Sumsub Create Workflow

Sumsub — Create Workflow

Builds an ApplicantWorkflow JSON payload from a compact node/edge spec, validates it (dry-run), POSTs it as a draft, and then — gated by the workflow's current live exposure — publishes it via PUT /{id}/revisionStatus: directly when exposure is low, or only after explicit confirmation when it's high. Reports the resulting name (kind) / revision / revisionStatus / id. Read the Danger section before publishing anything.

Concepts

A workflow routes applicants through levels and branches. There is exactly one workflow per kind: default (auto-runs for every verification), actions (auto-runs for applicant actions), test (isolated; runs only from its draft, launched manually per applicant — not publishable). Each save creates a new revision of that singleton, never a new workflow. A revision is a draft — editable, routes no traffic, always safe to create / update / validate — until it is published, which makes it live for all real production traffic and auto-archives the previously published revision. test never publishes; it runs from its draft.

Endpoints

Permission required on the App Token: manageWorkflows. Sandbox tokens typically have it; if you hit 403 Unauthorized (atd), regenerate the token with the right scopes.

⚠️ Danger — publishing affects LIVE production traffic

Workflow revisions are shared across live and sandbox; only applicants are isolated. Publishing changes the workflow that handles all real production traffic — a sandbox sbx: token does not make this safe. This is the single most important fact about this skill. (Drafts, by contrast, route no traffic — create / update / validate them freely.)

Publishing default/actions is gated by the workflow's current live exposure — the recent applicant traffic on the revision that is currently published (the one a publish auto-archives), measured by the workflow_api.py traffic subcommand. The threshold is 400 recent applicants (override: SUMSUB_PUBLISH_TRAFFIC_THRESHOLD):

The exposure count is level-derived — it counts applicants recently seen on the level names the published revision contains (so revisions sharing level names report overlapping counts), reflecting how busy this workflow's levels are now, not the new revision's blast radius. Phrase it to the user as "the levels in this revision have N recent applicants," never "this workflow handled N." Rules that hold regardless of exposure:

• Publishing is the default end of a build, not a separate request — the gate above decides what it costs (low → direct; high → confirm + latch). The only thing that keeps a build at a draft is the user explicitly opting out ("just save a draft").
• Fail safe on unknown exposure. If the live revision's traffic can't be read (API error), treat it as over-threshold and run the full guarded flow.
• Never switch kinds to dodge the gate. A publish request can't be made "safer" by retargeting to test (the API rejects it anyway). Publish the requested kind.
• workflow_api.py publish is the backstop: it independently re-measures exposure and requires SUMSUB_ALLOW_WORKFLOW_PUBLISH=1 only when exposure is over-threshold or unreadable — letting a low-exposure publish through unlatched.

Auth — App Token + secret (sandbox only)

Each request is signed with App Token + secret (HMAC-SHA256). Full signing details and 401 debugging: sumsub-api-auth.

⚠️ Sandbox only. A workflow routes real applicants, so production tokens are refused — the scripts reject anything not prefixed sbx:. Mint a sandbox pair in the dashboard (switch the workspace to Sandbox → App tokens → Create; both are shown once).

If the user has already supplied credentials in conversation, reuse them; otherwise ask once before running. Never echo the secret back.

Not a credential: publishing a high-exposure default/actions revision (live traffic above the threshold, or unreadable) is armed by SUMSUB_ALLOW_WORKFLOW_PUBLISH=1, but that is not a configured env var — it is a per-command arming token you type inline on the publish call (step 8), nothing else. Never add it to settings.local.json or any persistent env: doing so leaves the gate permanently open, which defeats its only purpose. It belongs on exactly one command line, at the moment you publish, and nowhere else.

Principles

These three govern every step below; the procedure points back here where each one bites. They share one spine — the user's intent and the workspace's real entities are the ground truth; your job is to wire them faithfully, never to invent or improve.

1. Build exactly what the user specified. Their level names, node structure, branch logic, and chosen kind are fixed constraints — not raw material to improve. If your own reasoning concludes a choice is redundant or suboptimal — often resting on a wrong assumption about how levels or the engine behave (e.g. chained levels don't re-capture already-collected data — see references/workflow-patterns.md) — build it literally and flag the concern in your report, never silently substitute a design you prefer. Validation catches what's invalid; "suboptimal" is not "invalid," and is never license to change their design.
2. Wire entities; don't own them. Every level, client list, and tag a node references must resolve to something real before you build on it — a name the user gave you, one you confirmed via GET /resources/applicants/-/levels, or one explicitly being created (by you, a companion skill, or the user). An ungrounded reference is a stop, not a blank to fill: reuse what exists, get it created, or mark it explicitly pending — never invent a plausible name to make the graph look complete (that a missing reference blocks only publish, not the draft, is no license to fabricate one). Ground proactively — read the existing levels and reuse a real one before asking or inventing.
3. Aim at the reference, not the green checkmark. Structural/builder errors are yours to fix — iterate until clean. But a missing-entity error (levelNotFound, tagDoesNotExist, unknown client list) is cleared only by grounding the reference — never by repointing it at a convenient entity to make validation pass. And report the territory, not the map you wish were true: a draft with unresolved references is unfinished, and structure you bent to fit an existing entity is a change to the user's policy — surface both plainly, never as a clean success.

