# Workflows

> Save recurring tasks as a sequence of steps with files and a fixed output format, run them, and share them with your team.

Workflows let you save a task you do again and again as a fixed sequence of steps. Each step has its own instruction, its own files and its own settings. MAIA works through the steps in order and keeps the results in a chat. The final result appears in the chat or as a PDF, Word or Excel file.

Typical examples: checking a contract against the same criteria every time, turning a set of quotes into a comparison table, or writing a report to a fixed template.

## Before you start

* You see “Workflows” in the sidebar. If it's missing, the feature isn't enabled in your workspace yet. Contact your workspace admin or <support@getmaia.ai>.
* You can upload files directly in the workflow or choose them from the File Manager. For more on the File Manager, see [Upload and share documents](/en/docs/first-steps-with-maia/upload-and-share-documents/).

![“Workflows” page](/images/docs/60b0d87430c4316bd5e1.jpeg)

## Create a workflow

1. Click “Workflows” in the sidebar. Your own workflows are under “My workflows”, workflows others shared with you under “Shared with me”. Sort the list by “Newest” or “Most used”.

   ![“Workflows” page with “New workflow”](/images/docs/60b0d87430c4316bd5e1.jpeg)

2. Click “New workflow”.

3. Use the pencil icons to give the workflow a name and, if you like, a short description.

4. Under “Workflow instructions”, set what applies to every step, such as tone, role and rules. These instructions are added to every step.

   ![Workflow with workflow instructions and workflow files](/images/docs/4fa09dadaa0de1bd0e28.jpeg)

5. Under “Steps”, write the instruction for the first step. The input box works like the chat: use “Select Files” to add files from the File Manager, or “+” > “Upload Files” to upload new ones.

6. The step's answer settings are shown to the right below the input box, for example “Auto · Standard · Verify off”. As in the chat, set the “Effort per answer”, “Verify answers” and the AI model there. A new step starts with the same settings as a new chat. Use “+” to turn on “Web Search” if the step needs information from the internet, and to open the “Prompt Library”. See [Answer settings](/en/docs/maias-features/answer-settings/).

   ![Step with instruction, files and answer settings](/images/docs/06f00e065a920634382b.jpeg)

7. Click “Add step” to add more steps. Each step receives the results of the steps before it. Use the arrows to change the order and the bin icon to delete a step.

8. Under “Result”, choose the format: “Text in chat”, “PDF file”, “Word file” or “Excel spreadsheet”. With a file format, one more step after the last step creates the file from the last step's answer.

   ![Choosing the result format](/images/docs/fa638cb78179a681511c.jpeg)

Your changes are saved automatically, and “Saved automatically” appears at the top right. If you leave the workflow before everything is saved, MAIA asks whether you really want to leave without saving.

You don't have to delete a step you don't need right now. Turn it off with the “Active” switch and MAIA skips it when the workflow runs.

## Files in the workflow

You can attach files in three places:

* **To the workflow:** under “Workflow files”, add files that are available in every step and on every run, such as templates, guidelines or standards.
* **To a step:** under “Step files”, files only that step needs.
* **When you run it:** the files you want to work on this time, such as the current contract. This is how you reuse the same workflow with different files.

![File picker with “Shared with you”](/images/docs/8adc9b6c34bad21e0417.jpeg)

How to add files:

* **Upload:** with “Upload” next to the workflow files, or “+” > “Upload Files” in a step.
* **Drag and drop:** drop files onto the workflow, a step or the run window.
* **Paste:** paste a file into a step's instruction.
* **From the File Manager:** with “Choose from File Manager” or “Select Files”.

MAIA has to process uploaded files first, which can take a few minutes. After that they belong to the workflow. MAIA saves them in the File Manager in the workflow's own collection, “Workflow: \<name>” (the name starts with a clipboard icon). Files you upload only for one run go to your “Chat uploads” collection.

## Run a workflow

1. Open the workflow and click “Run Workflow”.

2. A window opens with “Run” and the name of the workflow in its title. There, review what the run will do: instructions, steps with their model, result format and attached files. “Show instruction” expands a step's instruction.

   ![Window for starting a run](/images/docs/3947f510ec20b7f86e0f.jpeg)

3. Under “Files for this run”, add the files this run should work on: with “Choose from File Manager”, by uploading or by dragging them in. If uploaded files aren't processed yet, the run starts as soon as they are.

4. Click “Run Workflow”. Nothing starts before that.

5. MAIA opens a run chat named after the workflow. A card at the top shows the status (“Running”, later “Completed”) and the progress of the steps. Meanwhile you can keep working elsewhere or leave the page; the run carries on. You'll find the run chat in your chat list.

   ![Run chat while a run is in progress, input locked](/images/docs/3436b2da1ac316e41086.jpeg)

6. When the run is done, the result is in the chat. With a file format, a card with the file appears below the answer. The eye icon opens a preview, the arrow downloads the file.

