Whether you’re new to Mendix or have been developing with it for years, chances are you’ve used microflows to build your app logic. And that makes perfect sense—microflows give you the flexibility and control to define exactly how your application behaves. You know how to use them, you’re confident with them, and for many developers, they’ve become second nature inside Studio Pro.

Over the years, we have seen teams create hundreds of microflows across many applications, shaping every path, condition and decision to make sure the logic works exactly as intended. But the platform also offers Mendix Workflow, a powerful way to design and manage processes that involve people, approvals, or long-running activities, all within Studio Pro.

Many developers know about it, but not everyone uses it to its full potential yet, and that is a missed opportunity. In this blog we explore why Mendix Workflow is worth your attention. If you have not done so already, read our earlier article “I Wish I’d Started Using Workflows Sooner” to learn when to use Microflows, Workflows, or both. The real strength of Mendix is in combining them to create one seamless development process that brings logic, automation, and process orchestration together in a single platform.

Mendix Workflow

We introduced Mendix Workflow about four years ago, and since then this part of Studio Pro has evolved into a mature capability that developers use to design and manage (large) various business processes. These are often long-running processes with many steps that take place over an extended period of time. Developers who start using Mendix Workflow often tell us how much they value this part of the platform and how it helps them keep a clear overview and to maintain the Workflow. With that in mind, we wanted to highlight five recent and powerful items from Mendix Workflow:

1. Workflow Groups
2. Boundary Events
3. Maia Workflow
4. Agentic Workflows
5. Workflow Conflict Resolution

Now let’s take a closer look at each of these features. At the end of this article, you will also find a short preview of what is coming next for Mendix Workflow in the upcoming release updates.

What it means for developers

To make it easier to see what each capability offers you as a developer, we break down every feature in the same way.

• First, we explain what it is, so you know exactly what the feature does in Studio Pro.
• Secondly, we show what the value is for you, the practical benefit you get when building or maintaining your apps.
• Next, we describe life before, the way things worked in the past and why this new capability makes a real difference.
• Finally, we share how to start using it, so you can try it out right away in your own project.

Let’s explore the five built-in capabilities…

1. Workflow Groups

What is it?

Workflow Groups lets you assign a task to a group; users part of this group can see the tasks. The users also need to have data access. New users that will become part of this group, will we able to directly see all the tasks assigned to this group as well.

What is the value for me?

They make task routing dynamic. When team members change, your workflow updates automatically without changing logic or redeploying.

Life before:

Unlike our current situation where targeting happens based on the condition configured in Studio Pro and creates a list of users that can access this when a task is created (in runtime). New users meeting the criteria woudnt be able to see the task automatically. Assignments were static or required microflows to find the right users. Every change meant more maintenance

How to start using it:

To start, make sure that Workflow Groups is enabled in your project settings. Then open a user task and select “Workflow Groups” for the Targeted users. Note: Workflow Groups is an early-access feature. You can enable it under Preferences → New Features.

2. Boundary Events

What is it?

Boundary events are events attached to the boundary of an activity and represent something that can happen while the activity is being executed.

What is the value for me?

They make workflows more stable and predictable by visually handling exceptions and enabling parallel flows during an activity’s execution, as Mendix supports both interrupting and non-interrupting boundary events.

Life before:

Before, developers used microflows to manage exceptions and create parallel paths in process logic, which required custom logic and increased complexity. It worked but was hard to maintain.

How to start using it:

Add an Event, e.g. a timer to a task, and model a parallel flow just as you are used to for your main flow. This path will then happen when it triggers.

3. Maia for Workflows

What is it?

With Maia for Workflows, you can quickly generate Mendix Workflows based on a prompt or an image. This can really speed things up if you already have a BPMN design or just a drawing. But also, if you have a description of the process, you can use Maia to quickly generate a workflow directly on the canvas.

What is the value for me?

You get an instant workflow structure, so you can start refining logic instead of building from scratch

Life before:

Building workflows manually took time. Maia now builds the first version for you.

How to start using it:

Enable Maia for Workflows under Preferences, create a new workflow document and Select “Generate Workflow with Maia,” describe your process or add an image, and edit the generated model.

4. Agentic Workflows

What is it?

Workflows that leverage AI Agents as part of their model definition to execute tasks or orchestrate (parts of) your Workflow. They can assist in making decisions and route to the appropriate groups and teams.

What is the value for me?

You can delegate workflow steps to autonomous AI Agents to save time and being able to process workflows more efficiently, while keeping humans in the loop.

Life before:

Use deterministic logic typically leveraged by using microflows to make decisions and/or execute certain tasks.

How to start using it:

First ensure you have built your Agent (more specific examples can be found in the Agent Builder Starter App) and modeled the corresponding microflows you need. Secondly, add the System action Call Microflow to your workflow and configure the action to leverage the actual Agents.

5. Workflow Conflict Resolution

What is it?

This page is available as a component within the Workflow Commons module and allows workflow administrators to resolve incompatible workflows in bulk.

What is the value for me?

It addresses incompatible instances after Workflow model changes way faster as you can reuse resolution actions and apply them at multiple Workflow instances at once.

Life before:

Resolving conflicts due to model changes had to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

How to start using it:

Install Workflow Commons, navigate to the Conflict Resolution page. Here groups can be formed based on conflict reasons, current activities, or the execution path. Depending on the selected workflow(s), the administrator can choose one of the allowed resolution actions.

Next steps, outlook

Mendix Workflow has grown far beyond its early use cases. These capabilities, from Workflow Boundary Events, Maia Workflow, etc. make it a serious tool for developers building enterprise-grade automation. But, the Workflow toolkit keeps expanding fast. Upcoming releases will bring you:

• Workflow Global Inbox, giving your end users one central place to manage all their tasks across multiple different Mendix applications, a real boost for productivity and task visibility. We know companies were creating this from scratch, but no need to build it anymore, we’re launching this part soon as out of the box capability.
• In parallel, we’re developing Mendix Workflow Event Subprocess (Ad-hoc tasks and flows) designed for unpredictable, human-driven processes where decisions depend on judgment rather than strict logic. Today, developers often rely on microflows to handle such flexibility, but with Workflow Subprocesses it will be faster and easier to model these dynamic paths natively, without extra workarounds.

It’s clear that Workflow is no longer a side feature. It’s becoming the core orchestration and automation fabric of the Mendix platform, and the most exciting part is that developers are shaping where it goes next. If you haven’t explored these Workflow-features yet, open Studio Pro and try one today. The next time someone calls Workflow “just for approvals,” you’ll know better.