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Alteryx Conversion Matrix

PlaidCloud converts Alteryx workflows, apps, and macros into native Advanced workflows. The importer maps each Alteryx tool to a workflow step, macro construct, controlled variable, Document-backed file operation, or managed job executor — so a converted workflow runs cloud-native, not as an emulation.

Nearly every standard Alteryx tool converts fully. The support status below is per tool:

  • Full — converts to a native PlaidCloud step, macro, variable, artifact, or managed executor and runs the tool’s function. Most tools are here.
  • Partial — converts and runs for its common use, while one distinct capability mode of the tool is not yet reproduced. Rare.
  • Not supported — no conversion; the capability is rebuilt natively instead.

External-system connectors (Salesforce, HTTP, Google Analytics, Cassandra, email, Hadoop, Spark, and the like) are connected, not converted — see Connecting to External Systems.

Alteryx Tool Status PlaidCloud Equivalent Converts
Action Full Variable binding and conditional step configuration Updates downstream step settings from converted app inputs.
Analytic App interface (.yxwz) Partial Published Panel “App Runner” front-end The app’s <Questions> layout is materialized into a working Panel app that collects user inputs and drives the converted workflow, published automatically as part of conversion (an app with no input widgets is skipped). Common question types — text, numeric (Numeric Up Down), date, check box, radio button, drop-down, list box, tree, file browse, and folder browse — become App Runner widgets. A question whose value binds to no workflow variable is rendered with a visible note rather than silently collecting a dead value, and less common question types are flagged for review rather than materialized. See Use Converted Alteryx Apps.
Append Fields Full Append fields transform Appends fields from one stream to another.
Auto Field Full Auto field sizing transform Preserves inferred field sizing.
AutoML Full ML: Train Model Fuses the model-method, target, and candidate-algorithm selections into an ML Train step, the same as Classification and Regression. AutoML never records which candidate algorithm actually won at Alteryx run time, so conversion picks the first checked algorithm ML Train supports and notes the choice. Validated against a reconstructed fixture rather than a real Alteryx export — AutoML left Alteryx’s palette after 2023.1, so no export sample exists to convert from; confirm against a real workflow if one surfaces.
Barcode Full Barcode executor Reads or writes barcodes in the configured symbology.
Batch Macro Partial Macro fanned out over its control-anchor table The caller runs the whole macro once per record of its control input, binding the interior’s control parameters each pass — including a control parameter the caller renamed to a display label when exactly one is in play, and an UpdateRawXml Action that rewrites a Select’s field list from a variable. Shapes whose per-pass value cannot be reproduced safely fail closed by name rather than convert wrongly: an UpdateRawXml that rewrites anything other than a Select’s field list, and an Action that replaces a Filter’s entire expression with a variable (its raw per-pass syntax would mis-evaluate).
Browse Full Browse / passthrough Preserved for inspection with no runtime cost.
Buffer Full Spatial Buffer Grows each geometry by a fixed distance.
Build Features Partial Build Features Converts arithmetic and interaction primitives, date-part extraction, explicit-threshold binning, z-score and min-max scaling, and one-hot encoding. Cross-table aggregation (Deep Feature Synthesis across the Manage Relationships tab), PCA, target encoding, and data-driven auto-binning have no equivalent — each is flagged by name in the conversion report rather than silently dropped.
Calgary Cross Count Full Calgary database aggregate Groups indexed fields and counts each custom field’s named values.
Calgary Cross Count Append Full Calgary Cross Count Append Matches each input record against a value index, then counts how many database records it matched.
Calgary Input Full Calgary database input Reads the database with its saved query applied as a filter.
Calgary Join Full Calgary Join Matches each record against a value index on the database, keeping the records that matched.
Calgary Loader Full Calgary database writer Writes the stand-in table every Calgary reader binds to.