Procedure

0. Resolve the workflow kind from the user's own words, and state it back. If the user named no kind, it is default (the spec default). Use test or actions only when the user explicitly names them. Never infer, default to, or substitute a kind the user didn't ask for. State the kind as an assumption and proceed — say e.g. "treating this as default since you didn't specify a kind" so it's visible and correctable; don't turn the kind into a multiple-choice question. Never offer test as a "safe place to build" a default workflow to avoid touching an existing draft: test is for manual, per-applicant test runs, has its own separate draft, cannot be published, and has no promotion path into default. An existing default draft is never a reason to build elsewhere — just overwrite it (step 3).

1. Translate the user's flowchart into the compact spec (below). One node per box / decision diamond, one edge per arrow. Use ids that read like labels (country-check, route, idv, reject-region). If the user gives a policy rather than a flowchart ("build me a KYC/KYB workflow"), don't start from a blank page — decompose it with the canonical pipeline spine and primitives in references/workflow-patterns.md, then stamp that spine per segment. Build only what the user specified, and ground every level / list / tag reference before building on it (Principles 1–2).

2. Validate the graph: every edge from/to resolves to a node id; every applicantLevel / actionApplicantLevel references a real level by name; every exclusiveChoice has ≥1 branching out-edge (condition: or on:); final-rejection nodes carry labels or buttonIds. (A level — and every non-choice node — has a single, unconditional out-edge; only an exclusiveChoice may branch — see Edge on:.) The graph is a directed acyclic forest: edges point only forward (no cycles/back-edges — document resubmission is not a back-edge; the engine retries in place), while fan-in and shared downstream nodes are fine and several entry levels may root independent flows. Never bridge different applicant types (KYC individual vs KYB company) with an edge — an applicant's type can't change. Full graph rules: Constraints in references/workflow-schema.md; resubmission in references/workflow-patterns.md.

3. Check current state with ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/workflow_api.py state <name> for the target workflow name, then pick the write mode: no revisions → create (POST without id); a draft already exists → update it in place (POST with that id; a no-id POST would 409); a published revision but no draft → seed a draft with ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/workflow_api.py fork <id>, or just POST a fresh one. Overwriting an existing draft is the normal, expected operation — do it silently. The draft is a scratch surface the skill evolves across multiple runs, so don't ask before overwriting and don't back it up by default. Only if the user explicitly asks to preserve their current draft, first read it with ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/workflow_api.py get <id> and save the JSON body to a file (the command appends a trailing HTTP <code> line — keep only the JSON), then overwrite. When editing, preserve existing node and edge ids — get <id> the revision you're basing on and carry its ids through, minting new ids only for new nodes/edges (the engine matches in-flight runs on those ids; rationale in Revision continuity, references/workflow-schema.md).

4. Generate payload with ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/build_workflow.py — spec on stdin → full payload on stdout. The builder assembles the payload from the real node types and edge condition ASTs, and validates node types, operators, and action targetType against its built-in known sets — so typos and unsupported constructs error here, before any network call (the API's validate is authoritative for the rest — levels, client lists, labels). Set the draft's id in the spec when updating in place (step 3).

5. Validate (dry-run, stores nothing). Pipe the payload to ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/workflow_api.py validate → notices[]. info = advisory; warning = non-blocking but usually a real bug; error = publish-blocker. Look up any notice's meaning, severity, params, and how to act in references/workflow-notices.md. Clear a missing-entity error by grounding the reference, not by repointing it to pass validation (Principle 3). Always validate before persisting.

6. POST via ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/workflow_api.py post — create (no id) or update in place (with the id from step 3). Response carries the persisted draft with id, clientId, notices[].

7. Build the dashboard link from clientId in the response body:

   https://cockpit.sumsub.com/checkus/sdkIntegrations/workflows/active/applicant?clientId=<clientId>&sbx=true
   

   sbx=true targets the Sandbox workspace. ⚠️ Not a per-id deep link — it shows the current draft; tell the user to click promptly.

