Workflows

A workflow defines a multi-step process once (read a receipt, check it against your company knowledge, create a file, let a person decide) and then runs it the same way every time. Unlike a prompt template in AI Chat, which drafts a text that you still send yourself, a workflow works through the steps on its own, started by a schedule, a form, a finished transcription or a click instead of by sending. If you need a fixed sequence with several people involved, build it here; if you only want to phrase a recurring text, a prompt template gets you there faster.

Best for: reading and checking invoices and receipts automatically, answering customer requests under the four-eyes principle, creating recurring reports on a schedule, pre-sorting job applications or delivery notes, and accepting forms from outside without a sign-in.

Before you begin

• The Workflows menu item only appears if the feature is enabled for your organization; if it is missing, contact your account manager at Datenmassiv AI.
• You can view workflows with the "View workflows" permission. Owners and administrators always have it; for editors and members your administrator enables it under Settings → Roles & permissions. Editing, running and sharing are three further permissions that follow the same pattern. "Share workflows" allows sharing with the team; to make decisions in a review step you need "Run workflows". The complete assignment is in the Reference.

Start a workflow from a template

1. In the sidebar, click Workflows and then Templates.
2. The gallery shows every template with its actual process as the cover. You can filter it by area and search it with the search field.
3. Open a template and read How it works and Requirement.
4. Click Use template. For this you need the "Edit workflows" permission.
5. Fill in the details in the setup dialog if one appears. Depending on the template, you need a knowledge base or your own Word template. For each review it contains, choose Review in the app or Approval link by email to a member of your organization. Review in the app does not send a review request; the open review appears on the run page and in the run details.
6. In the setup dialog, click Create workflow as soon as all required details are filled in. Without a setup dialog, the copy is already created with Use template.

After it is created, a Preview with sample data starts automatically: emails, web requests and entries in knowledge bases are only simulated, and reviews and waiting times are skipped; AI steps actually run with the sample data. In the run history this run is listed as Preview with sample data. It does not replace a real run with your own documents, nor a professional review of the result.

For Create a quote from a customer inquiry you need a knowledge base with your price list or your catalog of services, and a DOCX file with the matching quote placeholders. The quote waits for approval and then goes, with the DOCX file, to the member who started it, for forwarding; the customer address in the form is not a direct email recipient. In particular, check prices, completeness and validity before forwarding it.

New copies from the template catalog get its current version. Workflows you have already created are not changed automatically by later corrections to the template.

To copy a colleague's workflow, use Duplicate in the ⋮ menu on the workflow card. Private links such as knowledge bases or credentials never travel along automatically; a setup dialog asks for your own values.

Build a workflow yourself

1. Click Workflows in the sidebar and then New workflow.
2. Under "Or describe your own process", describe your process in one sentence so that the AI places a draft on the canvas, or click Create blank workflow and start on your own. If your organization's AI quota is not enough for the draft, the message says so; trying again only helps once your administrator has added quota.
3. Add a step from the step palette on the left; it attaches itself automatically to the last one. The palette sorts the steps into four groups: AI (including Agent, Read document, Look up knowledge), Logic & flow (Condition with a guided comparison using an operator such as "is greater than", Repeat, For each item) and Actions (Email, Web request (HTTP), Create Word document, Save knowledge) as well as Output & review (Create file, Review, Guardrails, Delay).
4. Click a step to open its settings panel on the right. There you choose the model and knowledge bases from a list, and with Variables you insert the result of a previous step directly at the cursor position: every form field under its label, and every field that you defined yourself in a previous step (such as the fields of Read document). Only knowledge bases that are Available in chat can be selected; if a step shows a knowledge base with (deactivated), saving warns you as well until you switch it back on or replace it. An Agent step only fetches web addresses that you enter yourself or that come from the trigger (except Transcription finished), an uploaded file, a web request or from Look up knowledge. It receives addresses from AI steps such as Agent or Read document and from other steps as text, but does not open them. For a Condition, use If a value is missing to set which path applies when a compared value is empty, for example because the AI did not find an amount on the invoice; without this setting the run stops and names the missing value. In the Agent step and the AI text step, the Instruction only describes the task; content such as the customer request or the result of an earlier step goes under Data sources. The AI receives that content as data, not as an instruction, and so the same instruction fits every request. Fields that Read document or AI text output carry a Display name such as "Strengths" next to the field name; the review and the run result show it, while references keep using the field name. In a review note, email, Word document and file, numbers appear in the Number and date format of the person who starts the run; if you write "€" or "%" directly after the variable, you get an amount such as "€17,790.50" in English format (details).
5. On the first step, set the trigger: Manual, Schedule (at most once a day), Form or Transcription finished. After activation, a form creates a public link through which people without access to Datenmassiv AI can also start the workflow, with field types ranging from text to File upload for a receipt or a photo. Transcription finished starts the active workflow with the text, summary, speakers, duration, meeting type, participants and agenda as soon as a recording is finished. Under Which recordings you choose team recordings and your own, only team recordings, or only your own recordings; other people's private recordings never start the workflow. Under Which meeting types you restrict the workflow to types such as Construction meeting or Municipal council; without a selection, every type starts it. Under When to start you choose Transcription finished or Minutes approved; a workflow for approval only starts when the minute-taker approves the minutes, and receives the chosen recipients along with them.
6. Changes are saved automatically, a few seconds after your last input; with the ⋮ → Save now menu you can trigger this manually if needed.
7. Click Test run to start the workflow with your own inputs, then Activate. After that, the same button is called Run. A test run is a real run: emails are sent, reviews wait for a decision, files and entries in knowledge bases are actually created, and AI steps use AI quota.

