Web agent

Before you start

• Workflow steps

A Web agent step drives a browser through a list of actions, then hands the result back to the workflow. Use it to sign in to a supplier portal and download this month’s invoices when the portal has no API.

When should I use the Web agent?

Use it only when the website offers no API. An API through REST API or Integration is faster and steadier. The step appears in the picker only if your workspace has the Web agent add-on.

Add a Web agent step

1. Click + and choose Web agent. It sits in the Connect group.
2. Under Steps, click Add a step and choose Open a page. Type the Web address.
3. Add the steps that follow, such as Sign in, Click or Wait for a download. Reorder with the arrows.
4. Under What it brings back, turn on This job downloads a file if the job downloads one.
5. Click Save.

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Your browser robot previews the selected step.
Each step has its own settings. A step is one sentence, such as Open portal.example.com/invoices.
Add a step opens the palette of nine step types.
What it brings back controls the downloaded file.

What are the nine step types?

Group	Step	What it does
Go to	Open a page	Goes to a web address
Go to	Sign in	Types a username and password and submits
Act	Type into a field	Fills in a box on the page
Act	Choose an option	Picks a value in a dropdown
Act	Click	Clicks a button or link
Wait	Wait for something	Pauses until an element shows up or goes away
Wait	Wait for a table	Pauses until a table has enough rows
Wait	Wait for a download	Pauses until a file starts downloading
Capture	Take a screenshot	Saves a picture of the page for the job result

Boxes on the page are found with a CSS selector, such as #username. Each step shows How do I find a selector?.

What can the job bring back?

With This job downloads a file on, you set the File type and an optional File name pattern, then choose what happens to the file:

• Pass the file to later steps under a name. Later steps read it as that name, then .url or .fileName.
• Attach the file to a record, in a file field of a module.
• Read the table in the Excel file, for Excel files. The rows become a list you can loop over. You can set the sheet, the rows to skip, the header row and filters such as is, contains and is greater than.

Worked example: fetch an invoice report

Sara’s job opens portal.example.com/invoices, signs in, clicks Export, and waits for a download. She chooses Excel (.xlsx), turns on Read the table in the Excel file and names the list portalInvoices. After the step, a Loop goes over the rows.

What should I watch for?

Watch out

The workflow pauses while the robot runs. When it finishes, the workflow continues with a fresh copy of the record. Load the lists you need again after this step.

• The file reaches the workflow only while Keep the file on the server is on. Turning on the download turns it on.
• Type the text each browser step needs exactly as the page expects it.
• Once saved, a password is never shown again. Typing a new one replaces it.
• Use a readable Excel file with a header row, so the list fills with its rows.