driven workflows. A trigger starts a workflow, each step receives data from the trigger or an earlier step, and Actions perform work in connected services.

Use these docs to build your first automation, map data between apps, add conditional paths, inspect runs, and operate webhook delivery when you need lower-level control.

Start here

Follow the Quickstart to create one complete workflow: choose a Source trigger, add an Action, map trigger data into the Action, activate the workflow, and inspect its first run.

Then read Core concepts for the product model and Workflows for the full builder lifecycle.

The FastHook model

Connected account or webhook
  → Trigger (Source)
  → Workflow
  → Action / Filter / Transformation / Delay / Paths
  → Run and step-by-step Audit

A workflow can stay linear or branch into multiple paths. Later steps can map fields from the trigger and from any earlier step available on their path. Failed steps can retry when the error is temporary or continue through an error route when you configure one.

Build automations

Workflows

Create, edit, activate, pause, and inspect a workflow graph. Learn how steps connect and how a Source event creates a run.

Triggers

Choose the event that starts a workflow. Triggers are backed by FastHook Sources and can receive provider events, polling results, or generic webhooks.

Actions

Perform work in apps such as Slack, Google Workspace, GitHub, Discord, Airtable, Notion, and Microsoft 365, or deliver data to an HTTP Destination.

Data mapping

Map values from the trigger and previous steps into Action fields. Use the field picker for structured values and templates when text must combine static and dynamic content.

Paths and conditions

Filter events or split a workflow into conditional paths. Add a fallback path for events that match none of the earlier routes.

Workflow filters and transformations

Validate event data before an Action, then reshape JSON with JSON Patch or a reusable transformation.

Delays and error handling

Wait between steps, understand automatic retry behavior, and connect error routes for failures the Workflow should handle explicitly.

Runs and errors

Use Workflow Audit and Activity to see the trigger payload, step inputs and outputs, skipped branches, response details, and failures.

Limits, statuses, and error codes

Check graph and API limits, interpret Workflow and Step statuses, and use stable normalized error codes in recovery Paths.

Templates, versioning, and production readiness

Reuse documented patterns, duplicate Steps and Paths safely, understand immutable versions and migrations, and complete the production-readiness checklist before activation.

Connect apps

Browse the integration catalog to see the apps that can trigger Workflows and perform Actions. Connected accounts explains account reuse and lifecycle; Authentication and permissions covers OAuth scopes, provider access, reconnect, credential rotation, and authorization failures.

Start with a complete recipe: Google Sheets → Slack, GitHub → Linear, or conditional Stripe event routing.

Secure and govern production automations

Use Security and governance to understand the current team-membership boundary and establish change control. Secrets and credential rotation separates project keys, signing secrets, provider credentials, and Source secrets. Data handling and retention documents Audit redaction, sanitized shares, storage boundaries, and the backend’s configurable cleanup defaults.

Operate and respond

Environments and release management explains when to isolate development, staging, and production with separate teams and resources. Use Workflow configuration promotion to remap team-owned dependencies into a destination Draft, then follow the release and rollback checklist for credential cutover, canary evidence, observation gates, and forward-only recovery.

For a larger automation fleet, maintain a Workflow inventory with explicit ownership, run dependency impact analysis before shared-resource changes, apply repeated migrations with the safe bulk-change procedure, and use a staged deprecation and retirement lifecycle instead of treating deletion as archival.

Workflow monitoring and alerts connects Activity, Audit, request traces, provider results, and Instant Trigger alerts. Use Instant Trigger health and recovery for channel states, metrics, manual retry, and polling fallback. During an outage or incorrect side effect, follow the incident response runbook.

For automation, copy the dependency-free scheduled monitoring example and generate reconciliation reports that fail closed when an Activity window is incomplete.

Webhook infrastructure

FastHook still includes the webhook gateway capabilities that preceded the workflow builder. Use them when you need direct ingress and delivery control:

• Sources receive provider events and HTTP requests.
• Connections route a Source directly to a Destination outside a Workflow.
• Destinations define HTTP, CLI, and other delivery transports.
• Filters, Transformations, and Retries control direct Connection delivery.
• Metrics and request history help operate webhook traffic.

Connections remain a separate routing feature. Use a Workflow when you need multiple ordered steps, provider Actions, data mapping between steps, Paths, or a per-step Audit trail.

Recommended learning path

1. Complete the Quickstart.
2. Learn the core concepts.
3. Configure the real trigger and Actions for your apps.
4. Add data mapping and Paths.
5. Trigger a real event and verify it in Runs and errors.
6. Review security, secrets, and retention for the production team.
7. Define environment and release boundaries.
8. Assign inventory ownership and dependency records.
9. Configure monitoring and incident ownership.
10. Complete the production-readiness checklist and release checklist.
11. Use the webhook infrastructure docs only when your automation needs custom ingress, direct delivery, replay, or local tunneling.

Frequently asked questions

Is FastHook a workflow automation platform or a webhook gateway?

It is both. Workflows are the primary automation surface. Sources, Connections, Destinations, requests, retries, and replay provide the webhook infrastructure underneath and alongside it.

What starts a Workflow?

Every Workflow selects one existing Source as its trigger. That Source may represent an app event or a generic webhook endpoint. Only active Workflows process new events from the selected Source.

When should I use a Connection instead of a Workflow?

Use a Connection for a direct Source-to-Destination delivery route. Use a Workflow for provider Actions, multiple steps, data mapping, conditional Paths, delays, or per-step execution history.

Where can I see what happened?

Open a Workflow and select Audit for its run history and step details. Use Activity for the broader request, Connection, and Workflow timeline.