What a Workflow Can Access

Every workflow shows what it can do outside the run itself: change files, run programs, connect to servers, send data online. Tipeline works this out from the workflow's steps, so you can see it before you run a workflow someone else made.

It's a label, not a sandbox. Nothing is blocked. It tells you which steps to look at.

Where you see it

• Workflow Overview — the About card has a Can access row with one chip per capability. Click a chip to see the steps behind it. A workflow with none of them says Only works with data.
• Installing from a hub — before a workflow is installed, a dialog lists what it can do. A workflow that only works with data installs right away. The assistant shows the same list when it suggests a hub workflow.
• Restore and project import — the restore dialog (Settings → Backup) and the project import dialog (Projects → Import) list what the workflows in the file can do, before anything is written.
• Assistant drafts — the draft banner shows what the draft can do. The assistant also mentions it in the draft summary ("It deletes the files it finds in Downloads").
• Workflows list — the Can access filter shows only the workflows that have every capability you pick. It's available when Desktop talks to its own Core, not on a Server connection yet.
• CLI — tipeline workflow info <identifier> has a can access row.

The capabilities

The first four are highlighted when you're about to install or accept a workflow. The others are listed but not highlighted, because most workflows have one of them.

Shown as	Highlighted	Comes from
Runs programs	Yes	system.runApplication, system.terminateProcess
Servers & databases	Yes	ssh.connect, ssh.exec, database.connect, database.query
Changes or deletes files	Yes	file and folder steps that write, copy, move, rename or remove; compression; cryptography.*ToFile; http.downloadFile and browser.downloadFile; browser screenshots, PDFs, screencasts and HAR files; the export and save steps of image, audio, video, pdf, spreadsheet and qrcode.generate
Runs add-on code	Yes	Any plugin step. A plugin is code you installed, so Tipeline can't tell more than that.
Sends data online	No	http.request, api.* (except basicAuth), email.send, ai.prompt, browser.launch, browser.goTo, browser.uploadFile, browser.runLighthouseAudit
Reads files	No	file and folder steps that read or check, ocr.recognize, pdf.extractText and getPageCount, the load and open steps of image, audio, video and spreadsheet, cryptography.*File
Runs a script	No	script.runScript (sandboxed: no files or network), browser.runJavaScript (runs inside the web page)

Steps that only work on data — string, math, array, object, date, variable, flow, HTML, XML, approvals — add nothing.

How it's worked out

• From the saved steps. A path built from an expression still counts as a file step. Disabled steps don't count.
• Sub-workflows count. A subtask.exec step adds everything its workflow can do, all the way down, and the chip says which sub-workflow a step is in. A sub-workflow that isn't installed, or that's picked by an expression or a file path, can't be looked at; it's listed under Not included.
• Per step, not per group. file.read reads files; file.remove changes them; file.getFilePathPart only works on text.

For the assistant

check_workflow returns a canAccess list next to errors and warnings: each capability, whether it's highlighted (review), and the steps that cause it. The drafting assistant uses it to say what a draft does in its summary.