# Workflow Builder # Workflow Builder The **Workflow Builder** is a visual, node-based editor for **scripted call flows**. Where the open-ended agent lets the model decide what to say next, a workflow gives the agent a deterministic path — a sequence of steps that speak, ask, branch, call tools and route the conversation. Use it when a call needs to follow a defined script: qualifying a lead, booking an appointment, triaging a support issue or collecting a survey. You open it from the **Tools** tab in the agent builder at **/agent/setup**, using the **Open Workflow Builder** button. A workflow belongs to a single agent. At call time a **supervisor** watches the conversation, decides which **intent** the caller is expressing, and runs that intent's **steps** in order. The functions the agent can use inside steps are exactly the ones you've bound on the [Tools tab](./tools-mcp) — the workflow can't reach a tool you haven't granted. ## How a workflow is structured ![The Workflow Builder](/img/screenshots/portal/workflow-builder.png) *The Workflow Builder: design deterministic call flows on an n8n-style node canvas, with an optional supervisor prompt.* A workflow has three nested levels: - **Graph** — one workflow per agent. It carries an optional **supervisor prompt** (custom instructions for the AI supervisor that routes intents). Until you create the graph, the builder shows a one-time **Create Workflow Graph** screen with the supervisor-prompt field. - **Intents** — the branches of the conversation. Each intent has a **display name**, an **internal name**, a **description** (shown to the supervisor model so it can match the intent), a list of **trigger phrases**, a **default intent** toggle, and an optional **fallback response** used if all of its steps fail. The supervisor picks the intent whose description and trigger phrases best fit what the caller said. - **Steps** — the ordered actions inside an intent. Steps run top to bottom by default, and each step has a type that decides what it does. On the canvas this reads as a green **Start** node flowing into one **Intent** node per branch, with that intent's **Step** nodes stacked beneath it. A minimap, zoom controls and a dotted background help you navigate larger flows. :::info[Intents are how the supervisor routes] The supervisor matches the caller's utterance against each intent's **description** and **trigger phrases**, so write descriptions the way you'd brief a colleague ("User wants to book or schedule an appointment") and add a few natural trigger phrases. Mark one intent as the **default** to catch conversations that don't clearly match anything else. ::: ## Step types Add a step with **Add Step** (after selecting an intent or one of its steps), which opens the node picker. The picker groups the step types into **Conversation**, **Logic**, **Integrations** and **Call Control**. There are thirteen types: - **Message** — the bot speaks a line to the caller. - **Question** — the bot asks something and stores the answer in a **variable**. You choose a **validation type** (Any, Number, Email, Date, Yes / No or Phone) and a **re-ask message** used when the answer fails validation. - **Condition** — branches the flow. You pick a **field** (a session variable), an **operator** (equals, not equals, contains, does not contain, greater than, less than, matches regex, is empty, is not empty) and a **value**, then route **If True** and **If False** to specific steps. - **Tool Call** — calls a **built-in** or **custom** function bound to the agent. You select the tool type, the function, and an optional **input mapping** (JSON) that maps step inputs to session variables. - **Appointment** — runs an appointment-booking sub-flow against a booking function, with its own input mapping. - **Webhook** — makes an HTTP request to an external URL. You set the **method** (GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE), the **URL**, optional **headers** (JSON), a **body template**, and a variable to **save the response** into. - **Transfer** — hands the call off to another **phone number or queue**, with an optional message announced before the transfer. See [Calling & telephony](./calling-telephony) for how call transfers behave end to end. - **End Call** — hangs up, optionally speaking a **goodbye message** first. - **Delay** — waits silently for a set number of seconds (1–60) before continuing. - **Set Variable** — stores a value (static text or a reference to another variable) into a session variable. - **Send Notification** — sends an **SMS**, **email** or **WhatsApp** message using a named template and a variable mapping (JSON). - **Static Response** — speaks a fixed block of text. This is a legacy node; prefer **Message** for new flows. - **Play Audio** — plays an audio file (a public WAV or MP3 URL) to the caller. Each step is configured in the **right-hand panel** that opens when you select a node. The panel shows only the fields relevant to that step's type, plus the step's name and a type selector. :::tip[Variables connect your steps together] A **Question** or **Set Variable** step stores its result under a name you choose. Reference it later — in a Message, a Condition's field, a Webhook body or a notification mapping — with curly-brace syntax like `{variable_name}`. This is how a flow remembers what the caller said and carries it forward across steps. ::: ## Branching and routing Steps don't have to run in a straight line: - A **Condition** step exposes **True** and **False** outputs. Wire each to a target step (or leave it on **Continue in order**) to branch on a variable's value. - Every other step type has **On Success** and **On Failure** routing. By default a step continues to the next one in order; set these to jump elsewhere — for example, route a failed Tool Call to a recovery message. You can set routing two ways: pick the target step in the config panel, or **drag a connection** on the canvas from a step's output handle (the green **OK** / **TRUE** handle or the red **FAIL** / **FALSE** handle) to another step. Connections drawn on the canvas are saved to the workflow immediately. ## Building and saving The builder persists changes as you make them rather than in one big save: - **Add Intent** creates a new branch; click it to fill in its name, description and trigger phrases, then **Save Changes** in the panel. - **Add Step** inserts a step of the type you pick; configure it in the panel and **Save Changes**. - The up / down chevrons on a node **reorder** intents and steps; deleting a node (via its trash icon or the Delete key) asks for confirmation first. - The toolbar **Save** button stores the **supervisor prompt**; an amber dot marks unsaved prompt edits. ## Start from a template Rather than building from scratch, the **Templates** button offers ready-made flows you can load and then edit: **Lead Qualification**, **Appointment Booking**, **Customer Support**, **NPS Survey**, **Payment Reminder** and **Customer Onboarding**. Each drops in a complete intent with its steps, including questions, conditions and goodbye messages. Applying a template **adds** to your existing workflow rather than replacing it, so you can combine several or trim what you don't need. ## Import functions from an OpenAPI spec The **Import API** button turns an existing API into agent functions you can call from **Tool Call** steps. Provide an **OpenAPI / Swagger** spec — by URL or by pasting it (OpenAPI 2.0 or 3.x, JSON or YAML) — and the importer parses the operations. Pick the operations you want, confirm the base URL, and it generates **custom functions** for them. Those functions then appear in the function list for Tool Call steps and on the Tools tab. :::info[The catalog of functions is managed elsewhere] A Tool Call step can only use functions already available to the agent — the built-in functions and any custom functions bound on the [Tools tab](./tools-mcp), including ones generated by the OpenAPI importer. If the function you want isn't listed, add it on the Tools tab first. ::: ## Next steps - [Bind functions and connect MCP servers (Tools tab)](./tools-mcp) - [Configure call transfers and telephony](./calling-telephony) - [Create your first agent](./create-agent) - [Back to the agents overview](./overview)