8. Publish — the default end of a build, gated by exposure. Skip only if the user opted out ("just save a draft") — a draft routes no traffic, so it's not a useful end state on its own. The draft must have last validated clean (step 5) — the API refuses to publish a revision with any error notice. Run ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/workflow_api.py publish <draft-id>; it owns the live-exposure gate (defined in Danger) and does one of two things:

   • Low exposure → it publishes directly; you're done.
   • High exposure → it refuses before changing anything, printing the exposure count and the currently-published revision's id (your one-command rollback point). To proceed, run the guarded flow: diff the draft against that published revision, disclose the change and that count to the user ("makes revision N live for ALL real production traffic; the current published revision — whose levels have ~M recent applicants — will be auto-archived"), get an explicit "yes", then re-run prefixed with SUMSUB_ALLOW_WORKFLOW_PUBLISH=1.

   Rollback: re-publish the previously-published id — SUMSUB_ALLOW_WORKFLOW_PUBLISH=1 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/workflow_api.py publish <previous-published-id> (keep the latch — once it's live again, the revision you're replacing may itself be over-threshold). test is never published — see Danger.

9. Report (lead with the human-readable identity) — and report the territory, not the map you wish were true: flag any unresolved reference or bent structure plainly, never as a clean success (Principle 3). Lead with the workflow name (default/actions/test) and revision — e.g. «default» revision 14 — then revisionStatus; node/edge counts and the sorted unique level names referenced (so misspellings show); the dashboard link (step 7) as a clickable markdown link. If you published, say so, name the now-published revision, note the auto-archived previous revision, and give its id as the rollback point. End with a single Workflow ID: <id> line — the one place a raw id belongs. On failure, surface Sumsub's description / errorName verbatim (builder validation errors already print a precise message).

Compact spec format (JSON or YAML on stdin)

kind selects which workflow you're editing (see Concepts for what each kind means and how revisions/drafts work). It is set only by the user's explicit request (see step 0); the default is default. ⚠️ default/actions intercept real traffic once published — see the Danger section. (The schema has a title field, but the engine ignores it — the skill neither sets nor relies on it.)

Nodes use the real schema node-type in type; edges carry the real Sumsub condition AST directly (no expression mini-language). on: is a shorthand for reviewDecisions.

kind: default                   # optional — default | test | actions (the workflow to edit)
revisionStatus: draft           # optional; only `draft` on create. Publishing is a separate, gated step (see Danger).

nodes:
  - id: country-check
    type: applicantLevel
    levelName: "Country Selector"
  - id: route
    type: exclusiveChoice
    name: "Country router"
  - id: idv
    type: applicantLevel
    levelName: "IDV"
  - id: idv-result
    type: exclusiveChoice
    name: "IDV result"
  - id: reject-region
    type: finalRejection
    labels: ["WRONG_USER_REGION"]
  - id: manual
    type: manualReview

edges:
  # A level's out-edge is single & unconditional — branch only at an explicit exclusiveChoice.
  - { from: country-check, to: route }                  # plain: level → choice
  - from: route                                         # embargo first (any decision)
    to: reject-region
    condition: { or: [ { and: [ { op: in, args: [ {exp: "applicant.country"}, {lit: "[\"UZB\", \"DEU\"]"} ] } ] } ] }
  - from: route                                         # approved & allowed → IDV
    to: idv
    on: approved
    condition: { or: [ { and: [ { op: eq, args: [ {exp: "applicant.country"}, {lit: "\"USA\""} ] } ] } ] }
  - { from: idv, to: idv-result }                       # plain: level → choice
  - { from: idv-result, to: manual, on: rejected }      # resubmission unhandled → engine retries (the default)

Node types

A node is { id, type, name?, <body> }, where type is the real schema node type. Body fields may be flattened (shown below) or written in the real nested form (applicantLevel: { levelName }).

Standard verification workflow (kind: default｜test):

Action workflow (kind: actions only): each action* type mirrors its standard counterpart — actionApplicantLevel, actionExclusiveChoice, actionActions, actionManualReview, actionFinalRejection take the same body as the names without the action prefix. Plus one extra: actionApplicantTransition (levelName — the default-workflow level to hand the verification back into; it must exist in the published default workflow, or validate raises missingLevelsForTransition).

action* types are valid only inside an action workflow (a graph that runs after a primary verification — typically tagging / noting / changing source key, or transitioning the applicant back into default); standard types only in default/test. Mixing them is rejected; the builder catches it before POST.

Actions block

Inside an actions or actionActions node:

- id: tag-and-note
  type: actions
  actions:
    - tag: ["High risk", "Manual review"]    # adds tags
    - note: "Flagged by workflow"            # adds applicant note
    - sourceKey: "manual-flow"               # overrides applicant source key

Each item must contain exactly one of: tag, note, sourceKey. Tag/note also take a richer object form for the niche cases:

    - tag:  { add: ["VIP"], remove: ["pending"], target: applicantAction }
    - note: { text: "Auto-note", target: applicantAction }

• target (targetType) is applicant by default. applicantAction targets the triggering action and is only valid in an action workflow (kind: actions).
• Not supported: kytCase (postponed — no public API for its blueprintId yet), riskScore, recheck. (The old riskLevel action never existed — removed.)