   ![Completed run with the generated PDF](/images/docs/4145684411dc3a64a651.jpeg)

Before you start, MAIA shows how many requests the run will make. They count like normal chat requests.

The run uses your own file access. Effort per answer, “Verify answers”, Web Search and the model are set per step; your chat settings don't apply during the run.

The card in the run chat offers:

* “Cancel run”: stops a run in progress.
* “Restart”: runs the workflow again in a new chat after your review.
* “Resume”: continues a cancelled or failed run from its first unfinished step.
* “Run details”: shows the individual steps.
* “Open workflow”: takes you back to the workflow.

## Follow-up questions in the run chat

While the run is waiting or in progress, the input box in the run chat is locked. If you want to write before it finishes, cancel the run.

![Finished run in the run chat](/images/docs/4145684411dc3a64a651.jpeg)

Once the run is finished, you can keep asking questions in the same chat, for example “Put the three biggest risks in a table”. MAIA knows the results of every step and the files that were used. The card lists them under “Files available in follow-ups”.

Incognito is locked in run chats.

## Share a workflow

You can share a workflow with people in your workspace. Click “Share” at the top or go to the “Access” section of the workflow. Enter the email address under “Invite people by email”, choose the permission and click “Invite”:

* “Can run”: they can run the workflow with their own files but can't change it.
* “Can edit”: they can also change the workflow.

![Dialog for sharing a workflow](/images/docs/b80c9faa031411dcbc81.jpeg)

Shared workflows show up for the other person under “Shared with me”.

“Transfer ownership” hands a workflow to another member. You can choose from the people you've shared the workflow with, so share it with the future owner first. You keep the “Can edit” permission afterwards. “Delete workflow” removes it. Its uploaded files stay in the File Manager, but the people you shared the workflow with lose access to them.

Good to know when sharing:

* **Runs are private.** Only the person who started a run can see what's in it. Someone running your shared workflow doesn't see your runs, and you don't see theirs.
* **Uploaded files are shared along.** People you share the workflow with also get access to the files in the workflow's collection: “Can run” to read them, “Can edit” to change them. You change this access only in the workflow's share dialog.
* **Files from other collections aren't shared.** If you chose files from the File Manager, people need their own access to them. The share dialog warns you when someone can't read files of the workflow. Upload them to the workflow's collection or share their collection in the File Manager.

## For admins: reassign workflows

As a workspace admin or owner, you also see the section “Other workflows in this workspace” on the “Workflows” page. It lists other members' workflows that aren't shared with you, with their owner and when they were last updated. You can't open or run them from here.

![Section “Other workflows in this workspace” with “Reassign”](/images/docs/7d67cc716dfb95ab0e83.jpeg)

To hand a workflow to another member, for example when its owner moves to another team:

1. Click “Reassign” next to the workflow.

2. Under “New owner”, pick a member. You can choose any active member of the workspace, including people the workflow isn't shared with.

   ![“Transfer workflow” dialog](/images/docs/35c393cb9b5147d10a32.jpeg)

3. Click “Transfer”.

After that:

* **New owner:** They can edit, share and delete the workflow and manage the collection with its uploaded files.
* **Previous owner:** They keep the “Can edit” permission. Their waiting runs still start, and they can resume failed runs.
* **Other shares:** They stay as they are.

If you remove a member from the workspace, their workflows automatically move to another admin or the workspace owner. Their running and waiting workflow runs are cancelled.

## For admins: workflow runs

Each workspace runs at most 3 workflows at the same time. Further runs wait until a slot is free.

![Workflow runs in the settings](/images/docs/15db3e770393666019e2.jpeg)

Under “Settings” > “Workspace” > “Workflow runs”, admins see which runs are in progress or waiting and can cancel a run, for example when it's holding up the workspace. Admins can't see what's inside the runs. Steps that have already finished stay with the person who started the run.

## Limits

| What                                                       | Limit            |
| ---------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------- |
| Steps per workflow                                         | 10               |
| Files per step                                             | 5                |
| Files attached to the workflow                             | 10               |
| Different files per run (workflow, steps and run together) | 25               |
| Length of the workflow instructions                        | 4,000 characters |
| Length of a step's instruction                             | 4,000 characters |
| Concurrent runs per workspace                              | 3                |

![Workflow with instructions and files](/images/docs/4fa09dadaa0de1bd0e28.jpeg)

More tips:

* If the select button is greyed out when you add files, you've usually hit the file limit. Pick individual files instead of a whole collection.
* With Excel as the output format, MAIA builds the spreadsheet from the answer of the last step. You can't define the layout in the output format setting. If you need a particular layout, describe it in the instruction of the last step.
* For which model suits which task, see [Model Selection Reference](/en/docs/maias-features/model-selection-reference/). For more on checking answers, see [Verify answers](/en/docs/maias-features/verify-answers/).

Questions or feedback about Workflows? Write to us at <support@getmaia.ai>.