Centroid Full Centroid executor op Reduces each geometry to its centre point, appended as a Centroid column.
Check Box Full Controlled workflow variable Converts app check-box choices to controlled input.
Classification Full ML: Train Model Fuses the Assisted Modeling chain into one ML Train step with its algorithm, target, features, and hyperparameters.
Comment / Annotation / Link Full Canvas annotation Preserved as workflow context.
Condition Full Step condition Triggers warnings, errors, or branches from an expression.
Control Parameter Full Macro control parameter Maps to PlaidCloud macro parameters.
Convex Hull Full Convex Hull executor op Builds the smallest convex polygon enclosing each geometry, appended as a ConvexHull column.
Create Points Full Table Extract with geom_point Builds point geometry from longitude/latitude columns, in SQL.
Create Samples Full Table Extract, one per output Splits input into Estimation, Validation, and Holdout at the configured percentages.
Cross Tab Full Pivot / cross-tab transform Pivots rows to columns across every aggregation method and the derived totals.
Data Cleansing Full Data cleanse transform Cleans whitespace, nulls, punctuation, and casing.
Date Full Workflow variable (date) Emits ISO date values for steps and conditions.
DateTime Full Date/time transform Converts date and time parsing and formatting.
Detour Full Conditional branch routing Converts route selection to DAG conditions.
Detour End Full Conditional branch merge Rejoins conditionally selected branches.
Directory Full Document directory listing Lists files from a Document path.
Distance Full Table Extract with ST_DISTANCE_SPHERE Geodesic point-to-point distance and bearing, in SQL.
Download Full REST Request step against a REST connection Downloads external data or artifacts; assign a REST connection to the converted step before it runs.
Drop Down Full Controlled workflow variable Converts app drop-down choices to controlled input.
Dynamic Input Partial Dynamic Document input Resolves file patterns and variable-driven inputs at run time. An Excel ReadList — one worksheet read from every workbook a Directory tool lists, then unioned — converts to a folder-glob sheet read when an upstream Filter pins the sheet to a single name by exact match. A sheet chosen by a Contains, an inequality, or an OR filter, or a read spanning more than one sheet, refuses rather than read the wrong sheet.
Dynamic Rename Full Dynamic rename transform Renames fields from metadata or rules.
Dynamic Replace Full Dynamic replace transform Applies replacement rules from a second stream.
Dynamic Select Full Dynamic field selection transform Selects fields by type, name, or rule.
Error Full Step condition (error) Converts configured error behavior to step conditions.
Feature Types Full ML: Train Model feature configuration Carries each field’s assigned model role into the fused ML Train step.
File Browse Full Controlled Document file variable Lets users choose a file for a converted app run.
Filter Full Filter transform Splits records by expression into true and false paths.
Fit Full ML: Train Model Collapses into the fused ML Train step.
Folder Browse Full Controlled Document folder variable Lets users choose a folder for a converted app run.
Formatted Excel output into a styled template Partial Template-aware Excel writer (Export to Excel Sheets for multi-sheet) Writing into a styled template preserves the template’s formatting — values, number formats, fonts, fills, borders, merged cells, and column widths carry through to the named sheet and range. This covers both a single sheet and several outputs assembled into different sheets of one workbook, filled in a single pass so the sheets no longer overwrite one another. One case stays partial: a template that carries pivot tables or charts drops those objects when its sheets are written. Plain (unstyled) Excel output is Full — see Output Data.
Formula Full Formula transform Converts field expressions to PlaidCloud expressions or SQL.
Fuzzy Match Full Fuzzy matching executor Matches on keys, thresholds, and candidate review.
Generalize Full Spatial Generalize Simplifies geometry to a tolerance, preserving topology.
HTML Full Report text / HTML artifact Preserves content as report or artifact output.
Image Processing Full Image transform executor Applies grayscale, scale, crop, and rotation in canvas order.
Image Profile Full Image profile executor Reports dimensions, mode, format, channels, and luminance statistics.
