Build a workflow

Workflows live in a project’s Blueprint. Open Blueprint → Workflows to see them.

Start one

Choose Create workflow to start from nothing, or pick a recipe under Start from a curated recipe. A recipe is a ready-made workflow for a common job, like adding a row to a sheet or asking a person before writing. It asks for its settings, then builds the steps for you.

Nothing is saved until the workflow has at least one step.

The editor

The editor has four sections:

Build: the steps and how they connect.
Inputs & outputs: what the agent sends in, what comes back, and the variables used along the way. See Inputs, outputs and variables.
Workflow settings: the display name people see in Blueprint.
Test: run the saved draft through the agent. It appears once the workflow is saved. See Test and fix a workflow.

The workflow’s Identifier is shown under its name. Flow XO generates it, and it can’t be changed.

Add steps

Choose Add a step. The first step is where the workflow starts.
Pick a step type. The dialog lists Common steps first and Advanced ones after. See Steps for what each one does.
Fill in the step in the panel that opens.

To add another, select a step and use its +. Dragging the + onto another step connects them.

Each step’s panel has up to four tabs:

Configure: what the step does.
Settings: its name, retries and timeout.
Inputs: the values it receives, for steps that take them.
Outputs: what later steps can read from it.

A step with a problem shows Issues affecting this step at the top of its panel.

Branches

Steps run one at a time, top to bottom. A step can have several connections leading out of it:

Branches are checked in order. The first one whose rule matches runs.
Otherwise runs when no branch matches. It’s always last.
A new branch never matches until you give it a rule.

Select a connection to edit its rule. Rules are formulas that come out true or false.

A Classify step works differently: it gets one exit per class instead of rules.

Saving

Valid changes save to the Blueprint draft as you go. The status next to the workflow name says where things stand:

Saved to Blueprint draft: done.
Not saved yet: the workflow has no steps.
Incomplete or invalid: something needs fixing first. Your edits are kept in this browser in the meantime.

Undo (Ctrl/Command+Z) and Redo (Ctrl/Command+Shift+Z) work until you leave the editor. Versions shows earlier saved versions.

If someone else saves the same workflow while you’re editing, you’ll see “This workflow changed elsewhere”. Your edits are kept. Compare the two and choose Keep my changes or Use server version.

Give an agent access

A workflow can sit in a Blueprint without any agent using it. In Blueprint → Workflows, turn on Enable workflow name for this agent to let the agent call it. New workflows start with it on. For a recipe, clear Enable for this agent when you create it to start with it off.

The agent can only call it once the Blueprint is published. Choose Publish at the top of the Blueprint.