Guide
Workflow is a special kind of single-select Field that is used to track the status of an Entity: for example, a Task or a Feature:
In most cases, Workflow behaves like a usual single-select Field: it has a few options, each with an optional emoji and a background color. Formulas and Automations work in the same way. Essentially, you can follow the Single and Multi-Select fields guide except for the cases listed below.
Once you create a Workflow Field, it appears as State.
What is the difference between Workflow and Single Select?
At the core, both fields store one value from a predefined list — but Workflow adds structure and special behavior, while Single Select offers more flexibility.
Workflow | Single Select |
Options (called states) are grouped into three types: Not Started, Started, and Finished. Entities in a Finished state are treated differently across the workspace (e.g., appear dimmer, can drive reports/automations). Always named State, and there can only be one Workflow field per Database. A state is always required — it cannot be empty. States show progress icons by default (unless replaced with a custom emoji).
| Works like a simple categorized list (e.g., Priority: High/Medium/Low). You can create as many Single Select fields as you want in a Database. No built-in sequence or “Finished” behavior. Field values can be empty.
|
Use Single Select for independent categorizations without order (e.g., Priority, Type, Labels).
Combine them if needed: Workflow for the main lifecycle, Single Selects for additional classification.
State types
Each state belongs to one of three groups:
Not started
Started
Finished
Entities in the Finished states are usually less relevant so we grey them out throughout the workspace. For example, in Views:
And in search:
The progress indicator icon starts empty for Not started states and gradually fills in for Started states, culminating in a checkmark for Finished states:
Workflow in Formulas
Most basic usage is identical to Single and Multi-Select fields:
State.Name = "Done"
Additionally, there is Type Field in each state:
State.Type = "Not started"
Tasks.Filter(State.Type = "Finished").Count()
Final checkbox (deprecated)
In earlier versions of Fibery, states had a Final checkbox instead of state types.
For backward compatibility, this checkbox is still preserved and now automatically synced with the state type.
👉 This means both of the following formulas will work the same way:
State.Final = true
State.Type = "Finished"
❓ Why can I have only one Workflow per database?
Workflows are designed to represent the main sequential process of an entity type (e.g., Issue status, Task progress). To avoid conflicts and confusion, Fibery allows only one Workflow per database.
👉 For parallel processes, you can complement it with Single Select fields.