A workflow stays Private until you choose Share with team with the Private/Team button at the top right. This requires the "Share workflows" permission, which initially only owners and administrators have. Only you, plus owners and administrators, see the runs of a private workflow and their results, including files from AI steps; after sharing, everyone who may view or run workflows sees them. On a phone, and on a tablet next to the sidebar, the bar only shows the main action (Activate or Run); you find Share with team, Test run and Deactivate there in the ⋮ menu.

Analyze Microsoft documents personally

For this process you need a connected business account under Integrations → Microsoft 365 and the permissions to edit and run workflows. The workflow stays private and can only be started manually by its creator, with that person's Microsoft permissions. This personal visibility remains even if you later remove the Microsoft step. Before the start and in the run view, Private Microsoft workflow explains that your connected business account is used and that only you as the creator see the workflow, its document excerpts and its result. If "Microsoft workflows are not enabled yet." appears when you save, activate or start it, contact your account manager at Datenmassiv AI. If an existing workflow already has runs, first create a new private copy on its workflow card with ⋮ → Duplicate and add the Microsoft step there.

1. Create a blank workflow with Manual start and leave the visibility at Private.
2. Add the Microsoft documents step.
3. Under Search term 1, enter a file name or a topic, for example "travel expense policy".
4. Add an AI text step and describe the analysis you want under Instruction.
5. Check the Data sources (optional): the reference to the Microsoft documents that were read is filled in automatically.
6. Click Test run to start the process deliberately; after Activate, the action is called Run.

A workflow contains at most one Microsoft source step and reads at most three matching documents in total; for several topics, add up to three search terms in this step with Add search term. After variables are inserted, each search term may contain at most 120 characters and must not be empty; if a corresponding note appears, shorten or complete the search term. The instruction in the AI text step stays fixed; references to document content belong exclusively in its data sources. The document content is checked before the analysis; withheld content is not passed on to AI text and is not shown as a source. The analysis uses a model approved by your organization and the normal AI quota; you do not need an additional plan for Microsoft documents. When it is finished, you see the complete AI text under Result and the original files under Microsoft sources. With Copy result you copy the finished answer and its sources to the clipboard yourself. You open the original files with your Microsoft permissions. Private Microsoft workflows do not start an automatic preview with sample data, and they can neither run on a schedule nor be shared with the team. For these processes, Microsoft documents, AI text and conditions are available; automatic file outputs, agents and external actions are excluded.

If the step finds no matching documents, make the search terms more precise or check the approved library. If permissions are missing, check access to the original files in SharePoint or OneDrive. An unsupported file format or a missing PDF enablement is named explicitly; the Reference lists the formats that can be read. If suspicious instructions are withheld, check the original documents or use a different source. If the retrieval or the security check cannot be completed for the moment, start the workflow again later.

Run a workflow

1. Open the workflow. The Run page is for everyday use, with no builder at all.
2. For a form trigger, fill in the input fields and click Run workflow (for a scheduled workflow, the same button is called Run now).
3. After the run, download the file you want under Created files with Download. Before that you see the progress step by step; result files stay available for 90 days by default. The period set for your organization may differ; download the files you need in good time. The Reference distinguishes result files from form uploads and intermediate files.

The run details follow a running run by themselves, even after an approval or a continuation; you do not need to reload. The step count only counts steps that were executed; skipped ones, such as the path of a condition that was not taken, are shown separately next to it. Steps that a stopped run no longer executed are called Canceled, and under About this run the end of a stopped run is shown as Canceled, that of a failed one as Failed. A step whose error was caught by a connected error output is shown as Error handled. A running delay states until when it waits; a waiting review states the time at which the run fails without a decision. The run and step duration also includes time spent waiting for the AI or for a human review. If only the time from the first recorded step onward can be verified, (from the first step) marks this span.

If an earlier result that the process needs is missing, the run stops before the affected action; the error message names the reference and the step. Correct the reference it names in the settings of that step using Variables, and then run the workflow again.

