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Build a workflow
Use this when you want a routine that no room offers, or more control over one than Save as workflow gives you. You describe the job in plain words, Pencel drafts the steps with you, and you test it safely before it ever runs for real.
Try the shortcut first
If a room has already done the job well once, click Save as workflow on that reply instead. It's faster. See Turn a request into a routine.
Before you start
Connect the accounts the workflow will read from or send to, such as Gmail, QuickBooks or Slack. See Connect your accounts. You can still start without them, but Pencel has more to work with when they're connected.
1. Describe the job
- Go to Studio ▸ Workflows and click New Workflow. (Or switch the message box on Home, or in a room, to Build and describe the job there.)
- Under Short name (optional), give it a name like "Weekly cash summary". Leave it blank and Pencel names it for you.
- Under Goal, describe what you want in one or two sentences. The tips further down this page help.
- Click Start authoring.
2. Work it through with Pencel
The screen splits in two.
- On the left, Pencel talks it through with you. It may ask a few short questions, like how often to run, where results should go, or what counts as done. Answer in your own words. You can edit the goal at the top at any time.
- On the right, three tabs show the workflow as it takes shape:
- Flow: a diagram of how the steps connect.
- Plan: What it'll do, step by step (open a step to see why it's there and what it does), Proof it works, and When & where (how often it runs and where results go, both editable). Below that: What it needs from you, Connections it uses and What it won't do.
- Result: click Preview output to see a sample of what you'll get.
3. Test it safely
Click Test it safely. Pencel tries each step as a dry run: it reads real information but sends and changes nothing. The bottom of the screen counts the steps as they pass. Click Cancel to stop the test.
If a step runs into a problem, click Ask Pencel to fix on that step, then Test this step to try it again.
4. Save it
When testing is done, the main button changes:
- Save & schedule: the workflow has a rhythm. The Schedule this workflow dialog opens next.
- Save task: the workflow runs only when you start it.
- Save anyway: some steps haven't been fully proven. Tick the box confirming you understand it hasn't been fully tested, then save.
Two more buttons sit next to it: Run once now runs the workflow for real, one time, and Test again repeats the safe test.
In Schedule this workflow, choose how often it runs, where results go, and how it handles approvals, then click Save. Skip for now saves it without a schedule. See Run work on a schedule.
If you leave before saving, your progress is kept. Pick up where you left off under Studio ▸ Workflows ▸ In progress.
Write a good goal
The goal is the most important thing you write. A few tips:
- Say what you want back, and in what shape. A one-page summary, a table, a draft email, a list of five items.
- Say where the information comes from. Your Gmail, QuickBooks, a website, or documents in Knowledge.
- Say who it's for and what "done" looks like. "For me, under one page" or "ready to send to the team".
- Keep it to one job. If you find yourself writing "and also", make two workflows.
Background facts, like your pricing or your customer list, belong in Knowledge, not in the goal. Every workflow can use them from there.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Summarize sales. | Every Monday, read last week's paid invoices in QuickBooks and write me a one-page summary: total collected, the five largest payments, and any customer who paid late. Save it to Documents. |
Change it later
Open the workflow from Studio ▸ Workflows. From its page you can:
- Edit workflow: reopens the builder with the saved version. Test your changes, then save. The saved version keeps running until you do.
- Run Now: run it once, right away.
- Run history in Jobs: see every time it ran.
- Rename it with the pencil icon next to its name.
From the ⋯ menu on a workflow's card you can also Duplicate it (a good way to make a variation) or Delete it.