Workflows overview
Understand what a workflow is, what steps and approvals it can contain, and when to use one instead of an agent.
A workflow chains steps into a repeatable process: for example "collect the new orders, let an agent draft a customer email for each, wait for a colleague to approve, then send". It runs the same way every time, and you can stop it at any point.
Workflow, agent or chat?
| Use | When |
|---|---|
| Chat | A one-off task you steer yourself. |
| Agent | One job that the AI works out itself, with a fixed set of actions. |
| Workflow | A process with several steps in a set order, branches, loops or a human sign-off in the middle. |
A workflow can contain agents, so you can combine the two: agents do the thinking, the workflow gives the process its shape.
What a workflow is made of
A workflow is built on a canvas from nodes:
- Agent steps that run one of your agents.
- Condition and Merge nodes that branch and rejoin the flow.
- Action steps that call an action in a connected app.
- Data and logic steps such as HTTP request, Loop, Code, File Search, Web Search and Image generation.
- Guardrails that check content for safety or compliance.
- Notification and Delay steps.
- Approval steps that pause the run until a person approves or rejects.
- Output steps that record a named result, which appears on the run and is posted back to chat.
See Build a workflow for how to add and connect them.
Starting a workflow
A workflow can start manually, on a schedule or from a webhook. Some can also start from a form or when something happens in a connected app. See Triggers and schedules.
Draft and deployed
A new workflow is a draft. When you choose Deploy, the current draft becomes a numbered version, and runs and schedules use that version. You keep editing the draft without affecting live runs until you deploy again. Deploying costs nothing: you pay per run.
Where to find them
Open Workflows in the left-hand menu. The list shows each workflow's status (Draft, Active, Inactive), the last run, and a badge when runs are waiting on you. You can filter by status or Shared with me.
Plan limits
The Free plan includes a limited number of configurable workflows and runs per month. When you reach the limit, New workflow is marked Business and extra workflows are locked until you upgrade or free up a slot. The app shows your limit.