Model Validation

Flowable Design includes built-in model validation that helps you identify issues in your models before publishing an app. The validation status is tracked per model and aggregated at the app level, giving you a clear overview of the quality of your app's models.

App-Level Validation Overview

The app overview in Flowable Design shows a Validations panel on the right side of the page. This panel provides a summary of the validation status across all models in the app.

When all models are valid, the panel displays "No validation errors found." with a gray info icon:

When one or more models have validation issues, the panel shows the number of models with errors or warnings, using a red exclamation icon. Each affected model also displays a validation status badge next to its name in the model list:

The app overview provides several tabs to help you identify and manage validation issues:

• Main models — Shows the primary models in the app with their validation status icon.
• Invalid — Filters the model list to only show models with validation errors or warnings.
• All models — Shows all models in the app, including referenced models from other workspaces.

When Is Validation Status Updated?

The validation status for each model is automatically updated when the model is saved. For an app that has existing models that haven't been validated yet, you can trigger a full validation of all models in the app from the app overview.

Validation at Publish Time

When publishing an app, the model validation status is shown to indicate if there are known errors and/or warnings. This ensures that you are aware of any potential issues before deploying the app to a runtime environment like Flowable Work.

Editor-Level Validation

Each model editor includes a Validate button in the toolbar (warning triangle icon) that allows you to check for validation issues in the current model. When issues are found, the button becomes highlighted and its label changes to indicate the severity (e.g., "Validate (view errors)" or "Validate (view warnings)"). The validation results are displayed in a resizable panel within the editor, listing each issue with its element name and a description.

Process Editor (BPMN)

In the BPMN process editor, click the validate button in the toolbar to check for validation issues. The validation panel opens at the bottom of the editor canvas, showing a table with NAME and DESCRIPTION columns. Elements with validation issues are also marked with a warning badge directly on the canvas.

Common process validation checks include:

• Elements have incoming and outgoing sequence flows
• Service tasks have a required implementation attribute (class, delegateExpression, type, operation, or expression)
• Email tasks have a recipient, subject, and body configured
• Sequence flows have valid conditions where required
• Referenced models (forms, decisions) exist in the app

Form Editor

The form editor includes the same validate button in its toolbar. Clicking it checks the form model for configuration issues and shows the validation panel at the bottom of the editor.

Common form validation checks include:

• Required properties have a value configured (e.g., a text field needs a Value binding)
• REST buttons have a REST URL defined
• Data bindings reference valid variables
• Component configurations are complete

Agent Model Editor

The agent model editor validates agent configuration. Like other editors, the validation panel appears at the bottom when clicking the validate button.

Common agent validation checks include:

• Operations have a prompt defined
• Operations have an output type configured
• Agent type is set
• Tool references are valid

Service Registry Model Editor

The service registry model editor validates the service configuration, including operations, input/output definitions, and authentication settings.

Supported Model Types

Model validation is available in the following model editors:

Model Type	Validation Support
Process (BPMN)	Errors and warnings for flow, configuration, and references
Case (CMMN)	Errors and warnings for plan items, sentries, and references
Form	Configuration and binding validation
Decision (DMN)	Rule and expression validation
Service Registry	Operation and authentication validation
Agent	Type, operation, and tool validation
Event	Event definition validation
Channel	Channel configuration validation
Data Dictionary	Field and type validation
SLA	Time and action configuration validation
Query	Query definition validation
Sequence	Sequence configuration validation