Run vs. Build

The composer on Home has two verbs: Run and Build. They share one input box, and choosing between them is the main decision you make every time you start something in Pencel.

• Run — do the work now, live and conversationally.
• Build — set up a reusable, schedulable process you'll run again.

This guide covers how to work in each and when to use which. For the concept behind it, see Run mode.

Run: do the work now

Run mode opens a live session with an agent that can use its full toolkit to get something done immediately — answer a question, produce a document, pull data, or kick off a workflow.

1. Pick who runs it

In the composer controls, choose an agent — or leave it on Auto and let Pencel route your request to a suitable one. Each agent brings its own role, guidelines, knowledge, and tools. You can also pick a model, attach a file, or dictate with voice.

2. Type what you want and press Run

Describe your task in plain language and press Run. The agent responds in real time — its reasoning and tool calls stream in as it works. Follow up, refine, or change direction without re-explaining; the session remembers the conversation.

3. Review what it did

Expand any assistant message to see its execution trace — which tools the agent called, the inputs and results, and its reasoning. This is how you build trust in what the agent produced.

Oversight

When a task would send or change something, the agent pauses and asks for approval first — based on your guidelines and the agent's plan-approval setting. See Approval workflows.

Each Run is a separate session, saved automatically. Start a new session for a new topic so unrelated earlier context doesn't bleed in, and revisit past sessions any time.

Build: set up a reusable process

When you catch yourself doing the same thing again, switch to Build. Instead of doing the work once, Build helps you construct a repeatable process.

1. Describe the process

In Build mode, describe the outcome you want to repeat — for example, "every Monday at 8am, summarize last week's sales and post the highlights to Slack."

2. Answer a few setup questions

Build hands off to a guided setup where Pencel turns your description into concrete steps, asks any clarifying questions it needs, and lets you choose whether it runs once or on a schedule. Under the hood, Pencel compiles your intent into a plan with guardrails — see Agentic compiler & runtime.

3. Review and save

Review the proposed steps and approval points, then save. The result is a Workflow that shows up as a Job you can run on demand or let its schedule fire.

Which one should I use?

	Run	Build
Goal	Get this done now	Set it up to repeat
Feels like	A conversation	A short setup wizard
Result	An answer, an artifact, an action taken	A saved, schedulable Workflow
Best for	One-off tasks, exploring, ad-hoc work	Recurring reports, monitoring, briefings

TIP

Use Run to figure out the right approach, then Build to make it repeatable. Explore live, then capture what worked.

To run a process you've already built, don't use Build again — start it from the Jobs tab or let its schedule fire.

Quick forms with /

In either mode, type / in the composer to summon a pre-built form — no AI round-trip, the same panel every time. /todo adds a to-do; installed Marketplace packs can add more. See Tips & shortcuts.

Tips

• Be specific. "What were Q3 sales by region vs. Q2?" beats "What are our numbers?"
• Set the format. Ask for a table, bullet list, or a specific structure if you want one.
• Explore in Run, commit in Build. Prototype live, then save the approach as a Workflow.
• Review traces. Even good results are worth a glance — it's how you catch subtle issues and learn to trust automation.
• New session per topic. A fresh session gives the agent a clean slate.

Next steps

• Run mode — the concept behind the Run verb
• Building a Workflow — go deeper on what Build produces
• Creating Your First Agent — set up a specialized agent to run with
• Monitoring Jobs — track what agents do during runs