Workflow Automation Guide

Learn how to set up automated content approval workflows using workflow stages, approvals, and automation.

Overview

Workflow automation helps you:

Define approval processes for content types
Automatically route content through stages
Enforce review requirements before publishing
Track content status and history

Prerequisites

BlokMCP connected to your MCP client
Understanding of your content approval process
Management token with workflow permissions

Setting Up Workflows

Basic Editorial Workflow

Create a workflow for blog posts with these stages:
1. Draft (default) - Anyone can create
2. Ready for Review - Author submits
3. In Review - Editor reviews
4. Approved - Editor approves
5. Published - Can publish from this stage

Configure so:
- Only editors can move to "In Review"
- Only editors can approve
- Only approved content can be published

Claude will:

Create the workflow
Create each stage with permissions
Set up transitions between stages
Configure publish permissions

Multi-Level Approval

Create an approval workflow for legal content:
1. Draft - Content team creates
2. Legal Review - Legal team reviews
3. Marketing Review - Marketing approves messaging
4. Final Approval - Director approves
5. Ready to Publish - Can publish

Each stage requires specific user role approval.

Workflow Stage Management

Moving Content Through Stages

Move story 123456 from "Draft" to "Ready for Review"

For all stories in "Ready for Review" stage, move them to "In Review"
and notify the editorial team

Checking Workflow Status

Show me all blog posts in the "In Review" stage

How many product pages are waiting for approval?

Approval Requests

Requesting Approval

Request approval from user ID 789 for story 123456

For all stories in "Ready for Approval" stage,
create approval requests for the content director

Tracking Approvals

Show me all pending approval requests for user 456

Which stories have been approved in the last week?

Automation Patterns

Auto-Progression

When a story is created in "blog/drafts":
1. Automatically set to "Draft" stage
2. Notify assigned author
3. Add to editorial calendar

Review Reminders

Find all stories in "In Review" for more than 3 days.
Tag them "review-overdue" and list them for follow-up.

Approval Routing

When a story moves to "Ready for Approval":
1. Check content type
2. Create approval request for appropriate reviewer:
   - Blog posts → Content Lead
   - Product pages → Product Manager
   - Legal docs → Legal Team

Workflow Reporting

Status Dashboard

For all blog posts, show me:
- Count in each workflow stage
- Average time in "In Review"
- Stories stuck in one stage > 7 days
- Approval completion rate

Bottleneck Analysis

Which workflow stage has the most stories waiting?
Show me stories that have been there longest.

Best Practices

Start Simple - Begin with 3-4 stages, add more if needed
Clear Naming - Stage names should be self-explanatory
Define Owners - Each stage should have clear responsible party
Time Limits - Set expectations for how long each stage takes
Regular Review - Check workflow efficiency monthly
Document Process - Write down approval criteria for each stage

Common Workflows by Team Size

Small Team (2-5 people)

Simple workflow:
1. Draft
2. Ready to Publish
3. Published

Medium Team (6-20 people)

Editorial workflow:
1. Draft
2. In Review
3. Approved
4. Scheduled
5. Published

Large Team (20+ people)

Enterprise workflow:
1. Draft
2. Content Review
3. Legal Review
4. Brand Review
5. Final Approval
6. Scheduled
7. Published

Need help setting up workflows? Ask Claude to design a workflow that matches your team's process!