← All posts

API & helpers

window.JZ as a mini-framework — your own tool panel from actions

15 May 2026 · by JustZix Team

A single action is a button and some code. But actions can call each other — and from that moment you hold a small framework. window.JZ lets you build complex, multi-step workflows out of buttons.

What window.JZ is

In the code of any rule or action, the window.JZ object is available — an API to drive the JustZix action bar:

• JZ.click('LBL') — programmatically click the action labelled "LBL".
• JZ.action('LBL') — get the button's DOM element.
• JZ.actions() — an array of all visible actions.
• JZ.labels() — an array of labels.

The lookup ignores case: JZ.click('save') equals JZ.click('SAVE').

Pattern 1 — an orchestrator action

Three actions each do one thing, a fourth composes them into a sequence:

// Action "AUTO" — runs three others in order
JZ.click('LOAD');
setTimeout(() => JZ.click('PROC'), 500);
setTimeout(() => JZ.click('SAVE'), 1500);

You test each of the three component actions on its own; "AUTO" only conducts them. It is the same principle as functions calling functions.

Pattern 2 — a conditional action

// Action "SMART" — behavior depends on page state
if (document.querySelector('.logged-in')) {
  JZ.click('EXPORT');
} else {
  JZ.click('LOGIN');
}

Pattern 3 — a loop over actions

JZ.actions() and JZ.labels() let you treat the bar as data:

// Action "ALL" — fires every action whose label starts with "T"
JZ.labels()
  .filter(l => l.startsWith('T'))
  .forEach(l => JZ.click(l));

Why this works like a framework

You have units (actions), a way to invoke them (JZ.click), introspection (JZ.actions/labels) and composition (an action calling actions). That is enough to build a multi-step tool out of a button bar — with no external library.

Pitfalls

• Timing. JZ.click is immediate, but an action's effect (e.g. a fetch) is not. That is why the orchestrator uses setTimeout; better still, have actions signal completion through a shared variable.
• Labels are a contract. An orchestrator action calls others by label — renaming the "LOAD" label disconnects "AUTO". Treat labels like function names.

See also

• window.JZ helpers — the full action API
• The BUTTON action — the unit you orchestrate
• Three actions worth a slot — ready actions to compose

Install JustZix — and build something bigger than a button out of buttons.