Image to Text Full OCR executor Extracts text from images through managed OCR.
Input Data Full Document-backed file input Loads .yxdb, .dbf, Excel, and fixed-width .flat source files into workflow data.
Insights Full Dashboard / artifact output Creates a cloud-native review artifact.
Interactive Chart Full Chart artifact Creates a chart artifact from converted data.
Join Full Join transform Produces joined, left-only, and right-only streams on a single- or multi-field key or by position.
Join Multiple Full Multi-join transform Joins multiple input streams.
Key/Value Pairs Full Text: NLP AI (keyvalue task) Extracts key/value pairs from a text column through the LLM-backed NLP AI step, with optional candidate keys and fuzzy or exact matching.
Line To Polygon Full Line To Polygon executor op Closes each line into a polygon ring, appended as a Polygon column.
List Box Full Controlled workflow variable Converts app list selections to controlled input.
Location Optimizer Partial Location Optimizer Converts the linear distance-minimization case — choosing K sites to minimize total or weighted distance to demand — to the native p-median MIP step. A gravity-kernel score, a bespoke scoring macro, or any other candidate-search objective still refuses; see Migrate Alteryx Workflows.
Macro calls Full Macro invocation Imports known macro sources and maps macro calls to PlaidCloud macro steps.
Macro Input / Macro Output Full Macro input / output port Map directly to PlaidCloud macro ports.
Make Grid Full Spatial Make Grid Tiles an extent into square cells, one row per cell.
Map Full Map artifact Creates a PlaidCloud map artifact.
Map Input Full Spatial File Import Reads MapInfo, ESRI, KML, and GeoJSON files with their sidecars.
Master Selector Partial Controlled workflow variable and conditional step visibility Converts the tool’s show/hide visibility conditions on interface elements to conditional step visibility. Converts which sub-workflow the selection runs on a best-effort basis — validation against real on-tenant apps is still pending, so review the selected run-target before relying on it in production.
Message Full Step condition (message) Emits workflow warning, message, or error from a condition.
Modeling Full ML: Train Model Fuses into the ML Train step with the pipeline’s model choice.
Multi-Field Formula Full Multi-field formula transform Applies a formula across selected fields.
Multi-Row Formula Full Window / row-aware formula transform Converts row-relative logic to window behavior, partitioned by Group By.
Named Entity Recognition (NER) Full Text: NLP AI (ner task) Extracts entities (people, organizations, locations, dates, quantities, or a custom type list) from a text column through the LLM-backed NLP AI step.
Numeric Up Down Full Controlled numeric variable Converts app numeric input to a typed variable.
Output Data Full Document / table output Writes output to Document or PlaidCloud tables.
Overlay Full Spatial Process Intersect, union, or cut two geometry columns.
PDF Input Full PDF extraction executor Extracts text or tables from PDFs.
Point To Line Full Point To Line executor op Threads each group’s points into one SequenceLine per group, ordered by the sequence field.
Poly-Build Full Spatial Poly-Build Builds a polygon or convex hull per group of points.
Poly-Split Full Spatial Poly-Split One row per vertex, component polygon, or hole.
Portfolio Composer (Text / Table / Image / Layout / Render) Full Report artifacts Convert report content, layout, and rendering to PlaidCloud report output.
POS Tagger Full Text: NLP AI (pos task) Tags each token’s part of speech from a text column through the LLM-backed NLP AI step.
Predict Full ML: Score Scores data with the trained model table and appends a prediction column.
Radio Button Full Controlled workflow variable Converts app radio choices to controlled input.
Random % Sample Full Table Extract (random) Returns the exact count or percentage of records requested.
Record ID Full Row identifier transform Adds a deterministic record identifier in the configured type and start value, restarting per group.
Redistribute Full Redistribute executor op Reallocates a measure from one set of geographies onto another by area of overlap, appended as a Redistributed column.
RegEx Full Regular expression transform Parses, matches, or replaces text.
Regression Full ML: Train Model Fuses the Assisted Modeling chain into one ML Train step.
Report Map Full Map report artifact Produces a cloud-native map/report artifact.
