What are custom actions?
What installing an extension adds to a care flow — new action types that talk to a third-party system, alongside Awell's native ones.
A care flow is built from actions: the smallest building block, defining what needs to happen and who does it. See Key terms for how actions relate to steps and tracks.
Awell ships native actions: forms, messages, checklists, calculations. Custom actions are the ones an extension adds.
Installing an extension adds its actions
A custom action is tied to an extension enabled for the care flow. Installing an SMS extension, Twilio for instance, adds a "Send SMS" action. Installing a scheduling extension adds "Get appointment".
From an author's point of view they behave like any other action: add one to a step, configure it, and the care flow runs it. Unlike a native action, completing one means talking to a system outside Awell.
One action at design time, one activity per patient at run time
Custom actions inherit the same distinction as native ones:
- An action is what sits in a step at design time.
- An activity is what exists at run time when that action activates for a patient.
So a custom action defined once in Studio becomes one activity per patient who reaches it. See What happens when a care flow runs.
System actions, not user actions
Custom actions are almost always system actions: Awell completes them automatically rather than waiting for a person. A custom action calling a slow third-party system is therefore a pause in the care flow, and if a patient is waiting on Hosted Pages they see it. See Care flow design with Hosted Pages.
Next steps
What are Awell Extensions?
Extensions connect a care flow to the outside world: health records, messaging, scheduling, and in-house apps, so data and actions move automatically instead of by hand.
Build your own extension
Why an extension gets built, whether it should be public or private, and what needs installing to start.