Composing workflows
Reuse workflows as steps, expose nodes as agent tools, and work with the canvas mechanics.
Beyond single nodes, the canvas lets you build bigger behavior by reusing workflows, turning steps into tools for agents, and combining agents and workflows freely. This page covers those patterns and the editor mechanics that support them.
Sub-workflows
The Workflow node runs another workflow as a single step. Pick a target workflow from the project, wire inputs into it, and its output flows on like any other node. This lets you factor a complex pipeline into smaller, reusable workflows and assemble them — the same way you'd break a program into functions. A workflow can't call itself.
Tool mode
Most nodes produce data for the next step. Switching a node into tool mode changes that: instead of feeding data forward, it becomes a tool an agent can call. Both Integration nodes and Workflow nodes support tool mode.
A node in tool mode exposes a tool output, which you connect to an Agent node's tools handle. The agent then decides when to call it while it runs — the same model as giving a standalone agent tools, expressed on the canvas. For an integration in tool mode, you choose which of its actions to expose.
This is what lets agents and workflows combine: an agent step can call integrations and sub-workflows as tools, and a workflow can orchestrate several agents.
Validation
The editor checks your workflow continuously and lists anything wrong in the Issues panel in the toolbar. Issues are grouped by node, and selecting one jumps to that node on the canvas. There are two severities:
- Errors — block deployment (for example, a required input that isn't bound, or a node missing a connection).
- Warnings — worth a look, but don't block deployment.
Clearing the errors is what makes a workflow deployable.
The YAML view
Every workflow has an underlying definition, and the toolbar's YAML view shows it. You don't have to edit YAML — the canvas is the way you build — but the view is handy for reviewing the whole definition at a glance or double-checking exactly how a node is configured.
Deploy when it's ready
When the workflow is valid, Deploy freezes the draft into a numbered version and publishes it live, ready to run on a schedule, from Compass Chat, or through the API.