Workflows

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 documents 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.
• The documents you want to use are already in the File Manager. See Upload and share documents.

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”.

   

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.

   

5. Under “Steps”, write the instruction for the first step. The input box works like the chat: use “Select Files” to add documents, and pick the model next to it.

6. Use “+” to decide whether the step should use “High Precision Mode” and “Web Search”. Both are off by default in workflow steps. Turn on web search if the step needs information from the internet. Agent Mode is always on in workflow steps. The “+” menu also opens the “Prompt Library”.

   

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 document”, “Word document” or “Excel spreadsheet”. With a file format, one more step after the last step creates the file from the last step's answer.

   

Your changes are saved automatically, and “Saved automatically” appears at the top right.

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.

Documents in a workflow

You can attach documents in three places:

• To the workflow: under “Workflow documents”, add reference documents that apply to every step, such as a checklist or a policy.
• To a step: documents only that step needs.
• When you run it: the documents you want to work on this time, such as the current contract. This is how you reuse the same workflow with different documents.

You can't upload files directly inside a workflow. Upload them to the File Manager first, then pick them with “Select documents” or “Select Files”.

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 documents. “Show instruction” expands a step's instruction.

   

3. Under “Documents for this run”, click “Select documents” and pick the files this run should work on.

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.

   

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.

   

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

The run uses your own document access. Each step sets web search and High Precision Mode itself; 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.
• “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.

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 documents that were used. The card lists them under “Documents available in follow-ups”.

Incognito and Agent Mode are 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 documents but can't change it.
• “Can edit”: they can also change the workflow.

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

“Transfer ownership” hands a workflow to another member. “Delete workflow” removes it.

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.
• Documents aren't shared automatically. A run only uses documents the person running it can access. Share the attached documents with the same people in the File Manager, or they'll be missing from their runs.

For admins: Workflow runs

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

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

More tips:

• If the select button is greyed out when you add documents, you've usually hit the document 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. For more on High Precision Mode, see MAIA High Precision Mode.

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