Build a workflow

A workflow runs a fixed list of steps in order, passing results from one step to the next.

A workflow is a fixed list of steps that run one after another. Each step can use the result of the step before it. Use a workflow when you always want the same sequence to happen, in the same order.

Make a workflow

workflows.nt

workflow estimate_age
  description: Find the year behind a clue, then guess the age.
  input:
    clues: string
  output:
    estimate: object
  steps:
    - agent: researcher
      prompt: "What year does this clue point to: {clues}"
      into: year
    - prompt: |
        Guess the person's age.
        Clues: {clues}
        Year: {year}
      into: estimate

How steps connect

Each step runs a prompt and can save its answer with into. Later steps can use that saved answer by writing its name in curly braces.

In the example above:

The first step asks the researcher for a year and saves it as year.
The second step uses both the original {clues} and the {year} from step one.

So {clues} comes from the workflow's input, and {year} comes from the step that ran before. This is how a workflow passes results forward.

What a workflow needs

Setting	What it does
`description`	A short note about the workflow.
`agent`	The default agent for steps that do not name one.
`input`	What you give the workflow to start.
`output`	The shape of the final result.
`steps`	The list of steps to run, in order.

Each step can have:

Step setting	What it does
`agent`	Which agent runs this step.
`prompt`	What to ask, with `{names}` filled in from earlier.
`skill`	An optional skill to add for this step.
`into`	A name to save this step's answer under.

Run a workflow

Workflows run with the same command as agents:

nt run estimate_age -i '{"clues":"bought the first iPhone at 22"}'

Delegate to subagents

Let an agent call helpers on its own.

CLI reference

Every command and option.