Platform limits: 50 steps per workflow, 10,000 runs/day per workflow (soft), 30-second budget per deterministic step. Heavy automation designs should batch, not loop — and chain workflows via signals rather than nesting.
The limits
50 steps per workflow (a readability ceiling as much as a technical one), 10k runs/day soft limit per workflow (contact support to raise), 30s per deterministic step, 120s per agentic step, payload size 1MB.
Batch, don't loop
Processing 5,000 records? Use a batch trigger (scheduled sweep with a filter) rather than 5,000 individual event runs. Batch steps process record sets natively and count as one run.
Chain via signals
Long automations should be 2–3 workflows chained by custom signals rather than one 50-step monster: independently testable, independently versioned, and failures isolate.
Monitoring load
Automation → Health shows runs/day, p95 duration, and failure rate per workflow. A workflow trending toward its run limit or duration budget gets flagged before it throttles.
