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Okta Certified Workflows - Specialty · Part I

Running and Maintaining Flows

13% of Part I

Running and Maintaining Flows

Sub-topic 3: Save and Review Data with Execution History

4 sub-topics · this deck covers sub-topic 3 of 4

↑ Module Overview

The Scenario

"Saving and reviewing flow data is critical for operational success within Okta Workflows."

Preserving execution records lets you: identify and diagnose error conditions, retrace executed flows to find bottlenecks and optimization targets, and facilitate auditing for compliance to internal and external policy.

The Mechanism — Two Components of History

Flow input and output (IO) data — every card has configurable settings plus input/output values. Opting to Save flow data lets Okta record the specific data passing through each card during execution, so you can review every card's values afterward.

Flow metadata — Okta records metadata for every execution event regardless of the Save flow data setting, including the type of flow, the execution timestamp, and the final execution status.

The Mechanism — Access and Retention

Recorded data lives on the Execution History page of a flow. "Anyone with the appropriate privileges can view these details for up to 30 days." This 30-day retention window is the same limit that appears again under System Limitations, listed there as the "Data time to live" for execution history.

The Mechanism — Execution Details Icons

The Details column of the Execution History pane assigns each execution one of three icons:

Low-latency (lightning bolt) — every card in the execution ran efficiently, so the flow ran in low-latency mode. This is common for latency-sensitive webhook and API Endpoint use cases.

Standard (dash) — the execution ran at a standard rate because it contains a card ineligible for low-latency mode.

Throttled (exclamation mark) — the execution experienced higher latency from resource constraints. Once throttled, a flow remains in throttled mode for 15 minutes and isn't eligible for low-latency mode during that time.

The Mechanism — Reading Mixed Results

Okta describes four common scenarios you'll see across a flow's execution list:

All standard — every execution contains a card that doesn't qualify for low-latency. All low-latency — every execution ran efficiently. Mixed — only some executions were low-latency; check the flow for cards you can modify to remove the latency issue. All throttled — every execution exceeded resource limits.

The Connection

Execution History is the diagnostic layer that sits directly beneath everything else in this section: it's how you'd confirm whether the API Endpoint flow from the previous sub-topic ran in low-latency mode, and it's the tool you'd reach for when a flow starts hitting the rate limits and execution limits covered next under System Limitations.

The Angle — What Trips People Up

Watch for this in your own sandbox run:

→ Assuming flow metadata (type, timestamp, final status) requires the Save flow data option — it's recorded regardless. Only the per-card IO data depends on that setting.

→ Treating a single "Standard" execution as a sign of a persistent problem — a lone card ineligible for low-latency is enough to mark that one execution Standard, without any resource constraint being involved.

One Line To Remember

Execution History has two components — flow metadata (always recorded: type, timestamp, status) and flow IO data (recorded only if you opt into Save flow data) — retained for up to 30 days. The Details column marks each run Low-latency (lightning bolt), Standard (dash, a card doesn't qualify), or Throttled (exclamation mark, stays throttled 15 minutes).

Sources: help.okta.com — ext-about-save-data-flow-history (Flow execution history), ext-flow-execution-details (Execution history details)