Steps

Steps are the building blocks of structured workflows — each one represents a discrete action, decision, or checkpoint.

When freeform instructions are not enough, steps give you precise control over the flow. You define exactly what happens, in what order, and where the agent should pause for human input. Steps are optional — many workflows work perfectly well with just instructions — but they are essential for complex, branching workflows.

What It Does

• Breaks work into pieces — Each step is a single, well-defined unit of work.
• Controls the flow — Steps can branch, run in parallel, or pause for approval.
• Creates an audit trail — Every step is logged with its inputs, outputs, duration, and outcome.
• Enables partial automation — You can let the agent handle routine steps autonomously while requiring human sign-off on sensitive ones.

The Four Step Types

Type	What it does	Example
Action	The agent performs a task — pulling data, writing content, calling a tool	"Pull Q3 revenue from Stripe"
Decision	The agent evaluates a condition and branches accordingly	"If revenue exceeds target, proceed to celebration email; otherwise escalate to manager"
Approval	The workflow pauses until a human reviews and approves	"Manager reviews the draft report before it gets sent to the client"
Parallel	Multiple branches run at the same time, then converge	"Simultaneously gather data from Stripe, Linear, and the internal database"

Action Steps

Action steps are the most common type. The agent does something: fetches data, writes a document, sends a message, runs a calculation. Each action step can specify which tool or connection to use.

Step: Pull revenue data
Type: Action
Tool: Stripe connection
Description: Query closed-won opportunities for Q3 and return total revenue by region.

Decision Steps

Decision steps let the agent evaluate a condition and choose a path. You describe the condition in plain language, and the agent determines which branch to follow based on the data it has.

Step: Check against target
Type: Decision
Description: If total Q3 revenue exceeds $2M, go to "Draft success report."
             Otherwise, go to "Draft improvement plan."

INFO

The agent uses its judgment to evaluate conditions. You do not need to write code or formulas — just describe the logic in plain language.

Approval Steps

Approval steps pause the entire workflow and wait for a human to review, then approve or reject. This is how you keep a human in the loop for sensitive decisions.

When an approval step is reached:

1. You receive a notification
2. The run pauses (no further steps execute)
3. You review the work so far and either approve or reject
4. If approved, the workflow continues to the next step
5. If rejected, the run stops

Step: Manager sign-off
Type: Approval
Description: Review the client-facing report for accuracy and tone before sending.

WARNING

Approval steps block the entire run until someone responds. If you use scheduled workflows with approval steps, make sure someone is available to review during the scheduled time.

Parallel Steps

Parallel steps run multiple branches at the same time. This is useful when you need data from several independent sources or want to perform tasks that do not depend on each other.

Step: Gather all data sources
Type: Parallel
Branches:
  - Pull Stripe data
  - Pull Linear data
  - Pull internal database metrics

All branches must complete before the workflow moves to the next step.

Step Properties

Property	Description
ID	Unique identifier for the step
Name	Short, descriptive label
Type	action, decision, approval, or parallel
Description	What the step should accomplish (plain language)
Tool	Which connection or tool to use (optional, action steps only)
Next Steps	Which step(s) come after this one
Auto-Approve	Whether the agent can skip the approval gate for this step
Allowed Tools	Which tools can be used in this step (for guided execution mode)
Agent ID	Override the default agent for this step (multi-agent orchestration)

When to Use Steps vs. Freeform Instructions

Situation	Recommended approach
Simple, linear task	Freeform instructions
Task with conditional logic	Structured steps with decision types
Workflow that needs human checkpoints	Structured steps with approval types
Multiple independent data sources	Structured steps with parallel types
Quick prototype or experiment	Freeform instructions
Production workflow with audit requirements	Structured steps

TIP

You can combine both approaches. Write freeform instructions for the overall workflow and use structured steps only for the parts that need precise control or approval gates.

What's Next

• Workflows — See how steps fit inside a workflow
• Triggers & Schedules — Control when the workflow (and its steps) run
• Overview — See how all concepts connect