Workflows

When to use a workflow

Workflows are useful for repeatable tasks with a stable sequence or tasks that combine several people, experts, and tools. For example, retrieve project material, ask an expert to organize it, and pause for approval before writing to an external app.

A saved workflow is different from the execution steps shown inside a chat. Chat steps explain what one response is doing; the Workflows area contains independent flows that you can save, publish, run again, or attach to a schedule.

Create your first workflow

1. Select Workflows in the activity bar.
2. Select New workflow at the top of the workflow list.
3. Add steps from the node menu and drag between connection points to define their order.
4. Select a node and configure its expert, prompt, app connection, condition, or input source in the inspector.
5. Select Save draft. Resolve any editor warnings, then select Publish.
6. After publishing, select Run. When needed, provide JSON input in run history and inspect each node's status, input, output, and error.

You can also describe an automation in chat. When Nexts has prepared the steps, it shows a workflow setup card. Complete any required connections and confirm the card; the new workflow then appears in the workflow list.

Available nodes

• Expert: Ask a selected expert or general AI to complete a step.
• App action: Run a specific operation in an authorized connected app.
• Condition: Follow a true or false branch based on an expression.
• Human approval: Pause and request confirmation before continuing.
• Parallel group: Start several independent steps together.
• Iteration: Process list items one at a time with a maximum item limit.
• Knowledge retrieval: Retrieve relevant excerpts from selected project documents.

Each workflow must have exactly one start node and one end node. Every node must be connected, condition nodes need both branches, and a workflow cannot contain a cycle.

Drafts, published versions, and runs

• Save draft keeps the current editable design.
• Publish creates a fixed, runnable version. After editing the draft, save and publish again before a run can use those changes.
• Run history records each run and node state so you can inspect results and diagnose a failed step.
• A workflow with a configured schedule is registered as a scheduled task when published. Manage it later from Tasks.

Permissions and safety

Workflows do not bypass permission policy. High-impact actions such as sending, deleting, paying, or changing external data can still pause for confirmation. Enable automatic retries for an app action only after confirming that the operation is safe to repeat.