Workflow Steps

Each workflow is built from a combination of steps and memory options, all added and configured directly in the editor.

Workflow interface showing steps to collect customer information through conversation.

Steps

Ask

Ask collects information from the Customer through a back-and-forth conversation. You write a prompt describing what you want to collect, and Gladly will keep asking follow-up questions until all required fields are captured.

Each Ask step has two configuration areas:

Choices lets you present the customer with pre-defined options alongside the prompt. On supported channels like chat, these appear as buttons. On SMS and other text-based channels, they appear as numbered options in the message.
Output Variables defines the fields you want to collect. For each variable, you provide a name, a description (which acts as instructions to the AI), and a data type. Variables marked as Required must be collected before the workflow can continue.

Inquiry options for Retalè product lines presented to customers for selection.

Output variables from an Ask step can be referenced in later steps, for example in an If condition or a Say step, using the $.variableName syntax.

Say

Say sends a message to the customer. When you add a Say step, you choose between two modes:

Static sends the exact text you write, word for word, every time.
With AI uses the instructions you write to generate a response. The message will vary in phrasing but stay true to your instructions. Use this when you want a more natural-sounding message without locking in specific wording.

Instruction to thank customers for specifying their product for faster assistance.

Say only sends a message. It does not wait for a response. If you want to collect information from the customer, use an Ask step instead.

If

If branches the workflow based on a condition. Steps nested inside an If block only run if the condition is met. You can add multiple If branches to handle different scenarios.

If steps have two condition modes:

Expression evaluates structured data. You select a variable or conversation attribute, choose an operator (such as equals, contains, or is defined), and enter a value. Use this for Channel-based routing, checking the output of a previous step, or matching against Customer Profile data.
With AI judge lets AI evaluate the condition based on the conversation. You write a plain-language instruction, such as "Is the customer upset?" and AI will judge whether the condition is true. Use this for situations that are hard to express as a structured rule.

Instructions for using product line variables in customer service responses.

When you add multiple conditions to a single If step, you can toggle between all of these (all conditions must be true) and any of these (at least one condition must be true).

Use

Use runs an external action. This is how you connect a workflow to the rest of your Gladly configuration: applying topics, querying knowledge sources, checking business hours, or calling an action adapter you've configured in App Platform.

When you add a Use step, you select the action you want to run and map any required input parameters. Outputs from the action are stored as variables and can be referenced in later steps.

Instructions for applying topics in a customer service conversation using AI assistance.

Stop

Stop ends the workflow. When the workflow reaches a Stop step, you choose what happens next by selecting one of four actions:

Handoff to Human transfers the conversation to a team member.
Go to Agent/Guide routes the conversation to a specific Gladly Agent or one of its Guides. The Agent's classifier will pick the appropriate Guide if you route to the Agent level rather than a specific Guide.
Close Session closes both the automation session and the customer-facing session. No inbox item is created and no action is required from your team. If you want to say something to the customer before closing, add a Say step before the Stop.
Close with Followup closes the current session and creates a new item in a specified queue so a team member can follow up later. Supported on email and SMS. The follow-up appears in your team's inbox as a new message on that channel.

Instructions for ending a workflow in a chat interface with an AI assistant.

A workflow that reaches the end of its steps without hitting a Stop will complete and return control to wherever it was triggered from: the Gladly Agent, or the handoff process.

Memory

Memory allows a workflow to store and retrieve values across multiple executions within the same session. Use it when the same workflow may run more than once during a single customer interaction and you want to carry information forward between runs, without asking the customer to provide it again.

Memory is scoped to a single workflow
A workflow cannot read memory written by another workflow.

Remember

Remember stores a value in workflow memory under a key. Use it when you have something you want to save for a future execution of the same workflow within the current session, for example, a verified order number, an OTP confirmation, or a collected customer detail.

Remember has two configuration areas:

Value is what you want to store. You can pass in a static value or reference a variable from a previous step using the $.variableName syntax.
Key is the name under which the value is stored. Use a consistent, descriptive key name so you can retrieve it accurately with a Recall step later.

Recall

Recall retrieves a value previously saved by a Remember step. Use it at the start of a workflow execution to check whether something was already captured in an earlier run during the same session.

Recall has two configuration areas:

Key is the name of the memory entry to retrieve. This must match the key used in the corresponding Remember step.
Variable is the name of the variable the retrieved value will be stored in, which you can then reference in downstream steps using $.variableName.

Recall also has an optional Default value setting. When the key is unset, the recall resolves to undefined unless you check Provide default and enter a fallback value. Use this when you want the workflow to continue gracefully even if nothing has been stored yet.

Use Remember and Recall together
Remember and Recall are designed to be used in combination. A typical pattern is to add a Recall at the start of a workflow to check whether a value is already stored, then use an If step to branch based on whether it is defined. If it is, the workflow can skip collection entirely and use the stored value. If it isn't, collect it and use Remember to save it for the next execution.
For example, a workflow that confirms a customer's shoe size might Recall a shoeSize key at the start. If the value is already stored from a previous run, it greets the customer with their saved size and skips the Ask step. If it isn't stored, it asks the customer for their shoe size, saves it with Remember, and then confirms it back. The next time the same workflow runs in that session, the size is already there and the customer isn't asked again.