﻿---
title: Steps
description: Learn about workflow steps, the building blocks that define how workflows operate and produce outcomes.
url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2869/explore-analyze/workflows/steps
products:
  - Elastic Cloud Enterprise
  - Elastic Cloud Hosted
  - Elastic Cloud Serverless
  - Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes
  - Elastic Stack
  - Kibana
applies_to:
  - Elastic Cloud Serverless: Preview
  - Elastic Stack: Preview since 9.3
---

# Steps
Workflow steps are the fundamental building blocks of automation. Each step represents a single unit of logic, action, transformation, or reasoning. Together, they define how a workflow operates and what outcomes it can produce. Steps are chained together to move data, coordinate logic, and drive results.
Workflow steps are grouped into the following categories based on their function within the automation.

## Action steps

Action steps carry out operations in internal or external systems. They produce real-world outcomes by performing tasks such as:
- Interact with Elastic features across solutions, including common operations like:
  - Querying data from Elasticsearch or data streams
- Indexing new documents or updating existing fields
- Closing or updating cases
- Enriching alerts with additional context
- Modifying dashboards or saved objects
- Trigger actions in external systems using APIs, integrations, or service connectors
- Send messages, alerts, or notifications to systems such as Slack or email
- Invoke other workflows

These actions are available as pre-built operations, so you don't need to configure API endpoints or manage authentication details. You select the action you want to perform and provide the required parameters.
Refer to [Action steps](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2869/explore-analyze/workflows/steps/action-steps) for more information.

## Flow control steps

Flow control steps define how a workflow runs. They control the order, structure, and branching logic of execution. This includes:
- **Conditional logic**: Execute certain steps only when conditions are met
- **Pauses and waits**: Introduce delays or time-based holds
- **Early exits**: Skip or halt execution when needed

These steps make workflows dynamic and responsive, allowing them to adapt in real time to data and conditions.
Refer to [Flow control steps](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2869/explore-analyze/workflows/steps/flow-control-steps) for more information.

## AI steps

AI steps introduce reasoning and language understanding into workflows. Use AI steps to process natural language, make context-aware decisions, or operate through agents:
- Summarize or interpret information using a large language model
- Extract key insights from unstructured data
- Send prompts to an AI connector using the `ai.prompt` step
- Call a built-in or custom Elastic AI agent using the `ai.agent` step
- Integrate with LLM providers such as OpenAI and Gemini

Refer to [AI steps](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2869/explore-analyze/workflows/steps/ai-steps) for more information.

### Elastic Agent Builder integration

In addition to calling Elastic AI agents from within workflows, agents built with Elastic Agent Builder can also trigger workflows. To enable this, create a custom workflow tool type and assign it to an agent. The agent can then trigger the workflow from a conversation.
Refer to [Workflow tools in Elastic Agent Builder](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2869/explore-analyze/ai-features/agent-builder/tools/workflow-tools) and [Call Elastic Agent Builder agents from Elastic Workflows](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2869/explore-analyze/ai-features/agent-builder/agents-and-workflows) for more information.