> You are reading the Docusign Developer Documentation. For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL. > > Documentation indexes by section: > - APIs and SDKs: https://docusign.docs.buildwithfern.com/docs/llms.txt > - Platform 101: https://docusign.docs.buildwithfern.com/platform/llms.txt > - Extension Apps: https://docusign.docs.buildwithfern.com/extension-apps/llms.txt > - Docusign CLI: https://docusign.docs.buildwithfern.com/docusign-cli/llms.txt > > Authentication (OAuth, JWT Grant, M2M): https://docusign.docs.buildwithfern.com/platform/auth > Webhooks and Connect: https://docusign.docs.buildwithfern.com/platform/webhooks > > OpenAPI specifications: https://docusign.docs.buildwithfern.com/openapi.json > MCP server: https://docusign.docs.buildwithfern.com/_mcp/server # How to cancel a running workflow instance > Learn how to cancel a running workflow instance This topic demonstrates how to cancel a running instance of a Workflow Builder [workflow](/docs/workflow-builder-api/workflow-builder101/workflows). **Important**: This how-to requires a published workflow with a running instance in your account. Run the [How to trigger a Workflow Builder workflow](/docs/workflow-builder-api/how-to/trigger-workflow) example from our launcher projects to create, publish, and trigger a workflow instance before running this example. > **Note** > > Run this code example from our [Quickstart](/docs/esign-rest-api/quickstart) or launcher projects: [Bash](https://github.com/docusign/code-examples-bash), [C#](https://github.com/docusign/code-examples-csharp), [Java](https://github.com/docusign/code-examples-java), [Node.js](https://github.com/docusign/code-examples-node), [PowerShell](https://github.com/docusign/code-examples-powershell). ## Required data Running the code in this how-to requires this data: | Data element | Description | | ----------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | \{API_ACCOUNT_ID} | A [GUID](http://guid.one/) value that identifies your account. This value is automatically generated by Docusign for any account you create. Copy the value from the **API Account ID** field on the [Apps and Keys](https://admindemo.docusign.com/authenticate?goTo=appsAndKeys) page. | | \{BASE_PATH} | A string value that forms the root of the URL required to make API calls. The base path value in the example code is set to target the developer environment at https\://\ Where \ is for the developer environment and for production. | | \{WORKFLOW_ID} | A GUID value that identifies your Workflow Builder workflow. | | \{WORKFLOW_INSTANCE_ID} | A GUID value that identifies an instance for a given Workflow Builder workflow ID. See [How to trigger a Workflow Builder workflow](/docs/workflow-builder-api/how-to/trigger-workflow) for details. | ## Step 1. Obtain your OAuth token To make the API call shown in this how-to, you need a valid OAuth access token. Docusign supports access tokens for three different recommended OAuth grant types: Public Authorization Code Grant, Confidential Authorization Code Grant, and JSON Web Token (JWT) Grant. Choose the OAuth grant type appropriate for your scenario. See [Confidential Authorization Code Grant](/platform/auth/authcode#confidential-authorization-code-grant) for guidance on your options to get an Confidential Authorization Code Grant OAuth token. Workflow Builder OAuth access tokens are the same ones used for our [eSignature REST API](/docs/esign-rest-api/esign101/auth), although you must request one or more Workflow Builder scopes to call the Workflow Builder API. The endpoint calls made in this how-to require that you request the Workflow Builder-specific `aow_manage` scope when obtaining your access token. > **Note** > > See [Workflow Builder Authentication](/docs/workflow-builder-api/auth) for details and the full list of Workflow Builder scopes. ![Three icons that represent the three methods a user can use to obtain an OAuth token: JSON Web Token (JWT), Public Authorization Code Grant (ACG), and Confidential Authorization Code grant](/_fern-files/_img/64f473773042ee439449a096bf7673292b1585b86a4ccc55f82ba0dda41f61a1.webp) ## Step 2. Construct your API headers After you have a valid OAuth access token, you are ready to construct the API headers that you will pass to the API call. Construct your headers like this, but make sure to substitute your valid OAuth access token for \{ACCESS_TOKEN}. **`Bash`** ```bash title="Bash" declare -a Headers=('--header' "Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" \ '--header' "Accept: application/json" \ '--header' "Content-Type: application/json") ``` **`C#`** ```csharp title="C#" private static IamClient CreateAuthenticatedClient(string basePath, string accessToken) { return IamClient.Builder() .WithServerUrl(basePath) .WithAccessToken(accessToken) .Build(); } ``` **`Java`** ```java title="Java" protected IamClient createAuthenticatedClient(String