Workflow Definitions

A Workflow Definition is a visual recipe for combining steps: a graph of nodes (individual steps) connected by edges (the order they run in). It defines what happens, in what order, every single time it runs. Unlike an Agent (which figures things out on the fly), a Workflow Definition is deterministic — step A always leads to step B, which always leads to step C.

Workflow Definition fields

Field	What it does
Name	A label for this workflow (e.g. “New Supplier Onboarding”)
Description	A note for your team — what this workflow is for
Status	Whether the workflow is draft, active, or archived
Graph	The nodes and connections you build in the workflow editor

Agents vs. Workflow Definitions

Both Agents and Workflow Definitions can automate work. The difference is how they operate:

	Agent	Workflow Definition
Approach	Reactive — given a task, it reasons and decides what to do	Deterministic — always follows the same fixed steps
Best for	Open-ended tasks, questions, triage, summarization	Structured processes that must run the same way every time
Flexibility	High — the Agent adapts	Low (by design) — no deviation from the recipe
Example	“Review this project update and flag any risks”	“When a supplier is added: send welcome email → create onboarding task → notify account manager”

Use an Agent when the task requires judgment. Use a Workflow Definition when consistency and repeatability matter more than flexibility. The two aren’t exclusive: a workflow step can run an Agent, and an Agent can spawn a workflow-like subagent — see Workflow Nodes below.

Building a workflow

Open a Workflow Definition to get the visual editor. Use the node panel to search or browse for a step, drop it on the canvas, then draw connections between steps to set the order. Each node has its own settings form — what to do, and where its inputs come from (earlier steps’ outputs, the trigger’s data, or a fixed value).

Workflow Nodes: the building blocks

GreenVee ships 40+ node types you can combine, grouped into a few families:

Family	What it covers	Examples
Flow control	The shape of the recipe itself	The entry-point trigger, a conditional branch (if/else), a loop over a list, a pause that waits for a signal, a child sub-workflow, the final result
AI	Steps that call a model or an Agent	An LLM step (ask a model a question), running an Agent, producing structured output
Data	Reading and writing GreenVee records	Create / update / delete a record, list / get records
Skills & Tools	Pulling in reusable capabilities mid-run	Load an Agent Skill, load MCP Tools, call an MCP Tool
Subagents	Delegating part of the work to an AI agent	Spawn a subagent, wait for a subagent to finish
Files	Working with files	Create a file, read a file
Notifications	Telling people what happened	Send a notification

You don’t need to memorize the full list — the node panel lets you search by what you’re trying to do, and each node shows a short description of what it does.

Deploying

Editing a Workflow Definition never affects anything already running — GreenVee always executes a separate, frozen Deployment, not your live edits. When you’re ready to ship your changes, click Deploy:

1. GreenVee runs a validation check over the whole graph (things like: does every input resolve, is there exactly one trigger, are database steps allowed to touch what they reference). Errors block the deploy; warnings don’t.
2. If it passes, GreenVee freezes a new, numbered Deployment (v1, v2, v3, …) from the current graph.
3. The header badge shows whether the graph matches the latest deployment, or has undeployed changes waiting.

Once deployed, the workflow starts running for real whenever its Trigger fires — see How Automation Runs for the full picture.

Running and watching a workflow

If the workflow has a Manual trigger, you can start a run yourself with the Run button (only enabled once deployed). Every run — however it started — shows up live on the Workflow Executions page, where you can watch its progress step by step.

Related pages

• AI Glossary — plain-English definitions for Workflow Definition, Deployment, Trigger, and Execution
• Workflow Triggers — the four ways a workflow can start
• Workflow Executions — watching and reviewing runs
• How Automation Runs — the define → deploy → trigger → run → observe overview
• Agents — when to use an Agent instead of a Workflow Definition