Run Command Partial REST Request step against a REST connection (curl/wget only) Converts a curl or wget command line to a REST Request step. Interpreter and script commands (cscript, PowerShell, Python, and similar), Excel-COM automation, filesystem operations, and opaque or workflow-launching commands are flagged by name for manual review rather than auto-converted.
Sample Full Sample transform Keeps records by count, percentage, or grouping.
Select Full Select and schema projection step Selects, renames, reorders, and retypes fields.
Smooth Full Spatial Smooth Smooths each geometry over a number of passes.
Sort Full Sort transform Sorts records by configured fields and directions.
Spatial Info Full Spatial Info Area, length, centroid, and bounding rectangle as geodesic measures.
Spatial Match Full Spatial Match / Spatial Match (Intersect / Unmatched) Converts every relationship — Within, Contains, Intersects, Touches, Crosses, Overlaps, and Centroid-In — matched in the database or the workflow engine.
Spatial Process Full Spatial Process Intersect, union, or cut geometry columns.
Summarize Full Aggregate transform Groups and aggregates — sum, count, average, min, max, median, mode, standard deviation, variance, and count distinct.
Tab Full App tab grouping Preserved as converted app structure.
Test Full Step condition Converts test assertions to step conditions.
Text Box Full Controlled text variable Converts app text input to a typed variable.
Text Input Full Inline table input Creates inline data for the workflow.
Text Pre-processing Full NLP preprocessing executor Normalizes and preprocesses text.
Text Summary Full Text: NLP AI (summary task) Summarizes a text column to a configured maximum sentence count through the LLM-backed NLP AI step.
Text To Columns Full Split columns transform Splits text into fields or rows.
Tile Full Tile / grouping transform Assigns tile groups by configured rule.
Tool Container Full Canvas container / execution group Preserved as workflow organization.
Topic Modeling Full Topic modeling executor Runs topic modeling through managed NLP.
Transformation Full Transform step Converts transformation logic to PlaidCloud expressions or SQL.
Transpose Full Unpivot transform Converts columns to rows into a Name/Value pair.
Tree Full Controlled workflow variable Converts app tree selection to controlled input.
Union Full Union transform Combines streams by name, position, or configured rules.
Unique Full Unique / duplicate split transform Separates first-unique records from duplicates.
Visual Layout Full Canvas layout metadata Preserved as design context.
Word Cloud Full Text visualization artifact Creates a visualization artifact from text analysis.
XML Parse Full XML parse transform Extracts XML fields into workflow data.
Zero-shot Text Classification Full Text: NLP AI (zeroshot task) Classifies a text column against a per-row list of candidate labels, single- or multi-label, through the LLM-backed NLP AI step.
Find Nearest Full Spatial Find Nearest Distance-ranked nearest-neighbor join — straight-line, and drive-time nearest (ranked by minutes on a road network) via PlaidCloud’s self-hosted routing engine. Drive-time enabled per workspace.
Trade Area Full Spatial Trade Area Concentric buffers sized in real-world units — fixed-radius, and drive-time trade areas (minutes on a road network) via the self-hosted routing engine. Drive-time enabled per workspace.
Image Template Full Image Template executor op Manual mode crops the image to each region you draw on the template. Automatic mode detects the page regions for you with an open-standard layout model and emits one row per region, each carrying its detected bounds and confidence for review; a page the model cannot read confidently is flagged by name rather than cropped. Open-standard detection can differ from Alteryx’s own — review the detected regions, or use Manual mode for exact control.
Image Recognition Full Image recognition executor Trains an image classifier in the workflow and scores new images against it, in place — no external account and no data leaves PlaidCloud. The classifier is retrained rather than copied from Alteryx, so results are a faithful approximation rather than a bit-for-bit match, and training runs on CPU. Enabled per workspace.
Geocoder Full Self-hosted geocoder Geocodes addresses to coordinates and reverse-geocodes coordinates to addresses against PlaidCloud’s own geocoder — no external account, no data leaves PlaidCloud. Enabled per workspace.

