# Orchestration overview

**Category:** [Orchestration](https://help.totalctrl.app/hc/totalctrl/totalctrl-help-center/en-US/categories/orchestration)
**Updated:** 2026-08-19

## What Orchestration does

Orchestration lets you connect your apps so that an event in one app automatically does something in another. You build **workflows**: each workflow starts with a single **trigger** (the event that kicks it off) and runs one or more **actions** in order.

For example: when a new survey response comes in, post a message to a chat channel; or when a deal is won in your CRM, create a draft invoice in Accounting.
## The main pages

- **Workflows** — your home screen. Lists every workflow with its Active or Inactive status, run count, and last-run time. Open **History** on any workflow to see past runs.
- **Marketplace** — browse 200+ available apps, search by name, and filter by category. Open an app to see its triggers and actions.
- **Connections** — store the credentials (API key, OAuth, or webhook URL) for each external account a workflow needs.
- **Builder** — the canvas where you add the trigger and action steps for a single workflow.

## How a workflow runs

A workflow only runs when it is **Active**, and it can only be activated once it has at least one trigger and one action. When the trigger fires, Orchestration runs each action step in sequence and records the result. If a step fails, the run stops there and the person who triggered it is notified.
## Get started

See [Create your first workflow](create-your-first-workflow), then [Connect an app](connect-an-app) for any external services you use.

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## Related Articles

- [Orchestration Overview](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/orchestration-overview)
- [Connect an app](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/connect-an-app-1)
- [Build your first workflow](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/build-your-first-workflow)
- [Filters: stop a run when conditions aren't met](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/flow-control-filters)
- [Delays: pause a workflow for minutes, hours, or days](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/flow-control-delays)

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