Okta Workflows Tips #4
Tags: oktaworkflows, nocode, automation, ipaas
Published: 2022-08-16 16:28:40

---
title: Okta Workflows Tips #4
published: true
date: 2022-08-16 04:32:46 UTC
tags: oktaworkflows, nocode, automation, ipaas
canonical_url: https://maxkatz.org/2022/01/20/workflows-tips-4/
---

Welcome to another Okta Workflows Tips post. [Read](https://dev.to/oktaworkflows/okta-workflows-tips-57bj) all other tips.

In this post:

- Testing cards in isolation
- Using custom search criteria with the Okta – List Users with Search card
- Sanity checking your workflow before processing large lists

## Testing cards in isolation

This tip is from [Jennifer Saylor](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajayseetharam/), Enterprise Solutions Engineer at Okta.

You can test any card in isolation by clicking on the **Play** button at the bottom of the card. This helps with debugging while building flows.

For example you can test sending a message to a Slack channel:

[![Testing card in isolation](https://katzmax.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/workflows_tips_4_testing_card.png?w=1024)](https://katzmax.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/workflows_tips_4_testing_card.png)
<figcaption>Testing card in isolation</figcaption>

## Using Custom Search Criteria with the Okta – List Users with Search Card

This tip is from [Brent Garlow](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brent-garlow-8a9175/), Workflows Specialist at Okta.

An often-overlooked feature of the **Okta – List User with Search** card is the ability to provide custom search criteria beyond the attributes that are available in the **Select fields** menu when configuring the card. You can define much more complex search criteria (including operators like _starts with_, _less than_, _greater than_, as well as _AND/OR_ logic. Simply include the **Custom Search Criteria** field and enter in your search criteria based on the [User API documentation](https://developer.okta.com/docs/reference/api/users/#list-users-with-search).

[![Custom search criteria](https://katzmax.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/workflows_tips_4_search_advanced.png?w=781)](https://katzmax.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/workflows_tips_4_search_advanced.png)
<figcaption>Custom search criteria</figcaption>

## Sanity Checking Your Workflow Before Processing Large Lists

This tip is from [Brent Garlow](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brent-garlow-8a9175/), Workflows Specialist at Okta.

When building flows that will process very large lists of Okta users, groups, etc. it can be helpful to test against a small subset of data to ensure that the flow is working as expected and to avoid having to wait a long time to see the results. The **Okta – List Users with Search** card is commonly used to search for users in UD who match a specific criteria. For example, you might want to identify all users who haven’t logged in within 90 days so that you can suspend their inactive accounts. If you select the **Stream Matching Records** option in the **List Users with Search** card, you can include a field called **Record Limit** that will allow you to specify the number of records to return. Setting this to a low number (the default is 10,000,000) will allow you to quickly test your flow on a subset of your data.

[![List Users with Search](https://katzmax.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/workflows_tips_4_large_list.png?w=245)](https://katzmax.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/workflows_tips_4_large_list.png)
<figcaption>List Users with Search</figcaption>

Build your first automation with these step-by-step [tutorials](https://help.okta.com/wf/en-us/Content/Topics/Workflows/Tutorials/tutorials-workflows-learn.htm).