# Workflows in Chat, and Guides

> Start a saved workflow from any chat with @, answer its questions and read its result in the conversation, and use guides: workflows that run as a conversation.

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# Workflows in Chat, and Guides

You do not have to leave a conversation to use a [workflow](/docs/workflows). Type **@**, pick the workflow, and it runs right there: its questions, its progress and its result all show in the chat, and Ditto can talk with you about the result afterwards.

This page also covers **guides**, which are workflows that run as a conversation instead of as fixed steps.

## Start a Workflow from a Chat

1. In any chat, type **@** in the message box.
2. Under **Run a workflow**, pick the one you want. Keep typing to narrow the list.
3. Send the message. You can add a few words after the name if you like, but you do not have to.

![The message box with @ typed: a list headed Run a workflow shows your saved workflows](/img/docs/screens/workflows-mention-picker.svg)

Ditto starts the workflow and puts a card for the run in its reply.

<video controls muted playsinline preload="none" width="1280" height="800" poster="/video/docs/workflows/workflow-run-in-chat.jpg" aria-label="Typing @ in a chat, picking a workflow, answering its four questions on the card in the conversation, and reading the finished review on the same card">
  <source src="/video/docs/workflows/workflow-run-in-chat.webm" type="video/webm" />
  <source src="/video/docs/workflows/workflow-run-in-chat.mp4" type="video/mp4" />
</video>

Picking the workflow yourself is what starts it. If you only ask in words ("run my morning brief"), Ditto shows a card with **Run now** for you to press instead.

## Follow It on the Card

The card follows the run while you carry on chatting:

- While it works, the card names the step it is on.
- If the workflow [asks you something](/docs/workflow-questions), the form appears on the card. Answer it and press **Send answer**.
- When it finishes, the result is on the card, with any file it saved. **Open run** takes you to the run's page for the detail.

A run you start from a chat does not also send you an alert about its question or its result. They are already in front of you.

## Talk About the Result

The chat keeps its context. After the run, ask about it in the same conversation:

```
What goal did that review set for next week?
```

```
Turn that into three bullet points I can paste into Slack.
```

Ditto knows which workflows were started in this chat, whether each is still running, waiting or finished, and what it produced.

## If a Workflow Needs Something First

Some workflows need [a value before they start](/docs/creating-workflows#things-that-change-each-time), such as a topic. If you did not give it, the card says what is missing and has a **Run** button with the fields to fill in.

## Guides

A **guide** is a workflow that runs as a conversation. Instead of steps that run by themselves, it has instructions that Ditto follows with you: what to ask, in what order, what to produce, when to stop. Use one for jobs that are a back-and-forth by nature: planning a trip, preparing for a hard conversation, a weekly check-in.

![A guide's page: its name, a Start in a chat button, and What Ditto follows, with the guide's instructions as written](/img/docs/screens/workflows-guide.svg)

### Start a Guide

- On the guide's page, press **Start in a chat**. Ditto opens the chat and starts it.
- Or in any chat, type **@** and pick the guide, like any other workflow.

<video controls muted playsinline preload="none" width="1280" height="800" poster="/video/docs/workflows/workflow-guide.jpg" aria-label="Pressing Start in a chat on a guide's page; the chat opens, Ditto says the guide has started and asks its first question, and then follows up on the answer">
  <source src="/video/docs/workflows/workflow-guide.webm" type="video/webm" />
  <source src="/video/docs/workflows/workflow-guide.mp4" type="video/mp4" />
</video>

A card in the reply says **Guide started**. From there you are simply talking to Ditto, and it follows the guide until the job is done. If you have something half-typed in the message box, Ditto leaves it alone and asks you to send or clear it first.

### Make a Guide

1. Open **Customize → Agents & AI → Workflows** and press **New workflow**.
2. Open **Or build the steps yourself** and write what Ditto should do in the one step: what to ask, what to make, and any rules to keep to.
3. Under **When it runs**, choose **In a chat, as a conversation**.
4. Press **Create workflow**.

You can also [import a skill](/docs/importing-skills) written for another AI agent. A skill that is a conversation becomes a guide.

### How a Guide Differs from Other Workflows

|                            | A workflow with steps               | A guide                             |
| -------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| Runs                       | By itself, step by step             | As a conversation with you          |
| Starts                     | Run now, a schedule, or @ in a chat | **Start in a chat**, or @ in a chat |
| Can run on a schedule      | Yes                                 | No                                  |
| Has a run page and history | Yes                                 | No. The conversation is the record  |
| Try it                     | Yes                                 | No. Start it and see                |
| Costs                      | Each run, mainly the thinking steps | Like any chat                       |

## Where This Works

- Workflows show under **@** in ordinary chats with Ditto.
- They are not offered in a temporary chat, in a coding session, or in a chat with an agent you have limited to certain tools.

## Questions

**Does starting a workflow in chat use the chat's model?**
The reply that starts it does. The workflow's own steps use whatever the workflow uses, which is Auto unless you chose otherwise.

**I picked a workflow and nothing started.**
The card will say why: usually a value it needs first, or an app that is not connected.

**Can a guide use my apps and memories?**
Yes, the same ones the chat can.

## Next

- [Workflows That Ask You](/docs/workflow-questions)
- [Importing a Skill](/docs/importing-skills)
- [Schedules, Runs and Results](/docs/workflow-schedules-and-runs)