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Create a New Automation (Wizard)

This page walks you through the new-automation wizard end to end — the path from "I have an idea" to "the automation exists and I can edit it".

The wizard exists to handle the few decisions you have to make at creation time. The actual building (adding steps, configuring integrations) happens after the wizard, in the editor.

Before you start​

Make sure that:

  • You have at least one AI model connected to your workspace, unless your automation does no AI at all. See Models → Create a New Model.
  • You know roughly what the automation should do — the wizard does not ask for details, but the editor will.
  • You have Editor, Manager, or Admin rights in the workspace. End users (role AgentUser) cannot create automations.

Step 1 — Name and description​

Open the Automations tab and click Create. The wizard opens on the first step.

Step 1 of the new-automation wizard with the name and description fields filled in.

  • Name — a short, memorable name. This becomes part of URLs and webhook addresses, so keep it descriptive but not too long.
  • Description — a one- or two-sentence summary of what the automation does. Required.

When both fields are filled, the Next button at the bottom right becomes available.

Advanced: start from a blank canvas or import YAML​

Step 1 also offers two shortcuts in its toolbar:

  • Start Empty — skips the rest of the wizard and drops you into an empty editor. Useful when you already know the structure and don't want any pre-fill.
  • Advanced Options — opens a small panel for importing a YAML file (a definition exported from another workspace, for example). After upload, the wizard goes straight to the editor with the imported content.

For most cases, fill in the name + description and click Next.

Step 2 — Type and model​

Step 2 combines two decisions on one page: what type of automation, and which AI model to default to.

Step 2 of the wizard: the type chips Agent and Workflow plus the model selection list.

Type​

Pick one of the two type chips at the top:

  • Workflow — for unattended, scheduled, or event-driven automations. The order of actions is predictable.
  • Agent — for chat-based assistants. The user drives the conversation.

There is no "auto-detect" option. Decide deliberately. You can change the type later from inside the editor, but it is rarely needed.

Model​

Below the type chips, the wizard lists every model connected to the workspace. Click the one this automation should use as its default. The selected model is pre-filled on any step the editor creates for you; you can switch the model per-step later.

Create​

When type and model are chosen, click Create Automation at the bottom right. The automation is saved and you land in the editor.

The automation is not active yet — triggers do not fire until you start them from the Trigger Monitor (see Administration → Trigger Monitor). This gives you time to build the whole thing in peace before it goes live.

What's next: the editor​

The editor lets you:

  • Add a trigger (every automation has exactly one — see Integrations → Introduction).
  • Add steps one after another and configure their inputs and outputs.
  • For agents: define the persona (role, goal, communication style) and connect knowledge bases.
  • Test the automation with Manual Run.
  • See past Jobs and inspect what happened in each run.
  • Export the definition as a YAML file for backup or sharing.

For workflow-specific editing, continue with Workflows. For agent-specific editing, see Agents.

Recommendations​

  • ✅ Use Manual Run as your testing tool while building — it bypasses the trigger and lets you simulate the input. You can iterate ten times in a row without waiting for tomorrow's cron.
  • ✅ Pick a name that explains the purpose, not the technology. "Daily ticket summary" beats "GPT-4 cron job".
  • ✅ Keep the automation's trigger stopped (in the Trigger Monitor) until Manual Run succeeds with realistic input.
  • ⚠️ The name is part of the automation's URL. Renaming later changes the URL.
  • ⚠️ If you import a YAML file, the import only checks the structure. The first Manual Run is where you find configuration issues (missing models, wrong knowledge IDs).
  • ❌ Don't pick a model you can't afford to run often. Switching the default model later is one click; switching after a workflow has been running for a week is harder.

What to do next​