Start

Where every workflow begins, and where you define the parameters a run asks for.

In both appsWarpX BrowserWarpX Phone

Every workflow has one Start block, and the run begins there. Its job in WarpX Browser is to hold the workflow's parameters: the values a run asks for before any other block runs, such as a search keyword or an account email. It does not decide when a workflow runs. You start a run with the editor's Execute button, from Profiles with Run automation, or on a schedule from the Schedule page.

The Start block's settings, filled in as in the example below.

Settings

Description: A note shown under the block's name on the canvas. It has no effect on the run.
ExampleSearch a keyword on every profile
Parameters: Opens the parameter builder. Add Input (string), Input (number), Input (JSON) or Checkbox items, and arrange them in rows with Divider, Spacer, Label, Title and Text elements. Each input becomes a variable the run can read.
Example
keyword | Input (string) | running shoes maxPages | Input (number) | 3
Namewhen a parameter is selected in the Parameters window: The variable the answer is stored in. Read it later as {{variables.keyword}}. Spaces are turned into underscores.
Examplekeyword
Labelwhen a parameter is selected in the Parameters window: The caption shown above the field when the run asks for it. Leave it empty to show the name instead.
ExampleSearch for
Placeholderwhen a parameter is selected in the Parameters window: Grey hint text inside the empty field.
Examplee.g. running shoes
Default valuewhen a parameter is selected in the Parameters window: The value the field starts with. If the person running the workflow leaves the field empty, this value is used.
Examplerunning shoes
Parameter requiredwhen a parameter is selected in the Parameters window: The run cannot start until this field has a value. A Checkbox must be ticked. This holds in WarpX Browser's parameter window and in the form drawn in the profile's page.
ExampleChecked
Prefer input parameters in Profilewhen the Parameters window is open: Draws the parameter form inside the profile's own browser page instead of in WarpX Browser, and each profile waits until someone fills it in. The form enforces Parameter required and applies Use input masking as you type, as Parameter Prompt describes. If the form is cancelled or cannot be drawn, the app shows its own parameter window instead.
ExampleUnchecked

Every block also has the shared block settings — a description, Disable block and what to do on an error. Fields that take text accept data from earlier blocks.

What it hands on

Each input parameter becomes a variable named after its Name, for example {{variables.keyword}}. Numbers arrive as numbers, Input (JSON) as parsed JSON, and a checkbox as true or false. The block leaves by its single output.

Example: Search the same keyword on every selected profile

Start
Open URL
Get text

Where Start sits in the example workflow.

Open the workflow and double-click the Start block.
Click Parameters, then click Input (string) in the list on the left.
In Configuration, set Name to keyword, Label to Search for and Default value to running shoes. Tick Parameter required.
Close the window. In the Open URL block, set the URL to https://shop.example.com/search?q={{variables.keyword}}.
Add a Get text block that reads the first result's title into a table column.
Go to Profiles, select the profiles, and click Run automation. WarpX Browser asks for Search for once, and every profile in the run uses that value.

On WarpX Phone

A phone has no browser page to draw a form in, so Prefer input parameters in Profile changes nothing on WarpX Phone: the parameters are asked for in WarpX Phone's own window, as they are with it off.
A schedule on the Schedule page runs on profiles or groups, so WarpX Phone cannot yet start a run on its phones at a set time. Start one with Run in the editor, on the phone picked in the toolbar, or with Run automation on the Devices page or in the Control Center.

Good to know

The Start block no longer offers schedule or website triggers. To run a workflow at a time or on a repeat, create a schedule on the Schedule page (Once, Interval, Every day or Every week).
A workflow imported from elsewhere may still carry an old trigger setting, such as an interval or a website to watch. The block does not show it, and you should not rely on it to start a run.
Run automation asks for the parameters once and gives every profile the same values. A schedule on Schedule stores its values when you save it, because nobody is there to answer when it runs.
With Prefer input parameters in Profile on, Run automation and Schedule do not ask up front. Every profile in the run waits until someone fills in the form in its browser.