workflow-automation

Which CLI

Two different HubSpot CLIs share a confusing resemblance — don't mix them up:

• hubspot — the HubSpot agent CLI that this skill library targets. It manages CRM data and automation, and it does have native workflow commands: hubspot workflows list|get|create|update|delete.
• hs — the HubSpot developer CLI (@hubspot/cli), for building dev projects: themes, modules, serverless functions, UI extensions, and private apps (hs project, hs upload, hs create). It does not create or manage workflow records.

To create or manage a workflow, use hubspot workflows ... — not hs.

If anything here ever drifts, hubspot workflows --help and hs --help are authoritative.

Resources

Source of truth

hubspot workflows --help lists five subcommands: list, get, create, update, delete. There is no search — finding by name is list | jq. For JSONL piping, pagination, and destructive dry-run/digest/confirm patterns, this skill builds on bulk-operations/SKILL.md — re-read that first.

1. List + find by name

hubspot workflows list                       # JSONL: id, name, isEnabled, type, objectTypeId, revisionId
hubspot workflows list --format table        # for human scanning
 
# Find by name — case-insensitive substring

List is paginated at 100 per call. Loop with --after until meta.next is empty — see bulk-operations/SKILL.md "Pagination". See resources/json-patterns.md in bulk-operations for more jq filters.

2. Get + read shape

Get returns the full body (actions, enrollmentCriteria, revisionId, …) — the shape required by create/update. See resources/workflow-json-reference.md.

3. Create from JSON

Set type (CONTACT_FLOW or PLATFORM_FLOW), flowType (WORKFLOW), and objectTypeId (e.g. 0-1 for contacts) — all required on create. See resources/workflow-json-reference.md for the body shape and resources/example-contact-flow.json for the minimal template. Easiest path: get an existing similar workflow as a starting template rather than hand-writing the JSON.

Pitfall: create --dry-run does not validate the body. It echoes the JSON back with ok:true and makes no API call — a green dry-run proves only that the input is well-formed JSON, not that it's a valid create (a body missing type/flowType/objectTypeId/actions still returns ok:true). The only real validation is the live create. By contrast, update --dry-run does reject a body missing required fields like revisionId.

Branching and convergence. A LIST_BRANCH action forks the path on filter criteria; each branch — and the defaultBranch — carries a connection to the action it continues to. Because connections target actions by nextActionId, branches can converge: point two branches at the same actionId and both paths continue to one shared action, no duplication. See the branching section of resources/workflow-json-reference.md and resources/example-branching-flow.json.

4. Update — full PUT, get-modify-put round-trip

Update is a full replace. The body must include revisionId (from get) and type. Read-only fields (createdAt, updatedAt, dataSources) are stripped automatically. Update is gated: dry-run first, then re-run with --digest <hash> --confirm <flowId>.

Pitfall: partial bodies silently clear fields. Sending only actions will wipe enrollmentCriteria. Always start from the full get response.

5. Delete — destructive, link to bulk safety flow

The dry-run output includes an apply_command_hint — copy the exact confirm string from there to avoid quoting surprises. Workflows cannot be restored through the automation API after deletion; check hubspot history --since 1h for an audit record. The full safety pattern (digest, 5-minute expiry, history recovery) is documented in bulk-operations/SKILL.md "Safe destructive workflow".

Known limitations

• No hubspot workflows search — list | jq is the workaround.
• No Lists API in the CLI — list-membership enrollment triggers must be wired up in the UI.
• No sequences/cadences API. dataSources is read-only — cannot be rewired via update.