Launch your first workflow

The four stages

Every Operator workflow follows the same motion: a signal starts the process, Operator interprets the context, work moves forward, and anything consequential pauses at a checkpoint.

This guide walks through each stage using lead response as the example, because it shows all four clearly.

Trigger: what starts the workflow

A trigger is the signal Operator watches for. It can be an incoming message, a meeting that ended, a record that changed, a form submission, a new file or simply a scheduled check.

Reason: what Operator works out

Before preparing anything, Operator reads the situation using the context in your connected systems. It establishes what the signal is about, how urgent it is, whether there is any history and who is likely to own it.

This is the stage that separates a useful action from a generic one. A lead that already spoke to sales last month should not receive a first-contact email.

Act: what Operator prepares

Operator then does the preparation work: a drafted reply in your tone, an update to the record, a task or reminder with an owner attached. Nothing here has left the company yet, which is why preparation can usually run without a checkpoint.

Approve: where you decide

Anything consequential pauses for a person. The proposed action arrives with the evidence behind it: the original signal, the context Operator used and what it intends to do next. You approve, edit or skip.

Which action types stop here is something you configure. How approvals work

The example from beginning to end