Workato

Workato (Platform API)

Control a Workato account by calling its REST API with a token. This skill bakes in the endpoint map, the recipe code JSON format, and the non-obvious traps that otherwise cost hours. Start every task by orienting (token + scope), then use scripts/wk.py — it encodes the base URL, auth, and the body quirks so you never rewrite curl.

Setup & orientation (do this first)

• Token: ~/.config/workato/api_token (or $WORKATO_API_TOKEN). A wrkaus-… prefix = US region.
• Helper: python3 ~/.claude/skills/workato/scripts/wk.py … (zero deps, stdlib only). Run wk.py -h.
• Optional MCP server: if a workato MCP server is registered, its read + start/stop tools also work — use fully-qualified names (workato:list_recipes, workato:get_recipe, workato:list_connections, workato:list_folders, workato:list_projects, workato:list_recipe_jobs, workato:start_recipe, workato:stop_recipe, workato:workato_get). Use them for reads if present, but for creating/updating recipes use wk.py (the MCP server has no write tools). The server is optional — wk.py alone covers everything.
• Always check scope before promising anything: wk.py scope. A token is scoped to one API client's role — many resources may be 401. The token this was built for does recipes (R/W) + jobs + versions + connections + folders + projects; lookup tables, properties, roles, API platform, audit logs, tags, on-prem are typically 401.

What you can do (and the command for it)

Four golden rules (internalize these)

1. The API stores recipe code verbatim and does NOT validate it. A {"success":true} write can still be semantically broken (wrong operand key, wrong datapill field, bad input). Only the editor/runtime validate. So a created recipe isn't "working" until verified — never claim otherwise on the strength of the HTTP 200 alone.
2. wk.py start IS a free validator. It returns the editor's code_errors (invalid provider/action names, missing required fields, bad pills) without opening the UI — so unknown encodings can be discovered by probe loop on a scratch recipe (recipe-gotchas.md). Stop a scratch immediately if it starts and its trigger polls a real source.
3. Discover real encodings empirically, don't guess. Field names come from a real job: GET /recipes/:id/jobs/:job_id → per-step lines[] with RESOLVED input/output (unknown input keys are silently schema-filtered, so the surviving keys reveal an action's true schema). Pill/picklist encodings: build once in the editor and read back.
4. Validation ≠ runtime. Pills can validate yet resolve EMPTY (_dp+"first" trap), and runtime-only failures exist (lookup() wrong table name, nil-chain errors, Shopify "Sold out"/"Record is invalid"). Full verification = start + one real job + inspect the created record. Validation errors also hide behind HTTP 200 ({"success":false,…}).

Core workflows

Inspect / explore an account

wk.py scope → wk.py recipes / connections / folders / projects. To see how a recipe ran, list jobs then dump a job. This is read-only and safe.

Build a recipe

1. Pick a non-root folder (wk.py folders) and the connection id (wk.py connections).
2. Write the code tree (trigger = step 0; children in block) and a config array. Follow references/recipe-code-dsl.md for step structure, control flow (IF/ELSE_IF/ELSE as sibling steps, foreach/repeat loops, try/catch), the verified condition operand table, and datapill encoding. Get connector field names from references/connectors-gmail.md (or a real job for other connectors).
3. wk.py create … (leaves it stopped). Read it back: wk.py recipe <id> --code.
4. Verify before declaring success (golden rule #1): have the user open it in the editor, or inspect a job once it runs. Then wk.py start <id> when ready.

Fix / debug a recipe

wk.py recipe <id> --code to see the current tree → locate the bad step → fix in a local code.json → wk.py update <id> --code code.json. The usual culprits (all in references/recipe-gotchas.md): an invalid operand key (doesnt_contain → must be not_contains; full table in the DSL ref), a datapill pointing at a non-existent field (e.g. from instead of from_email), or folder_id/code body-type mistakes on create. A fix isn't done at the update 200 (golden rule #1): re-read the code, then re-validate with wk.py start and/or one real job before declaring it fixed.

Trigger timing

Most triggers (Gmail new_email included) are polling, not real-time; the interval is plan-gated and cannot be changed via the API. Real-time needs a webhook trigger / external push (Gmail → Pub/Sub). Details in recipe-gotchas.md.

When to read which reference

• references/recipe-code-dsl.md — building/fixing recipe code: step keywords, control flow (IF/ELSE, foreach/repeat loops, try/catch), the verified operand table, datapill formats (incl. the array-pill validation-vs-runtime table, = formula mode for non-first elements/ternaries/lookup(), list .where(field:'val') filtering + the backward-compatible null-safe guard for the [0]['x']-on-nil crash, the DB batch-insert rows/____source shape, the extended-schema rules, formula conditions, and the stop step), a full worked example. Read this for any build-or-fix task.
• references/recipe-gotchas.md — before any create/update: the verbatim-storage trap, the start-as-validator probe loop, job lines[] debugging (incl. ?include_payloads=true and the try/catch-hides-failure trap — job succeeded while the source system shows FAILED), editing a live recipe safely (backup → leaf-diff assert → stop/update/start → rollback → re-test), forcing an immediate poll (stop+start), editor re-save rewrites, folder_id-string / code-string rules, field discovery, polling vs real-time.
• references/connectors-utilities.md — verified encodings for json_parser (parse a JSON-string output into pills; document root + labeled-schema traps), logger (log_message as a pill-resolution probe), lookup tables (the lookup() formula vs the half-mapped lookup_table connector; API is 401 — tables are UI-maintained). Read this whenever a connector returns JSON as a string, or a mapping needs a lookup table.
• references/api-endpoints.md — exact endpoints, regions, rate limits, the broader (often 401) API surface, the error model, and how to widen token scope.
• references/connectors-gmail.md — Gmail new_email outputs + send_mail inputs.
• references/connectors-orderful-shopify.md — inbound-EDI playbook: Orderful → Workato → Shopify (Walmart 850 PO → Shopify draft order). The poller-bucket routing trap (Orderful Communication Channels, UI-only — recipe gets 0 jobs if inbound isn't routed to a POLLER channel), the bucketId trailing-space bug, the Orderful poller trigger + get_record (returns the parsed message as a JSON string → json_parser), Shopify create_draft_order (full verified input incl. addresses/note, the extended_input_schema requirement, province/country naming, "Sold out" / "Record is invalid" causes) and search_product (handle-only lookup → handle=UPC convention), the three-tier item matching pattern (Shopify → lookup table → stop with details), how to inject a test 850, and the full proven recipe with mapping formulas. Read this for any Orderful/EDI-inbound recipe or Shopify draft-order action.
• references/connector-sdk.md — the boundary case: a task needs a connector built or changed (not a recipe). This skill can't do that — connectors are authored with the Ruby Workato Connector SDK (workato new/exec/push). Read this only when no connector exists for the app, or you must edit a custom connector's internals; for recipes, stay here.

Not the same as Workato's hosted MCP

This skill calls the Workato REST API with your own token from local scripts (deterministic, endpoint-shaped). Workato also offers Remote MCP servers — Workato hosts an MCP server that exposes selected recipes as LLM tools at a https://<instance>.apim.mcp.workato.com/…?wkt_token=… URL you'd add as a Claude connector. That's a different, LLM-tool-shaped surface. Don't conflate them: for "use my token to build/fix/inspect recipes," use this skill.