Channel Configuration
This guide describes the Channel Configuration in the Workbench. Every channel in Workist (for example an order, invoice, or price-request channel) bundles all the settings needed to process a particular document stream: how documents arrive, how they are processed, and where the fully processed data is exported.
In the Channel Configuration you define, among other things, which team is responsible for the channel, which fields Workist should extract from the document, the confidence at which automation takes effect, which master data is used, and how the finished output file reaches your system (SFTP, AS2, API, or ERP integration).
Because the configuration is extensive, it is split into several topic areas. This page gives you an overview and links to the respective detail pages.
Prerequisites
- A Workbench account with permission to configure channels. The Manager and Admin roles have this permission, see Users, roles & teams. Without it, the Manage channel menu entry is greyed out.
- At least one channel (see Adding and duplicating channels).
Opening the Channel Configuration
- In the left navigation, select your product (for example Orders) and open the desired channel.
- Open the three-dot menu (⋮) in the top right.
- Select Manage channel.
You will then see the configuration page with the navigation menu in the center. Click the channel name in the top left to return to the channel's document list.
The center column contains the navigation for the Channel Configuration. The entries are grouped into four areas:
| Area | Entries | What is configured there |
|---|---|---|
| General | General | Channel name, responsible team, email inbox address, time per document before Workist. |
| Receiving Documents | Email, Self-service forms | How documents enter the channel. Self-service forms exist in order channels only. |
| Processing Documents | Document, Header fields, Position line fields, Agentic Header Extraction, Agentic Line Item Extraction, Master Data, Discard | What Workist does with the incoming documents. An additional Customization Parameters entry appears. It is only relevant if Workist built a customer-specific customization for your organization; otherwise it contains no settings. |
| Exporting Processed Documents | AS2, SFTP, Upload, Output File | How the results reach your system and the format of the generated file. |
Depending on the product, individual entries may be missing. List of services channels, for example, have no entries under Receiving Documents.
Voice agents are not set up in the Channel Configuration but in a separate area. See Voice agents.
Adding and duplicating channels
Both actions need the same permission as the Channel Configuration.
Add a channel: In the left navigation, click the product (for example Orders). In the All Channels view, click Add channel in the top right and enter a name. The new channel
- automatically gets an email inbox (for order channels
orders,orders-1, … depending on the names already in use). The inbox is active immediately. - starts with automation switched off: every document waits in assistance until someone completes it.
- delivers completed documents to the Workist-managed SFTP server by default, see Exported Processed Documents.
Duplicate a channel: In the channel, open the three-dot menu (⋮) and select Duplicate channel. The copy takes over all settings of the original: fields, master data, team, email, AS2, SFTP and upload settings. It gets its own email inbox (inbox name of the original plus the name of the copy).
A duplicated channel delivers to the same SFTP folders or the same AS2 receiver as the original. Change the targets under Exported Processed Documents before you send documents to the copy if their results must not reach your production system.
Only Workist can delete channels. Contact your Workist representative for this.
Structure of the Individual Configuration Pages
All subpages of the Channel Configuration follow the same pattern:
- At the top is the title of the configuration (for example "Email configuration", "SFTP Configuration").
- Below it follow the form fields with the settings.
- A Save button writes the changes to the channel. Without clicking Save, changes are discarded as soon as you switch to another page.
Some areas (for example Upload, Output File, Discard) have no saved configuration yet in a new channel. Workist then uses default values. The configuration is created the first time you click Save; there is no separate button to activate it.
Each setting takes effect from the processing step that reads it:
- Input and extraction settings apply to documents that arrive after you save.
- Upload and Output File settings apply to every document completed after you save, including documents that were already in assistance before.
- Documents still in assistance can be extracted again with the current configuration and master data: row menu Reprocess. Your previous changes to the document are lost.
Detail Pages per Area
For each of the four areas there is a dedicated guide:
- General — channel name, team, email inbox, time per document before Workist.
- Incoming Documents — email reception, supported file types, self-service forms, uploading files.
- Document Processing — field configuration, confidence thresholds, agentic extraction with AI, master data matching, discard rules. With detailed pages:
- Document — localization, automation, data formatting, unit conversion, validation, document-type-specific settings, filling, document filtering.
- Header Fields — configuring header data fields.
- Line Item Fields — configuring line item fields, with lookup and length options.
- Agentic Header Extraction — AI-assisted extraction of additional header data.
- Agentic Line Item Extraction — AI-assisted extraction and operations at line item level.
- Exported (Processed) Documents — delivery method (SFTP, AS2, API, ERP integration), output file format, delivery failures.
Most Important Settings at a Glance
When you set up a new channel or review an existing one, the following settings are the most important:
| Setting | Area | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Channel Name and Team | General | Who the channel is shown to and who handles its documents. |
| Enabled | Input → Email | Whether the channel accepts emails sent to its inbox address. On for new channels. |
| Inbox Name | Input → Email | Determines the channel's email address. |
| Confidence thresholds for header data and line items | Processing → Document | The confidence extracted values must reach so that a document can be processed without assistance. |
| Automation enabled | Processing → Document | Global switch for the end-to-end automation of this channel. Off for new channels. |
| Lookup IDs | Processing → Master Data | Which master data (articles, customers, addresses, …) is used for matching. |
| Validation checks | Processing → Document | Which business checks (total reconciliation, unique order number, …) run. |
| How should the documents be transferred? | Output → Upload | Delivery method: SFTP (default), AS2, API, ERP integration, Manual, or Other. |
| Push results automatically | Output → Upload | Whether Workist actively delivers results via SFTP, AS2 or ERP integration. On by default. |
| Destination folder for generated files / Destination folder for outgoing documents | Output → Upload | Which SFTP folders Workist writes the files to (SFTP only). |
| Activate serialization | Output → Output File | Whether Workist generates an output file. |
Help and Support
If a setting in your channel does not have the expected effect, contact your Workist representative and have the following information ready:
- the channel name as well as the product (Orders, Invoices, …),
- the area in which the setting is located (for example Document Processing → Master Data),
- the exact name of the field that is not behaving as expected,
- for processing errors: a sample document and the time of processing.