A workflow in the Draft, Paused or Archived state cannot be started here; the page explains why in each case. While a run is still in progress, you cancel it in the run details with Stop run; a waiting review ends without any further approval, and a running delay ends immediately, without waiting for it to finish. Actions that have already started can still complete; completed actions are not undone. You continue a failed run in the run details with Continue from the error. Completed steps are taken over with their results and are not executed again; the failed step and all steps after it run again and can send emails and use AI quota again. If an earlier approval cannot safely be reused, for example because the reviewed content has changed or the review sits inside a Repeat or For each item step, that review and all steps after it also run again. The continuation uses the same version and the same inputs as the failed run; if you have changed the workflow in the meantime, start a new run instead. In the run history it is listed as Continued after an error, while Duplicate creates a separate new workflow. For this you need the "Run workflows" permission.

If no AI quota is available when you start a run manually, the application shows a note and does not create a run. Unattended starts, on the other hand, can be postponed as Paused, starts automatically. Check in the run details whether their inputs are still current, and click Discard if a run should no longer be made up. For this, too, you need "Run workflows". The Reference lists the deadlines and limits for making up runs; your administrator checks the quota under Settings → Subscription & billing.

Approve a paused step

1. When the run reaches a step of the Review type, it changes to the status "Waiting for review", and the Review required dialog appears on the run page and in the run details.
2. The dialog shows the selected Item to review in full and with the name of the step it comes from; files appear with their name. When you set up the workflow, explicitly choose the content you want under Item to review in the review step if several are possible. An ambiguous workflow cannot be started until you make this choice. If exactly one text is up for review, you can correct it in the Edit tab. A correction you have started survives closing the dialog, but only applies to exactly this review; a new review starts with the new content. Structured data, such as invoice fields, appears as a list with field names in the order in which the step delivers them; a field that the step did not find is shown as "not recognized". Numbers appear in number format, yes/no fields as "yes" or "no". The Review note says what matters; the dialog shows the content below it on its own, so you do not have to insert it into the note as a variable. You cannot change it field by field here; approve it or send it back for revision with a comment. A changed text must not be empty. If content cannot be loaded, Approve stays locked.
3. Click Approve or Approve with changes so that the workflow continues with the complete approved version. A subsequent document takes over this version, including your correction. Send back for revision returns the content and does not create an approved document from it. If the review sits inside a Repeat step, the run continues with the next pass. So that the text there is revised according to your comment, insert Feedback from the last review under Variables in the writing step; in the first pass it is empty.

An older open review without a clearly bound version can only be sent back for revision; afterwards, start the corrected workflow again. With Continue from the error, an earlier approval only stands if the reviewed content is taken over unchanged; otherwise, review it again. If the earlier review step was ambiguous, choose an unambiguous Item to review in the workflow and start a new run.

While a run is waiting, the run view states whether the approval link goes out by email, could not be delivered, or is decided in the app. The run details also state roughly when the run fails without a decision. In the preview with sample data, a review is shown as Skipped in the preview; nobody reviewed anything there. For a review request by email, switch on Email approval in the review step and enter an address from your organization under Reviewer, so that a single-use approval link goes out by email. The page behind the link shows the item to review: a text in full, files with their name; you see their content in the app with the run. If the text is too long for the page, it can only be rejected there; you can then approve it in the app. Approval emails count toward your organization's daily limit for workflow emails; once it is reached, no email goes out, and you decide in the app. After someone else approves, the workflow creator receives a confirmation; no confirmation is sent for the creator's own decision. An approval link and an open review dialog only apply to the current review they belong to. If a later review is shown, open it anew; an old link or dialog does not approve it. An approval link is only valid as long as the person is a member of your organization and may run workflows; otherwise it shows Approval no longer possible. Without a decision, the run fails as soon as the time window set under Waiting time (hours) expires, after 72 hours by default. If someone rejects it, the run states who rejected it and when, and shows the comment from the rejection. The adjustable range is in the Reference.

Store credentials for an external service

If a workflow calls an external service with the Web request (HTTP) step, it usually needs a key for that.

1. Open Credentials in the sidebar, or create new ones directly in the Web request (HTTP) step with + Create new credentials….
2. Choose the matching type: A long key (token), Key with its own name (API key) or Username and password. Which one applies is stated in the instructions of the service in question.
3. Enter a Name, enter the key and save.

From then on, the step only selects the credentials from a list. Datenmassiv AI stores the key securely and afterwards never shows it in plain text to anyone again, not even to you. If workflows still use the credentials, Datenmassiv AI warns you before deleting them instead of silently allowing it. If the service redirects to a different address, such as a different domain or from https to http, the step sends neither the key nor any other headers there and does not send the content of a request again. So enter the address at which the service answers directly, usually the one with https.

A run is stuck at "Waiting for review"

The cause is usually simple: Email approval is switched off in the review step, so the run waits silently without anyone being notified. Switch it on and enter an address under Reviewer, or approve directly in the run details without waiting for an email. Without a decision, the run fails automatically as soon as the deadline expires.

Next step

• Agents: the specialists that an Agent step in the workflow runs.
• Knowledge bases: the company knowledge that steps such as Look up knowledge and Save knowledge use.
• Reference: roles, step types and limits in one place.