Interface widgets (drop-downs, list boxes, check boxes, text/numeric/date inputs, file and folder pickers), canvas objects (comments, links, containers), and macro ports all convert as native controlled variables or canvas objects. An Alteryx App’s full interface layout — the .yxwz file’s <Questions> definition — is also materialized into a published Panel “App Runner” front-end, so converting the app produces a working input form that collects the same values and drives the converted workflow, not just the individual controlled variables. See the Analytic App interface row above and Use Converted Alteryx Apps.

A note on Excel output. A plain new workbook — data written with default formatting — converts fully. Writing into a styled template, filling named sheets and ranges while preserving their formatting, converts for a single sheet and for several outputs assembled into different sheets of one workbook (the Export to Excel Sheets step fills every sheet in one pass). Templates that carry pivot tables or charts drop those objects when their sheets are written; sheet-level file surgery driven from Run Command (Excel COM/VBS) is flagged by name for manual review rather than auto-converted.

Every tool in the Alteryx Spatial palette has a PlaidCloud route, and every one of those routes is a step you can also build by hand — conversion is a convenience, not the only way in. See Geospatial steps for the full reference and Geospatial Analytics for how they fit together.

Alteryx Spatial Tool PlaidCloud Route Runs In
Buffer Spatial Buffer Workflow engine
Centroid Centroid executor op Workflow engine
Convex Hull Convex Hull executor op Workflow engine
Create Points Table Extract expression Database
Distance Table Extract expression Database
Find Nearest Spatial Find Nearest Database; routing service for drive-time
Generalize Spatial Generalize Workflow engine
Heat Map Heat Map (macro) Workflow engine
Line To Polygon Line To Polygon executor op Workflow engine
Make Grid Spatial Make Grid Workflow engine
Point To Line Point To Line executor op Workflow engine
Poly-Build Spatial Poly-Build Workflow engine
Poly-Split Spatial Poly-Split Workflow engine
Redistribute Redistribute executor op Workflow engine
Smooth Spatial Smooth Workflow engine
Spatial Info Spatial Info Workflow engine
Spatial Match Spatial Match Database
Spatial Match — intersection object, Unmatched Spatial Match (Intersect / Unmatched) Workflow engine
Spatial Process Spatial Process Workflow engine
Trade Area (fixed-radius + drive-time) Spatial Trade Area Workflow engine; routing service for drive-time
Pie Wedge Trade Area Pie Wedge Trade Area (macro) Workflow engine
Spatial file input Spatial File Import Workflow engine
Summarize — SpatialObjCombine, SpatialObjConvexHull Spatial Combine Workflow engine
Report Map Report Map Workflow engine

Drive-time trade areas and nearest — Trade Area drive-time rings and Find Nearest drive-time ranking run on PlaidCloud’s self-hosted routing engine (road-network isochrones and travel-time matrices), not a hosted third-party API, so origin coordinates never leave the platform. Drive-time is enabled per workspace. Routing and drive-time areas use OpenStreetMap data — © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL).

The spatial tools themselves convert; these are prerequisites on the input.

  • The .geo GeoFile format. Alteryx’s proprietary binary GeoFile has no open reader, so an import of one fails closed rather than crashing at run time. In Alteryx, re-export the layer to a standard spatial format — shapefile or GeoJSON — and import that instead; other spatial formats are unaffected. See Migrate Spatial Alteryx Workflows.
  • The Peano key Spatial Info measure. Peano key is a proprietary Alteryx spatial index with no public specification, so a Spatial Info that asks for it skips that one column and names it in a note. Every other Spatial Info measure — area, length, centroid, bounding rectangle, object type, part and point counts, and end points — converts.
  • Projected Create Points coordinates. Create Points converts floating-point and integer (×1,000,000) lon/lat coordinates directly. Coordinates already in a projected system need reprojecting to WGS84 lon/lat upstream first, because the workflow does not record which projection they use.

An Alteryx Calgary database (.cydb) is a proprietary indexed store PlaidCloud cannot open. Conversion treats each one as standing for one ordinary PlaidCloud table, named calgary_<database name>, so the tools built around it convert as ordinary table operations rather than refusing outright. See Calgary Databases for how the stand-in table works, and Calgary Join and Cross Count Append for the index-matching tools.

