> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://developer.harness.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://developer.harness.io/harness-solutions-factory/use-hsf/workflows/execute-a-workflow.md).

# Execute a Workflow

This guide walks through executing an HSF workflow end to end, from finding it in IDP to verifying the output is visible in the catalog.

***

### Before you begin <a href="#before-you-begin" id="before-you-begin"></a>

* You have been added to the **HSF Users** group (or HSF Admins).
* HSF has been deployed and post-deployment configuration is complete.
* You know which workflow you want to run. Go to [How workflows work](/harness-solutions-factory/use-hsf/workflows/overview.md) for the full list of default workflows.

***

### Steps <a href="#steps" id="steps"></a>

Complete the following five steps to run a workflow and confirm its output.

#### Step 1: Find the workflow in IDP <a href="#step-1-find-the-workflow-in-idp" id="step-1-find-the-workflow-in-idp"></a>

Workflows are published in the IDP workflows catalog. To locate the one you want to run, do the following:

1. Navigate to **IDP** in your Harness account.
2. Select **Workflows** from the left navigation.
3. Browse or search for the workflow you want to run.

{% hint style="info" %}
If you do not see the workflow you are looking for, it may not be registered in IDP yet. Ask your HSF Admin to run **Register Custom IDP Templates** to sync the latest workflows.
{% endhint %}

#### Step 2: Execute the workflow <a href="#step-2-execute-the-workflow" id="step-2-execute-the-workflow"></a>

Submitting the workflow form starts the provisioning pipeline. To submit it, do the following:

1. Click the workflow to open it.
2. Click **Execute**.
3. Fill in the required inputs. Each field has a description explaining what it expects; go to the individual workflow reference page for a full breakdown of all inputs and valid values.
4. Click **Create** to submit.

#### Step 3: Monitor the execution <a href="#step-3-monitor-the-execution" id="step-3-monitor-the-execution"></a>

After submitting, HSF starts the **Create and Manage IACM Workspaces** pipeline in the background. To monitor progress:

1. After clicking **Create**, select **Show Logs** to see the initial output.
2. Scroll down in the logs panel. You will see a link to the running **Create and Manage IACM Workspaces** pipeline. Click it to open the pipeline execution view.
3. Monitor the pipeline run. Once it completes, it will automatically trigger the **Provision Workspace** pipeline.

#### Step 4: Respond to approval requests <a href="#step-4-respond-to-approval-requests" id="step-4-respond-to-approval-requests"></a>

At two points during execution, an HSF Admin will receive an email notification asking them to approve the next step:

1. **Entity creation approval:** review the summary of what will be provisioned and approve or reject.
2. **Terraform plan approval:** review the full resource diff and confirm the changes are expected before approving.

Approvals are completed directly inside the pipeline execution view in Harness.

{% hint style="info" %}
If no approval notification arrives within a few minutes of submission, check that the HSF Admins group has notification settings configured. Go to [Post-deployment configuration](/harness-solutions-factory/new-to-hsf/get-started.md) to review the notification setup.
{% endhint %}

#### Step 5: Verify the output <a href="#step-5-verify-the-output" id="step-5-verify-the-output"></a>

Once the workflow completes successfully, confirm the following:

* Navigate to **IDP** → **Catalog** and search for the resource that was provisioned. The workflow output is automatically registered as a catalog entry.
* Navigate to **IaCM** → **Workspaces** and confirm the workspace was created in the correct project.

***

### Update an existing resource <a href="#update-an-existing-resource" id="update-an-existing-resource"></a>

You do not need to re-run the workflow from IDP to update a resource. Because each workflow creates an IaCM workspace, you can update it directly:

1. Navigate to **IaCM** → **Workspaces** and find the workspace for the resource you want to update.
2. Under **Variables** → **OpenTofu Variables**, update the relevant variable.
3. Save the variable, then run **Provision Workspace** on the workspace to apply the change (this will go through the approval flow again).

***

### Troubleshooting <a href="#troubleshooting" id="troubleshooting"></a>

If a pipeline step fails during workflow execution, start with the execution view:

* **Open the pipeline execution view:** navigate to the pipeline run link visible in the IDP execution log, or find it directly under the Solutions Factory project in Harness.
* **Check the step logs:** click the failed step to expand its log output. Most failures will have a clear error message.

<details>

<summary>HSF workflow pipeline fails immediately at start in Harness</summary>

An account-level OPA policy is most likely blocking execution. Check the policy evaluation output on the failed pipeline and confirm the policy set with your Harness admin.

</details>

<details>

<summary>HSF approval notification email never arrives after submitting an IDP workflow</summary>

The HSF Admins group has no notification settings configured. Add a notification channel to the group, then re-run the workflow.

</details>

<details>

<summary>Image pull failure in an HSF workflow pipeline due to DockerHub rate limiting</summary>

The DockerHub connector is using anonymous authentication and has been rate limited. Add credentials to the hsf\_dockerhub\_connector connector.

</details>

<details>

<summary>IDP catalog entry does not appear after an HSF workflow completes successfully</summary>

Run the Register Custom IDP Templates workflow to re-sync the catalog, then reload the IDP catalog page.

</details>

***

### Next steps <a href="#next-steps" id="next-steps"></a>

You have executed a workflow and confirmed its output in the catalog. Continue with the following:

* [How workflows work](/harness-solutions-factory/use-hsf/workflows/overview.md): Review every default HSF workflow and what it provisions.
* [Central Build Farm Workflow](/harness-solutions-factory/use-hsf/workflows/central-build-farm-workflow.md): Configure the build infrastructure other workflows depend on.
* [Created resources](/harness-solutions-factory/use-hsf/created-resources.md): Understand what HSF creates across your account.