This guide walks you through building and running your first workflow: a manual trigger, an AI step, and an output you can see. It takes a few minutes. Make sure you have finished initial setup first.
1. Open the builder
In the WordPress admin sidebar, open AI Workflows. Create a new workflow. You can start from a template or start from scratch; for this guide, start from scratch on a blank canvas.
2. Add a trigger
Every workflow begins with a trigger. Drag a Trigger node onto the canvas if one is not already there, and set its type to Manual. A manual trigger lets you run the workflow yourself with a button, which is perfect for testing.
3. Add an AI step
Drag an AI Model node onto the canvas and connect the trigger’s output handle to the AI node’s input. Open the AI node, pick a model, and write a prompt, for example:
Write three short product taglines for an eco-friendly water bottle.
The model list is populated live from whichever provider you configured.
4. Add an output
Drag an Output node onto the canvas and connect the AI node to it. Set the output type to Display so you can read the result directly in the run panel. Later you can switch outputs to save a post, write to the database, send email, or post to a webhook.
5. Choose Local or Cloud
Before you run, decide how this workflow executes. Use the execution mode control to pick:
- Local (BYOK): runs on your server with your provider key, free.
- Cloud: runs on our hosted engine with credits, with no PHP timeouts.
Either works for this example. See Local vs Cloud execution for guidance.
6. Run and watch it live
Save the workflow, then run it. The live execution panel slides in and shows each node as it runs, with timing and the full input and output for every step. Expand the Output node to read your taglines.
What next
You have built a linear workflow. From here you can branch with a Condition node, loop over a list, add a human approval step, or turn the whole thing into a chatbot. Good next reads: