How Do I Run a Workflow?

The short answer: you run a workflow from the workflow launcher on the manage page of an entity (in the default plugin, the Manage Thing page). Open the entity, and the launcher shows the workflows available for it right now — one button if a single workflow applies, a dropdown if several do. Pick one, click run, and the execution appears immediately in the workspace's history.

That's the whole action. The reason it sometimes isn't that simple is that a workflow only appears in the launcher once a chain of things is in place. This page is the map of those prerequisites — if the workflow you expect isn't offered, one of these is why.

What has to be true first

1. The configuration chain has to be built and healthy. A runnable workflow rests on a valid configuration: models, agents, and prompts wired into a workflow configuration set, plus any services and a service configuration set. If any piece is disabled, the workflow goes unavailable — see The Dependency Chain & Disable Cascades. Set these up in dependency order first.

2. An engine and API keys have to be in place. Every workflow needs a registered workflow engine, and the two systems authenticate with an API Key.

3. The workflow has to be registered and enabled. A workflow declares which statuses it can run from and which status it produces.

4. Your workspace has to be in an eligible status. The launcher only offers workflows whose eligible input statuses include the active workspace's current status. This is the most common reason a workflow "isn't there": the work simply isn't at a stage where that workflow applies yet. Run the earlier stage, and the next one appears.

Then just launch it

Once all four hold, the workflow shows up, you launch it, and it runs. From there, follow its progress in the workspace's execution history, and watch cost and outcome under Monitoring & Cost.