Steps Reference

Complete reference for all step types available in Spala flows.

Steps Reference

Steps are the building blocks of Spala flows. Each step performs a specific action -- assigning a variable, querying a database, calling an API, or controlling the flow of execution. You build backend logic by dragging steps onto the canvas and configuring their properties.

Spala provides step types organized into the following categories.

Categories

Variables
/reference/steps/variables

Set variables, log output, return values, and add comments to document your flows.

Database
/reference/steps/database

Query, insert, update, delete, and aggregate data using built-in database steps.

Control Flow
/reference/steps/control-flow

Conditional branching, loops, error handling, and flow control with if/else, switch, for each, try/catch, and more.

API
/reference/steps/api

Make external HTTP requests, send responses, set headers, cookies, and redirects.

Auth
/reference/steps/auth

Generate and verify JWTs, hash and verify passwords, and create API keys.

Crypto
/reference/steps/crypto

Encrypt, decrypt, hash data, and generate UUIDs, random numbers, and random strings.

File
/reference/steps/file

Read, write, delete, and list files. Handle uploads and downloads.

Encoding
/reference/steps/encoding

Parse and stringify JSON, encode and decode Base64, URLs, and HTML entities.

Other
/reference/steps/other

Send emails, add delays, execute sub-flows, write custom code, and emit events.

How steps work

Every step in a flow executes sequentially from top to bottom. Each step can read variables set by previous steps using expressions like vars.myVariable. Steps that produce output can assign their result to a variable for use downstream.

Set Variable → Database Select → Loop → Respond

All step properties support expressions -- dynamic values that reference variables, use operators, and apply filters. See the Operators and Filters reference for details.

Filters Reference
/reference/filters
Data transformation filters for step expressions
Operators
/reference/operators
Arithmetic, comparison, and logical operators
Functions
/flows
Learn how to build backend logic with steps