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Action Nodes

An Action Node is a type of Journey node that pauses the Journey Application until an external action is taken, such as capturing user consent or performing a step that happens outside of Alloy. When an entity reaches an Action Node, the application waits in the pending_action status until your integration resolves it with an API request.


Core concepts

  • Action Node - A Journey node that pauses for external action. Configured in the Journey builder.
  • Node ID - A path-parameter identifier for the specific Action Node.
    • Important: Node IDs are not static. They change when the Journey configuration is updated. Always parse the Node ID from the webhook event or API response. Never hard-code or store it as a constant.
  • Action outcome - The value you submit when resolving the Action Node (typically Approved or Denied).

How it works

When an entity reaches an Action Node during Journey processing:

  1. Alloy sets the entity application status (and potentially the top-level application status) to pending_action
  2. Alloy emits a pending_action webhook event
  3. Journey processing halts for that entity until you resolve the Action Node

Your integration resolves the Action Node by submitting a PUT request to the Update Journey Application Action Node endpoint. The request body includes an outcome (typically Approved or Denied) and optionally any supplemental data to merge into the entity's record.


When to use it

Use Action Nodes when your decisioning flow needs to pause for an external action that isn't handled by Step-Up or Manual Review.

Common examples: capturing user consent, triggering a process in an external system, or waiting for an offline check.


How it fits in Alloy

Action Nodes work alongside Step-Up nodes and Manual Review nodes as ways to pause a Journey Application for external input. The choice of which to use depends on the type of input needed:

  • Step-Up: for end-user verification (document upload, etc.)
  • Manual Review: for human analyst review in Alloy's dashboard
  • Action Node: for any other external action that doesn't fit the above