Smart Actions
OpenPages is a deeply configurable application providing the ability to configure Object Types, Data Fields, Views, Workflow, Calculations and many other elements to build an end-client solution.
However, configuration often isn’t enough to implement everything you require, which is when custom code is often considered.
But custom code is expensive, time consuming, inflexible and requires Java skills experienced in OpenPages - skills in very short supply.
In fact, many clients can’t justify the cost and so these business problems go unresolved, resulting in lower end user satisfaction in the system.
Smart Actions can provide an alternative to expensive custom code - reducing or eliminating the need for Java developers and unlocking the creativity of your current analysts and system admninistrators.
In minutes, you can build solutions such as automating deployment of your risk library to in-scope for RCSA businesses, or move records to a new business area/archive or emailing your users a weekly summary of data they need to be aware of.
Smart Actions are the No-code / Low-code way to unleash your creativity.
What is a Smart Action
A Smart Action implements a discrete command or operation on OpenPages.
For example, there is a Smart Action to Update any OpenPages data record, another to Copy a record and one to send a user an Email and so on.
The power of Smart Actions lies in the ability to easily compose together many Smart Actions commands to be executed - each one with a separate set of data to operate on.
Smart Action commands can be configured individually on a Schedule / Workflow Operation, be provided in n Excel spreadsheet or for more complex requirements a Cognos Report can generate the list of Smart Actions to run - and can implementing any business rules that are required. The OpenPages Scheduler or Workflow system is used to determine when the Smart Actions should be executed.
For example, a Cognos Report might return a list of ‘Copy Record’ Smart Action commands, one for every in-scope for RCSA business entity for which a Library Risk is not already present in that business. Running this nightly would ensure every in-scope business always has every Library Risk in the RCSA.
Another example, would be a Cognos report returning a list of ‘Hard Delete Record’ Smart Action commands, one for every piece of data that is outside the firms data retention policies. Running this nightly would ensure that data retention policies are enforced, with data not just deleted but entirely scrubbed from the database.
What Smart Actions are available
As of the November 2025 Smart Actions release R3.44.0, the following Smart Actions are available:
| Area | Item | Smart Action | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
GRC Records | 1 | Associate Records | Associates two records (parent, child) |
| 2 | Disassociate Records | Disassociates two records (parent, child) | |
| 3 | Create Record | Creates a new record | |
| 4 | Update Record | Updates values of any fields on a record (up to 4 field values per Smart Action) | |
| 5 | Delete Record | Deletes a record | |
| 6 | Hard Delete Record | Hard Deletes a record – removing all trace from the system (can also hard delete records already soft-deleted in the UI) | |
| 7 | Anonymize Record | Anonymizes specified fields on a record (can be used to anonymize any data in the system with a suitable controlling report) | |
| 8 | Move Record | Move a record to a new primary parent (optionally move specified primary child types) | |
| 9 | Copy Record | Copy a record to a new primary parent (optionally copy specified primary child types) | |
| 10 | Lock Record | Locks a Record (direct lock is applied) | |
| 11 | Unlock Record | Unlocks a Record (direct lock is removed – inherited locks may remain) | |
| 12 | Attach Report | Execute a Cognos Report and attaches the output to a record (XLSX, PDF, CSV, HTML supported) | |
| 13 | Cancel Checkout | Cancels Checked Out status of a file attachment record | |
Users | 14 | Create User | Creates a new OpenPages User account |
| 15 | Email User | Email a user with custom Subject & Body text including content from one or more GRC records | |
| 16 | Update User | Updates a User Account, allowing the editing of the Email Address, Description, First Name, Last Name, Password, Locale, Profiles, Groups & Roles | |
| 17 | Enable User | Enable a User account | |
| 18 | Disable User | Disable a User account | |
| 19 | Lock User | Lock a User account | |
| 20 | Unlock User | Unlock a User account | |
| 21 | Anonymize User | Anonymize the details of an OpenPages User Account | |
Workflow | 22 | Start Workflow | Start a Workflow on a record |
| 23 | Terminate Workflow | Terminates a Workflow on a record | |
| 24 | Refresh Workflow | Refresh a running workflow, updating the Due Date, Assignees, Subscribers & Criticality and for OpenPages V9.0.0.1 onwards update the object to the latest published Workflow version. | |
| 25 | Workflow Action | Perform a workflow Action on a record | |
Admin | 26 | Add FXRates | Add FX Rates to the system |
| 27 | Run Schedule | Run an OpenPages Schedule job and wait until it has completed. (This allows multiple Schedules to be executed consecutively) | |
| 28 | Wait Schedule | Wait for a previously started schedule to complete | |
| 29 | Show Message | Show a message - use in a Workflow to provide validation error messages for more complex data conditions than can be achieved using standard Workflow validations | |
| 30 | Admin Mode | Allows Enable and Disabling of System Administration Mode | |
| 31 | Update Setting | Allows changes to be made to Application Settings | |
| 32 | Generate Framework | Regenerate one or all Reporting Frameworks including capability to set a custom Data Source | |
| 33 | Execute SQL | Execute SQL against the OpenPages or external database | |
| 34 | Classify Watson | Set enumeration fields to classify an object using Watson NLU AI Model | |
| 35 | Train Watson | Train a Watson NLU AI Model directly from OpenPages | |
| 36 | Delete Watson | Delete a Watson NLU AI Model directly from OpenPages | |
| 37 | Allow Sessions | Enable or Disable normal user logins except for Administrators and an optional set of permitted users | |
| 38 | Terminate Sessions | Force logout all active user sessions except Administrators and explicitly permitted users | |
| 39 | Update Application Text | Updates the text label of an Application Text item | |
| 40 | Collect Logs | Runs the Log Collector process allowing this to be scheduled periodically. | |
| 41 | Create Folder | Creates a new Folder | |
| 42 | Delete Folder | Deletes a Folder | |
| 43 | Run Calculations | Execute a specific OpenPages Calculation on all or specified objects | |
User Interface | 44 | UI Log Viewer | View and Download Application Server log files directly in the OpenPages User Interface |
See our Release Notes for detailed release notes.
What can I do with Smart Actions
Below are just a few examples of problems that can be solved - with just a few hours of configuration:
- Limit who can log into OpenPages and force logout all existing users (except administrators). Perform system maintenance without letting normal users log in to OpenPages.
- Train and/or delete Watson NLU AI Models without needing Python scripts or firewall changes
- Send Users a weekly summary email of their OpenPages data (e.g., Issues due completion, risks due rating).
- Copy Library Risks to all RCSAs where the Risk is not already present
- Disable User accounts that have been Inactive for more than X months.
- Automatically associate Risks to relevant Aggregation records providing executive overview of risk, firm wide
- Hard Delete archived data after XX years
- When an RCSA is completed, a record of the whole RCSA should be stored with the Assessment record
- Automatically move records (and their children) to an Archive folder when tagged as ready for archive