Edge conditions (condition:)

An edge may carry a condition: — the real Sumsub condition AST, written directly (there is no expression mini-language):

condition:
  or:                                  # OR of AND-groups; branches evaluated in order, first match wins
    - and:
        - { op: eq, args: [ {exp: "applicant.country"}, {lit: "\"USA\""} ] }
        - { op: in, args: [ {exp: "poi.country"}, {exp: "clientLists.high_risk"} ] }

• {exp: "<path>"} — an expression path, verbatim. Anything the engine accepts works, including bracket/quoted segments: applicant.metadata["balance"], clientLists["luhansk_people's_republic"]. It's the left side of a comparison, and also the right side for field-to-field and client-list checks ({exp: "clientLists.high_risk"}).
• {lit: "<json>"} — a literal, supplied already JSON-encoded as a string (the form the API stores): "\"USA\"", "3", "true", "[\"UZB\", \"DEU\"]". An un-encoded literal ({lit: "USA"}) is rejected by the API with syntaxError, so the encoding is required.
• op is one of the comparison operators (eq ne lt lte gt gte in notIn contains notContains containsAny containsAll startsWith endsWith match empty notEmpty eqIgnoreCase …; full set in references/workflow-schema.md). The builder validates every op against its known set and rejects unknown or reserved ones (call).
• Negation is expressed with the not* operators (notIn, notContains, ne, notEmpty, …) — do not set a negate flag; a top-level Condition.negate is rejected (UI-unsupported).

Client lists (clientLists.<name>) are tenant-defined named lists maintained in the Sumsub dashboard, used as an expression RHS with in / notIn / containsAny. This skill does not create them. An unknown list validates as an invalidExpression error notice (a missing-entity error, like levelNotFound) — the construct is valid, the list just isn't defined in that workspace.

The full Condition/And/Criterion AST, literal-encoding rules, and operator list live in references/workflow-schema.md; valid exp paths are in references/workflow-expressions.md.

Edge on: (review-decision routing)

on: approved gates a transition on a level's review decision (approved / rejected / resubmission; pass an array for several) — a shorthand for the real reviewDecisions: field. on:/condition: are honored only on edges leaving an exclusiveChoice (or actionExclusiveChoice in an action workflow; the reviewDecisions match the upstream level's decision); a level's own out-edge is a single, unconditional transition. So to branch on a level's outcome you author the choice yourself: point the level at an exclusiveChoice with one plain edge, then put the on:/condition: branches on the choice's out-edges (evaluated in declared order, first match wins). The builder does not synthesize choices — it rejects on:/condition: on a level edge (and a level with >1 out-edge), with a message telling you to insert the choice. on: and condition: can coexist on a choice's out-edge.

Two primitives govern omitted decisions: (1) omitting on: makes an edge decision-agnostic — it doesn't check the decision; (2) a resubmitter stays on its level unless some branch on the immediate post-level choice names resubmission. Together, a no-on: edge in practice serves approved + rejected while resubmission retries by default (it's a deduction from these two, not a stored default set). Leave resubmission to the engine: don't name resubmission anywhere unless the user explicitly asks to cap or otherwise act on repeated attempts. It is not part of a standard workflow — the engine's automatic retry is what almost everyone wants. Only if asked, see Iteration without cycles: the resubmission gate in references/workflow-patterns.md (and note: naming resubmission on a choice changes how its other edges behave — that section explains the interlock).

Worked examples

• examples/country-routing.json — entry level → eligibility gate (region-reject vs IDV) → IDV → a second choice → manual-review on a rejected IDV. Two choices, because a level sits between them (the most common topology).
• examples/action-workflow.json — small action-workflow that tags and notes after a level completes.
• examples/aml-routing.json — client-list geo gate + post-AML routing on applicant.review.rejectLabels (PEP / SANCTIONS / ADVERSE_MEDIA) with containsAny and tag-driven fan-in (mirrors real-world AML topologies).

See also

• references/workflow-schema.md — reference for every node type's body, the action model, the Condition AST + operators, the lifecycle, and the live-traffic guard.
• references/workflow-expressions.md — the expression-path lookup dictionary.
• references/workflow-notices.md — the validation-notice catalog: every notices[] key the validate/post endpoints return, with severity, params, and how to act (ground a reference vs. fix the spec). Look up any notice you get here.
• references/workflow-patterns.md — composition patterns: how to decompose a KYC/KYB policy into the canonical pipeline spine and reusable primitives (strategy, not schema). Start here when the ask is "build me a workflow" rather than "fix this node".