accessToken) { return IamClient.builder() .accessToken(accessToken) .build(); } ``` **`Node.js`** ```javascript title="Node.js" const client = new iam.IamClient({ accessToken: args.accessToken }); ``` **`PowerShell`** ```text title="PowerShell" $headers = New-Object "System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary[[String],[String]]" $headers.add("Authorization", "Bearer $accessToken") $headers.add("Content-Type", "application/json") $headers.add("Accept", "application/json") ``` ## Step 3. Call the Workflow Builder API Make a POST request to the [Workflows:cancelWorkflowInstance](/docs/workflow-builder-api/reference/workflowbuilder/workflowinstancemanagement/cancelworkflowinstance) endpoint. Here’s how you make the call, but make sure to substitute the appropriate base path for \{BASE_PATH}, your API account ID for \{API_ACCOUNT_ID}, the workflow ID for \{WORKFLOW_ID}, and the ID of the instance you want to cancel with \{WORKFLOW_INSTANCE_ID}. > **Note** > > View the source code for this how-to on GitHub: [Bash](https://github.com/docusign/code-examples-bash/blob/master/examples/Maestro/eg004CancelWorkflow.sh), [C#](https://github.com/docusign/code-examples-csharp/blob/master/launcher-csharp/Maestro/Examples/CancelWorkflowInstance.cs), [Java](https://github.com/docusign/code-examples-java/blob/master/src/main/java/com/docusign/controller/maestro/examples/Mae004CancelWorkflowInstanceController.java), [Node.js](https://github.com/docusign/code-examples-node/blob/master/lib/maestro/examples/cancelWorkflow.js), or [PowerShell](https://github.com/docusign/code-examples-powershell/blob/master/examples/Maestro/eg004CancelWorkflow.ps1). **`Bash`** ```bash title="Bash" response=$(mktemp /tmp/response-wftmp.XXXXXX) Status=$( curl -w '%{http_code}' --request POST "${BASE_PATH}/accounts/${API_ACCOUNT_ID}/workflows/${WORKFLOW_ID}/instances/${WORKFLOW_INSTANCE_ID}/actions/cancel" \ "${Headers[@]}" \ --output ${response} ) # If the status code returned is greater than 201 (OK / Accepted), display an error message with the API response. if [[ "$Status" -gt "201" ]]; then echo "" echo "Unable to retrieve workflow instance: ${WORKFLOW_INSTANCE_ID}" echo "" cat $response exit 0 fi echo "" echo "Workflow has been canceled." echo "" echo "" echo "Response:" cat $response echo "" echo "" ``` **`C#`** ```csharp title="C#" public static async Task CancelInstanceMaestroWorkflow( string basePath, string accessToken, string accountId, string workflowId, string workflowInstanceId) { var client = CreateAuthenticatedClient(basePath, accessToken); return await client.WorkflowBuilder.WorkflowInstanceManagement.CancelWorkflowInstanceAsync(workflowInstanceId, accountId, workflowId); } ``` **`Java`** ```java title="Java" public static CancelWorkflowInstanceResponse CancelMaestroWorkflowInstance( IamClient client, String accountId, String workflowId, String instanceId) throws Exception { return client.workflowBuilder().workflowInstanceManagement() .cancelWorkflowInstance(accountId, workflowId, instanceId); } ``` **`Node.js`** ```javascript title="Node.js" return await client.maestro.workflowInstanceManagement.cancelWorkflowInstance({ accountId: args.accountId, workflowId: args.workflowId, instanceId: args.instanceId }); ``` **`PowerShell`** ```text title="PowerShell" Invoke-RestMethod ` -Uri "${base_path}/accounts/${apiAccountId}/workflows/${workflowId}/instances/${workflowInstanceId}/actions/cancel" ` -Method 'POST' ` -Headers $headers ` -OutFile $response #Write-Output "Workflow instance $workflowInstanceId has been canceled." Write-Output "Response: $(Get-Content -Raw $response)" ``` ## Expected response If you run this code example from our Quickstart or launcher projects, you should see a JSON response similar to the code shown. **`Sample response`** ```json title="Sample response" { "message": "Successfully cancelled the workflow instance 269aa495-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-74291fc0f5a6 in df5981e1-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-621ae5b4cbb3" } ``` ## Next steps * Run this code example from our [Quickstart](/docs/esign-rest-api/quickstart) or launcher projects: [Bash](https://github.com/docusign/code-examples-bash), [C#](https://github.com/docusign/code-examples-csharp), [Java](https://github.com/docusign/code-examples-java), [Node.js](https://github.com/docusign/code-examples-node), [PowerShell](https://github.com/docusign/code-examples-powershell). * See [Workflow Builder Authentication](/docs/workflow-builder-api/auth) to learn how to obtain a Workflow Builder access token. * Explore [Workflow Builder API use cases](/docs/workflow-builder-api/workflow-builder101/use-cases) to learn more about how Workflow Builder workflows can improve your processes. * See how to [Go-Live](/docs/workflow-builder-api/publishing-go-live) with a completed app and find the base path for API calls in the production environment.