# Workflows

Process automations in Arcee Orchestra are built via workflows. **Workflows** are a collection of actions which automate a specific business task. These actions, aka "components" or "nodes", can be requests to an SLM or LLM, external API calls, code execution, queries to a vector database, integrations into over 200+ built-in connectors, conditionals/decisions, aggregations, and more. Each action will be covered in-depth in [Components](https://docs.arcee.ai/arcee-orchestra/workflows/workflow-components).

Workflows are executed along a graph node by node allowing for complete flexibility and customization. Take for example the simple workflow below:

<figure><img src="https://2302384909-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FOUJInHjoAOfzq3bL12Af%2Fuploads%2FRj8CTD8CPVX9It8noMWU%2FSimple%20Workflow%201.png?alt=media&#x26;token=8c600850-9f17-4ba4-a622-6ab79d74e21e" alt=""><figcaption><p>News Analysis Workflow</p></figcaption></figure>

1. In the start node, a variable **prompt** is defined which expects text as input.
2. When a prompt is received, two built-in integrations for search, Serpapi and Tavily, are invoked where the query is the prompt entered by the user.
3. The articles retrieved from these integrations are then passed to a model node to analyze the articles and provide an answer to the user's query.
4. The model's response is then provided back to the user.

### Building a Workflow

{% embed url="<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8Evp3v7xEw>" %}
Build Your First Workflow pt 1
{% endembed %}

{% embed url="<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqVgJs4PIKs>" %}
Build Your First Workflow pt 2
{% endembed %}

{% embed url="<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS3ItQhJ9js>" %}
Build Your First Workflow pt 3
{% endembed %}

Workflows are built by defining and connecting nodes together. In the video above, you are walked through how to create a simple workflow to generate a travel itinerary for a given location and have the itinerary emailed to you.

This initial example serves as a basis for how workflow components work together. The real power of Orchestra comes from when you connect your business applications to a workflow to execute relevant and impactful automations.

### Invoking a Workflow

Workflows can be invoked in chat interface or directly via an API.

When invoking workflows through the chat interface, simply select the tool from the tool bar and submit a prompt. The selected model will determine what tool to call based on the prompt and forward the request to the determined workflow. Navigate to [Chat Interface](https://docs.arcee.ai/arcee-orchestra/chat-interface) for more information. &#x20;

When invoking workflows with an API, simply specify your API key, the workflow ID, and the input parameters. Navigate to [API Invocation](https://docs.arcee.ai/arcee-orchestra/workflows/api-invocation) and [Execute a Workflow API](https://docs.arcee.ai/arcee-orchestra/workflows/api-invocation/workflow-execution-api) for more information.

### Scaling Workflows

Workflows scale at the node level meaning when your traffic increases they automatically scale to meet your traffic demands.&#x20;