Sometimes in Kuali Build, you need to know how many submissions already exist before deciding what to do next. For example, you might want to count registrations for an event, check how many times a person has submitted a form, or count submissions since the start of a term.
Cedarville's document count integration returns a single number, count, that you can use in form conditions or workflow branches. This article is for faculty and staff who build Kuali apps. You will need permission to edit the app and access to the integration. For general instructions, see Use your first Integration in Kuali Build.
Step 1: Find the Application ID and Field ID
- Open the app whose documents you want to count. In its browser URL, copy the first long ID, immediately after /app/. In a URL shaped like
/app/APPLICATION_ID/page/PAGE_ID/form, use APPLICATION_ID. Do not use the page ID or a document ID.
- If you want to count documents with a particular answer, open that app's Form builder and select the gadget that contains the answer. In the settings sidebar, copy the Field ID shown directly under the Gadget Label/Question (gadget title) box. Copy the ID, rather than the gadget's displayed title.
- If you want to count all eligible documents without matching a field, use NONE for both Field ID and Value.
Step 2: Choose your inputs
| Input | What to enter |
|---|
Kuali Application ID (appId) | Required. The application ID from Step 1. This is the app being searched, which may differ from the app running the integration. |
Field ID (fieldId) | Required. The field to match, or NONE to skip field matching. |
Value (value) | Required. The answer the field must equal. When Field ID is NONE, Value must also be NONE. |
Match Type (matchType) | Optional. Use text for a direct field value, or dropdown to match the selected option's label. Leaving it blank defaults to text. For dropdown matching, supply the option's displayed label as Value. |
Submitter (submitter) | Optional. Use ANY or leave blank to include all submitters. To count one person's submissions, supply their 7-digit Colleague ID, preserving leading zeros. When taking this from the current submitter, select the submitter's School ID/Institutional ID property. Do not use their username or internal Kuali user ID. |
Since (since) | Optional. Enter a date such as 2026-08-01 to include documents submitted on or after that date. Leave blank for all dates. Dates without a time-zone offset use Eastern time; a date-only value starts at midnight on that date. |
All supplied filters apply together. Only documents with workflow status In Progress or Complete are counted. Drafts and documents with other statuses are excluded. The integration returns a count, not a list of submissions or their contents.
Step 3: Use the count in a form
- In the Form builder, add a Data Lookup (Single Item) gadget and give it a useful title, such as Document Count.
- Click Choose, select External Data, and choose CDPAPI - Count of Documents in KB App (form).
- Configure the inputs from Step 2. Use Fixed value (type it here) for fixed values such as the application ID, or data from the form for a changing answer or submitter ID.
- Enable Add linked auto-filled gadgets and drag the count output into the form if you want to display the number on the form. The output is a Number, so it supports numeric comparisons in conditions.
Step 4: Use the count in a workflow
- Open the app's Workflow tab and add an Integration step where the count should be checked.
- Choose CDPAPI - Count of Documents in KB App and configure the same inputs.
- Use the integration's numeric count output in a later branch or condition, such as count is greater than 1.
A submitted document can be included in its own count when it is already In Progress or Complete and matches the filters. A form lookup before submission does not yet count that unsent document. Counts reflect the time the lookup runs; simultaneous submissions can change the number, so a count check alone does not reserve capacity.
Examples
- All eligible submissions: set the application ID, Field ID = NONE, Value = NONE, and leave optional filters blank.
- One person's submissions since a term began: use Field ID = NONE, Value = NONE, Submitter = the person's 7-digit Colleague ID, and Since = 2026-08-01.
- Registrations for a selected event: use the event dropdown's Field ID, Value = the event option's label, and Match Type = dropdown. Leave Submitter blank to include all submitters.
Test and troubleshoot
Test against an app with known submitted documents. Confirm that count is populated with a number; 0 is a valid result when nothing matches. Test all documents first with NONE/NONE, then add one filter at a time. Check document statuses and submitted dates when comparing the result with the document list.
If inputs use the current submitter, use the Workflow tab's Test simulator so it runs with your user context. A Form preview may not supply intrinsic submitter data.
If the integration fails, confirm the application ID and field ID, use NONE for both field inputs together, use only text or dropdown for Match Type, supply a 7-digit Colleague ID or ANY for Submitter, and use a valid date for Since. The old match types submitterUsername and other are no longer supported: use the separate Submitter input and text matching instead.
If the integration is missing or still fails, contact IT through Request a New Kuali Build Integration. Provide the integration name and error message, without credentials or sensitive form contents.
Validated October 5, 2026 after deployment: the form integration returned HTTP 200 with a numeric count of 3 for a known set of submitted documents. The Integration Testing app displayed 3 in both the Document Count lookup and its linked count output.