Build Your First Workflow

Now that your workspace is set up, let's build your first workflow. You'll see how Rills combines triggers, AI steps, approval steps, and actions into an automated process where nothing executes without your say-so.

What is a workflow?

A workflow in Rills is a series of connected steps that runs automatically:

1. Trigger — An event that starts the workflow (new email, scheduled time, webhook)
2. AI Step — Performs a specific AI task on the trigger data (classify, summarize, extract, draft)
3. Approval — You review the AI step's output and approve the next action before it executes
4. Action — The approved action executes (send email, update CRM, create task)

The AI handles specific tasks like classification and drafting, you review and approve before actions execute, and over time the system learns which outputs you consistently approve.

Create your workflow

Let's walk through building a simple workflow step by step.

1. Start a new workflow

From your workspace dashboard, click New Workflow in the top right corner. You'll see the workflow builder, which is a visual canvas where you drag and drop steps.

2. Name your workflow

Give your workflow a descriptive name that explains what it does. Examples: "Prioritize support emails", "Follow up on leads", "Schedule meetings from requests". Good names help you manage multiple workflows later.

3. Add a trigger

Click Add Trigger to choose what starts your workflow. There are three trigger types:

• Manual — Start a workflow run by clicking "Run" in the builder or calling the API. Good for testing and on-demand tasks.
• Webhook — Start automatically when an external service sends data to your workflow's webhook URL. This is how email, calendar, and form integrations trigger workflows — the external service sends a webhook when something happens.
• Schedule — Start on a recurring schedule using cron expressions (e.g., every hour, daily at 9 AM). Timezone-aware.

A single workflow can have multiple triggers active at the same time. For your first workflow, try a manual trigger so you can test it immediately, or a schedule if you want it to run automatically.

4. Add an AI step

Click the + button after your trigger and select AI. This step performs a specific AI task on the trigger data.

Configure the AI step:

• Prompt — Tell the AI what task to perform. Example: "Classify this email by urgency based on keywords and sender importance."
• Model — Multiple Claude and GPT models are available, including Claude 3.5 Sonnet and GPT-4. Select the model for each AI node in the configuration panel.
• Output — Define the structured output the AI should produce (priority level, draft reply, classification)

The AI step runs whenever the trigger fires and produces its output, which is passed to the next step in the workflow.

5. Add an approval step

Click the + button after the AI step and select Approval. This is where you review the AI step's output before the next action executes.

The approval step shows you:

• What triggered the workflow
• The AI step's output
• The next action that will execute if approved
• A confidence score (a quality assessment based on validation signals and historical patterns)

You'll review this in your approval queue, which we'll cover in the next guide.

6. Add an output action

After the approval step, add the final action that executes when you approve. Click + and choose an action type.

Built-in actions are available in every workspace:

• HTTP request — Call any API endpoint
• Send email — Send an email directly from Rills
• Custom code — Run JavaScript or Python in a sandboxed environment
• Data transformation — Reshape data between steps
• Array filtering — Filter collections based on conditions
• Set variable — Store a value for use in later steps

Integration actions depend on which services you've connected to your workspace. Once you connect an integration (Gmail, Slack, HubSpot, etc.), its actions appear in the action menu — create calendar events, send messages, update CRM records, and more. See integrations for setup.

Configure the action with the details it needs. You can reference data from earlier steps using variables (the workflow builder shows available variables for each step).

7. Save your workflow

Click Save in the top right corner. Your workflow is now active and ready to run when the trigger fires.

Workflow templates

If building from scratch feels overwhelming, Rills provides pre-built workflow templates for common use cases:

• Email triage and prioritization
• Lead qualification and follow-up
• Meeting scheduling from requests
• Social media monitoring and response
• Invoice processing and approval

Click Templates in the workflow builder to browse and customize these starting points.

Next steps

Your first workflow is live. Now let's connect your integrations so your workflows can interact with your real tools and services.