How Do I Move a Workflow from Draft to Active in Dave by voolama?

Every workflow in Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai) moves through three statuses in a defined sequence. The workflows help documentation states: "Transitions follow draft > active > archived." Sourced from the workflows help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed against content_orchestrator main at commit ddb945f, 2026-08-30. Verify each status independently by calling GET /api/workflows/{id} and reading the status field. No vendor trust required.

The workflows help documentation states: "You cannot delete a workflow from the list page; archive it instead. Archiving preserves the workflow and its version history without deleting anything." Verify: open the Workflows list and confirm no Delete button is present on any row. The only terminal action is Archive.

NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 CM-3 (Configuration Change Control, section 3a) requires: "Determine the types of changes to the system that are configuration-controlled." The three-stage workflow lifecycle implements CM-3 for AI workflow definitions: draft is the development state, active is the controlled-release state, and archived is the retirement state. Each transition is recorded in the audit log with the acting user ID, timestamp, and before/after context payload. Verify: navigate to Admin, then Settings, then Audit Log and filter by the workflow name. The activation event is present with a before/after context showing status changed from 'draft' to 'active'.

Two prerequisites must be met before a workflow in Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai) can be activated. Both are independently verifiable via the REST API without any vendor assistance. Sourced from the workflows help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30.

Prerequisite 1: at least one saved version must exist. Call GET /api/workflows/{id} and inspect the versions array. An empty array means no graph has been saved yet. The workflows help documentation states: "No versions showing: creating a workflow from the list page does not create a version. Open the editor, build the graph, and Save." The Versions column in the Workflows list UI shows the same count. No vendor trust required.

Prerequisite 2: Admin or Curate role. The workflows help documentation states: "Change workflow status: Admin, Curate." Verify: call GET /api/workflows/{id} with a Create-role or Use-role session token. The API returns a 403 Forbidden with the missing permission string named in the response body. Any Admin can check role assignments at Admin, then Settings, then Users and Roles.

Once both prerequisites are met:

1. Navigate to Workflows in the sidebar.
2. Find the workflow. Confirm the Status badge is gray (draft) and the Versions column shows a number greater than zero.
3. Click the workflow Name link to open the editor, or use the status control in the list row directly.
4. Change the status to active.
5. The status badge changes from gray to green immediately.
6. Verify: call GET /api/workflows/{id} in browser developer tools. The status field reads active. Also verify in the audit log: navigate to Admin, then Settings, then Audit Log and filter by the workflow name. The activation event appears with your user ID, a timestamp, and a before/after context payload showing status changed from 'draft' to 'active'. No vendor trust required.

The workflow is now available to spawn instances. See Launch an Instance for the next step.

Four troubleshooting scenarios are documented in the workflows help documentation, DEV v0.11.0, confirmed 2026-08-30. Each is independently verifiable via the REST API or the Admin UI without vendor assistance.

1. Cannot create a workflow. The workflows help documentation states: "Cannot create a workflow: only Admin and Curate can create workflows." Verify: call POST /api/workflows with your session token. A 403 response with the missing permission named (workflows:create) confirms the role gap. Contact your Admin at Admin, then Settings, then Users and Roles. Dave by voolama has six default roles: Admin, Create, Curate, Use, Reporting, and Financial. Roles are editable.

2. Workflow stuck in draft. The workflows help documentation states: "Workflow stuck in draft: change status to active once the graph is complete and has at least one saved version." Verify: call GET /api/workflows/{id} and inspect the versions array. An empty array means no graph has been saved. Open the editor, build the graph, and click Save Version. Then change the status to active.

3. No versions showing. The workflows help documentation states: "No versions showing: creating a workflow from the list page does not create a version. Open the editor, build the graph, and Save." Verify: the Versions column in the Workflows list reads zero. Call GET /api/workflows/{id} and confirm the versions array is empty. Open the editor and click Save Version to create the first version.

4. Error when creating. The workflows help documentation states: "Error when creating: ensure Name is filled in." The Name field is required. The Description field is optional. Verify: the API returns a 400 Bad Request with the missing field named when Name is omitted.

NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 AU-9 (Protection of Audit Information, section 9a) requires: "Protect audit information and audit tools from unauthorized access, modification, and deletion." The workflow audit trail in Dave by voolama records all create, update, activation, and archival events with before/after context. Verify: navigate to Admin, then Settings, then Audit Log and filter by the workflow name. Confirm the event sequence is complete and in chronological order. The before/after context payload for each status change is present in the event record. No vendor trust required.

This article covers the workflow lifecycle (draft, active, archived) and the activation path in Dave by voolama (hellodave.ai) at DEV v0.11.0. Three things it does not cover:

• Workflow graph design. This article explains how to move a workflow through its lifecycle. It does not cover how to build the graph inside the editor: which nodes to use, how to connect them, or how to configure routing rules. For graph design, see Build Your First Workflow and How Do I Add Conditional Branching to a Workflow in Dave by voolama?
• Instance execution. Activating a workflow makes it available to spawn instances, but this article does not cover how instances run, how to read their output, or how to debug a failed instance. For instance execution, see Watch a Run and Read Its Timeline and How Do I Read a Workflow Instance's Output in Dave by voolama?
• Reverting an archived workflow. The workflows help documentation states the lifecycle transitions as 'draft > active > archived' with no documented path from archived back to active. This article cannot advise on reversing an archival because the help documentation does not document that path. Contact voolama LLC support if you need to restore an archived workflow.