Alteryx Calgary Tool PlaidCloud Route Converts
Calgary Loader Table Extract writing calgary_<database> Yes, once the database is named and it stores at least one data field.
Calgary Input Dynamic Document input reading calgary_<database>, with the saved query as filter Yes, including a query built from an Or or wrapped in a Not, and a contains or starts-with filter (rebuilt as a SQL LIKE). Refuses on a spatial-lookup query and on Skip Records/Max Records limits.
Calgary Input (Count Only) / Calgary Cross Count Aggregate transform over calgary_<database> Yes, including a bucket built from an Or or wrapped in a Not. Refuses on a cross over more than one custom field, and on a count-only read naming no column to count over.
Calgary Join Dynamic Document input matching each record of its input against calgary_<database> When the incoming field is a plain value matched against a value index — including Count Only mode, which counts the database records each input record matched, a record matching nothing counting zero. Refuses when the field is spatial (rebuild as Spatial Match) or its type is unresolved, and on range-index or unmatched-output-wired Joins, on a Join naming no match field, and on a Join with nothing wired to its input.
Calgary Cross Count Append Dynamic Document input matching each record, then a counted join over calgary_<database> When the incoming field is a plain value matched against a value index: it counts, per input record, the database records matched, and a record that matched nothing counts zero. Refuses on a spatial or unresolved index (rebuild as Spatial Match), a custom-value cross-count grid, a range index, and a match naming no field.

Most of these are prerequisites on the input rather than conversion limits.

  • A spatial-index match needs rebuilding as a Spatial Match. A Calgary Join or Cross Count Append matched against a spatial index refuses, naming the stand-in table — the workflow records the index’s name but not whether it holds ordinary values or spatial geometry, and a value match (an equality join) and a spatial match (point-in-polygon) are different operations. Export the database to a table and rebuild the match as a Join (value index) or a Spatial Match (spatial index).
  • A read limited by Skip Records or Max Records needs an explicit order. The exported stand-in table carries no record order, so add an order column when you export if you need to take the first or last N records by position.
  • A demographic or reference database must be loaded first. A Calgary read before its database has been loaded stops, naming the table to build. The .cydb file itself has no open reader, so re-export it in Alteryx (a Calgary Input into an Output Data tool writing CSV or Parquet) and import that as the named table — see Unreadable .cydb (Calgary) Databases. This is the common case for the licensed demographic and reference .cydb files Alteryx ships (Experian, Census, and similar): no converter can reproduce that third-party data, so bring your own licensed reference data and load it into the named table — the same as the Geocoder reference data.
  • A Calgary Loader that stores no data field doesn’t convert, since the table it wrote would have no columns.
  • A custom-value cross-count grid doesn’t convert yet. A single plain cross-count field converts — it counts, per input record, the matching database records — but a grid of named custom values would append one count column per value, and Alteryx documents neither how many columns that is nor what it names them. Tracked for a future release, pending a reference export to reverse-engineer the column contract.

Value, range, contains and starts-with queries all convert to a filter; only a spatial-lookup query, an index operation with no column-level equivalent, does not.

Alteryx’s connector endpoints — Salesforce, HTTP, Google Analytics, Cassandra, email, Hadoop, and Spark, in both directions — do not convert, because PlaidCloud reaches these systems through a connection rather than through a tool on the canvas. Each one refuses by name and states where the work belongs:

Alteryx Tool Where It Goes in PlaidCloud
Salesforce Input / Output A Salesforce connection
HTTP Input A REST Request step against a REST connection
Google Analytics Input Import: Singer Source with the Google Analytics tap
Cassandra Input Import: Singer Source with the Cassandra tap
Email Input Import: Singer Source with the GMail tap
Hadoop Input / Output Import: SQL / Export: SQL through a Hive, Impala or Presto connection
Spark Input / Output Import: SQL / Export: SQL through a Databricks connection

Three of these have no write path at all. PlaidCloud reads Google Analytics and Cassandra but never writes to them, so a Google Analytics Output or Cassandra Output tool becomes an Export: SQL to a supported destination instead. Email is not a data destination either: Notify: Email sends a notification to people, so an Email Output tool becomes an Export step plus a separate notification.

For production workflows, validate converted outputs against trusted Alteryx outputs — PlaidCloud validation focuses on schema, row count, and row values, and ignores row order unless the workflow depends on it. Specialized operations (spatial, fuzzy matching, OCR, NLP, reporting) run through managed job executors that keep the workflow cloud-native; machine-learning pipelines convert to the native ML: Train Model and ML: Score steps. See Migrate Alteryx Workflows for the end-to-end import and validation guide.