A workflow is the agentic equivalent of a runbook or a pipeline. Where a skill does one thing, a workflow sequences many things: grill the user, check what exists, research options, select, install, integrate, smoke test, log. Each phase may invoke one or more skills, surface a gate for human confirmation, or branch based on findings.
In the {a}OS workspace, workflows live in 0.agentic/Workflows/ as Markdown files with numbered phases. An agent reads the workflow file and executes it step by step, calling skills as subroutines and waiting at explicit human-confirmation gates.
| Use a Skill when… | Use a Workflow when… |
|---|---|
| The task is self-contained and repeatable | The task has multiple phases with decisions between them |
| Input → output, single concern | Requires human confirmation at one or more gates |
| Can be invoked as a subroutine | Sequences multiple skills in a defined order |
Example: /sentinel, /humanizer | Example: /acquire-skill, /li-crucible |
/skill-name or a script to runlessons_learned.md or clips