CircleCI is updating the when statement feature in workflows to support conditional logic. This change, effective December 3rd, enables you to run workflows based on pipeline parameters and values.

Important: If you currently use when: always in your workflows, you must update your configuration before this change takes effect.

You can now use conditional expressions in when statements at the workflow level. This allows you to control workflow execution based on conditions like:

The string "always" has never been a valid special value for the when key. Previously, it was treated as a non-empty string and evaluated as true, which made it work like removing the when key entirely.

After December 3rd, the string "always" will be interpreted as an expression and fail during config processing.

If your config includes when: always, you must remove the when key from your workflows. This provides the same behavior as before.

Note: This change only applies at the workflow level, not the step level. You can continue using the when attribute with the value set to "always" in job steps.