Create and/or edit a new workflow

In order to Create a new Workflow in Terra, the process requires working through the "Broad Methods Repository". Follow the steps below to Create a new Workflow and how to edit a workflow.

A. Create a new Workflow

1. From your Terra workspace, navigate to the Workflow tab and click on "Find a Workflow"

2. From the "Suggested Workflows" window, click on the Broad Methods Repository under "Find Additional Workflows":

3. You will be redirected to the Broad Methods Repository where you can "Create New Method.. +" from the top right-hand corner:

4. Clicking the 'Create New Method.. +" will open up a modal to set up your new Workflow. You will enter in your Namespace* and the Name of your new Workflow followed by your WDL (either entered in manually or with "Load from file...". Press Upload once all the information has been filled out:

Namespace* acts like a folder containing workflow and workflow configs. For example, if you add the workflow "ExampleNewWorkflow" to the Broad Methods Repository under the namespace "SupportDocs", its identifier would be: SupportDocs/ExampleNewWorkflow

Many analysts choose to put their name and/or institution in the namespace field. You can label your namespaces however you see fit, provided the chosen namespace does not already exist. Administrators may verify namespaces, which like verified twitter accounts, establish the authenticity of namespaces attached to specific organizations (e.g., Broad Institute).

You can permit others to use your namespace. This is great for labs who have multiple contributors but want people to find all of their methods under the "Miller-lab", for example.

In this case, we may add the namespace "SupportDocs" to any workflows that we create for the purpose of documents.

Name is the name of the specific workflow you are creating. This can be any name as long as it does not already exist. In this example, the workflow is called "ExampleNewWorkflow"

Documentation is where you can add information about the WDL and what it does. We encourage developers to add descriptive information such that if you were to share this with another user, they are able to recognize the inputs and outputs as well as any other required information they may need to run the workflow successfully.

Snapshot is a numerical value assigned to the WDL similar to a versioning system. From the WDL section, you can make edits directly to the script and each time you press Upload, you create a new Snapshot. 

5. Once the Upload step is finished, you will be directed to your new workflow. Now you can "Export to Workspace..." from the top right-hand corner:

6. You can select a configuration if one already exists or use a Blank Configuration. The configuration is your ability to set some inputs and save them so that you can use them repeatedly:

7. Then choose the destination Workspace. This would be the Terra workspace that you were working in and would like to export your Workflow to. You should be prompted to go to the destination workspace which will redirect you back to your Terra Workflows tab where you should see your new Worfklow:

B. Edit a Workflow

1. Access your workflow from the Broad Methods Repository so that you are on the Summary tab:

2. Press "Edit..." from the left-hand bar. This should bring up the same modal as when you created your workflow:

3. You can edit directly in the WDL section window. The program will automatically recognize syntactical errors when you press Upload. You can also change the snapshot comment depending on the changes that you made. Press "Save as New Snapshot". 

You can see that there are now 2 Snapshots. You will not need to export this workflow again to Terra. Rather you can go to the Workflow tab in your Terra workspace and you can toggle between the snapshots when you click into the workflow.