Workflows

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What Is a Workflow?

A workflow is the step-by-step plan your agent follows to complete a task. When you describe what you want and hit Build, Decisional turns it into a sequence of steps that run one after another. Each step is a node. Each node is connected to the next step by an edge, which shows what happens next.

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Purpose of the Workflow Graph

The workflow graph turns the agent’s instructions into a plan you can see and inspect. It helps you understand what the agent will do before it runs and what happened after a run finishes. Use the graph to:

• Follow the order of steps from the trigger to the final action
• See how information moves from one step to the next
• Tell which steps use fixed code and which steps use AI
• Find where the workflow needs approval or is waiting for a person
• Identify the step that failed and inspect what it received and returned

In the image below, the Workflow panel is on the right. It shows how a scheduled trigger starts the workflow, data moves through each connected node, and the final Action Node uploads and emails the completed report. Not every step works in the same way. Some steps run code to do predictable work, such as fetching records, calculating values, or formatting a report. Other steps use AI to understand information, make a judgment, write content, or complete an open-ended task. A workflow can combine both. Code steps handle work that should follow the same rules every time, while AI steps handle work that needs interpretation or flexibility. In this example, the Research Contact step is backed by code. The code defines what information the step receives, the instructions and connected tools it uses, and the result it must return. You can open a node to inspect how that individual step works.

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Nodes

Nodes are the building blocks of a workflow. Each node owns one piece of work: starting the run, reading or transforming data, calling an app, asking for a decision, or generating output. When an agent runs, Decisional executes the nodes in order and passes data from one step to the next through the workflow edges. This keeps the agent’s process inspectable: you can see what each step did, what it received, what it produced, and where the run paused or failed.

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Node Types

Workflows are made up of different node types, each handling a specific kind of work:

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Viewing Your Workflow

After your agent builds, click the Workflow tab to see the visual graph. Each node is displayed with:

• Its name and a short description of what it does
• Its type (trigger, task, action, AI, agent, gate)
• Connections showing the flow of data between steps

You can zoom, pan, and click on any node to see its details and the code it runs.

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Inspect a Run on the Graph

Select a run to see what happened on the workflow graph. The graph changes from a plan of what should happen into a record of what happened during that run. The run surface on the right shows the run ID, when it started, overall progress, and the number of steps that succeeded, are still running, or failed. Open Run Outputs to see files and other results created by the workflow. The graph shows the status of each node for the selected run. For example, a green outline and check mark mean the node completed successfully. A node can also show that it is running, failed, waiting for approval, skipped, or still pending. When a node processes several rows, its progress shows how many row executions completed. Click a node to open its Executions view. If the node ran once, Decisional opens that execution directly. If it ran more than once, select an execution from the list. The execution details show:

• Whether the node succeeded, failed, or is still running
• When it started, when it finished, and how long it took
• The information the node received and the result it returned
• Live logs, error details, approval information, and retries when available

This lets you move from the run summary to the exact node execution that produced a result or caused a problem.

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Agent Nodes

An Agent Node gives one part of a workflow to an AI agent. Unlike a fixed step, the agent can decide which actions are needed to reach the goal. This is useful for:

• Working with tools — read files, use connected apps, compare results, and decide what to do next
• Computer work — work with files, images, documents, and other information in a managed environment
• Multi-step tasks — break a large task into smaller actions and work through them
• Problem solving — investigate why something failed and try the next best fix

The Agent Node receives information from earlier nodes and passes its result to the next step when it finishes.

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Dex Node: Agentic Follow Up

A Dex Node is designed for Agentic Follow Up. This means Dex can take an action, wait for a reply or a later time, and continue the same work without making you restart it. You give Dex a goal in plain English and choose which connected tools it can use. Dex works through the goal, keeps the same context across turns, and reports back when the work is complete. In this workflow, the Dex Node handles the coaching conversation between two fixed Action Nodes. It can use the connected tools shown on the node, message each recipient, and then pass the result to the final wrap-up step.

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What a Dex Node Can Do

• Use connected apps — work with the exact email, Slack, CRM, SMS, or other tools assigned to the node
• Take several turns — keep working when the goal needs more than one action or decision
• Wait until later — pause until a time Dex chooses, then continue the same task with its earlier context
• Wait for a reply — send a supported email or Slack message, pause the workflow, and continue when someone replies
• Return a result — pass a summary and useful output to the next workflow step

The rest of the workflow waits while the Dex Node is working or waiting. It continues only after Dex completes the step. You can also turn on Require approval if someone should review the step before Dex starts.

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What You See During a Run

Use a Dex Node when the exact number of actions, timing, or replies cannot be known in advance. For a single fixed app action, use an Action Node. For a short task such as classification or summarization, use an AI Node.

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AI Nodes

AI Nodes run a bounded model step inside the workflow. Use an AI Node when the job is clear, the required inputs are already available, and the step does not need an agent harness or tool use. This is useful for:

• Classification — categorize emails, tickets, or documents into types
• Summarization — condense long content into key points
• Extraction — pull structured data from unstructured text
• Generation — write responses, draft emails, or create content

The AI Node takes input from previous nodes and returns model output that flows to the next step.

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Gate Nodes

Gate Nodes are explicit human approval checkpoints in a workflow. They do not run code or produce new output fields. Instead, they pause the workflow before downstream nodes run, then pass the same input data forward after the gate is approved. Use a Gate Node when the workflow needs a named person or group to make a decision before continuing, such as manager approval before sending a customer email, finance approval before updating a record, or legal approval before publishing generated content. Gate Nodes are different from approval flags on Action Nodes:

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Configure What Approvers Review

Ask Dex to configure the Gate Node with the information a person needs to make the decision. It can use values created by the trigger or any earlier step in the workflow. You can organize the review page in a few simple ways: For each item, you can choose a clear label, the value to show, and how it should look. For example, a number can be shown as currency, a date can be made easier to read, and a missing value can use a fallback such as “Not provided.” Only the fields configured for review are saved in the approval request. You can also configure the approval email separately. Add a short introduction and select a few summary fields so the approver understands the request before opening it. The Review button opens the full approval page. The full page can show the Gate title and instructions, the workflow run, grouped review fields, tables, approver status, and an optional note. The approver can then Approve or Reject the request.

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Gate Owners

Each Gate Node has one or more owners. Owners are the only people who can approve or reject that gate. The gate can be configured in two modes: Gate settings can also include approval instructions, which are shown to approvers with the request, and shareable public links so external approvers can review without signing in. During build runs, Gate Nodes are skipped for observability. During test and live runs, they pause execution until the approval rule is satisfied or the gate is rejected.

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How Workflows Get Built

You do not need to design workflows manually. Here’s the process:

1. You describe what you want in plain English
2. Decisional generates the workflow — choosing node types, wiring them together, and writing the logic
3. You review the workflow in the visual viewer
4. You can modify the workflow in Operator Mode

If you need to make changes after building, use Operator Mode in the Decisional web app for configuration-level edits.

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Action Node Approvals

Action nodes are special because they affect external systems or records. During testing and configured review flows:

• Your agent pauses before executing each action node
• You see a preview of what the action will do
• You can approve or reject each action individually

This gives you a review point before sensitive actions touch real data or apps. Approval behavior is controlled by the agent’s approval mode, workspace tool policy, and any explicit gate nodes in the workflow. A live agent can ask for approvals, bypass eligible approvals, or block actions depending on that policy.