Automation and Tasks
How Opisense automates recurring work — workflows for orchestration, tasks for unit-of-work output.
The big picture
Opisense splits automation into two layers. Workflows are the orchestration layer: they define triggers, nodes, branches, and approval gates that run deterministically. Tasks are the unit-of-work layer: a scheduled instruction the AI carries out turn-by-turn and reports back on. The two compose — a workflow can produce tasks; a task can call a workflow.
Workflows — for orchestration
A trigger fires (schedule, webhook, or Composio event) and nodes run in order, producing a permanent run record. Use workflows when the steps are known and need to be deterministic, branched, or human-in-the-loop. Build them in the Workflows editor at /workflows. See Workflows.
Tasks — for AI unit-of-work
A task is a scheduled instruction written in plain language. The AI picks tools turn-by-turn and reports back when done. Use tasks for "produce X every Monday" style work where the output is what matters and the steps don't need to be locked down. Create tasks in the task wizard or by asking your assistant. See Tasks.
Each automation can run on your personal assistant, an org shared catalog agent, or a private custom agent you built in AgentForce. Add an optional description and tags so you can document what the automation does and filter your list. Use Test run in the wizard to fire a one-off execution before the schedule kicks in.
Picking between them
| Pattern | Right when |
|---|---|
| Workflow | Steps are known and must be reliable; need a human approval gate; need to hit external systems with branching. |
| Task | Output shape is what matters; the steps are flexible; the work runs daily/weekly with a chat-style prompt. |
| Heartbeat | You only want to be pinged when something changes — most checks are silent. |
| Just ask | One-off work. |
How they compose
A workflow's Agent node can call a custom agent from your catalog or an org-created agent — see Agents and Skills.
A task can reference a specific workflow in its instructions — for example, "and use the /workflows/alert-team workflow to send the alert."
Issues — for human-tracked work
Issues are a separate feature from scheduled Tasks. Issues are work items your team tracks — status, assignees, due dates, labels — in List, Board, Calendar, Timeline, and Spreadsheet layouts. They are not AI automation; they are the backlog and sprint board inside Opisense. See Issues.
| Issues | Tasks (this page) | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Track team work items | Run AI on a schedule |
| Driven by | People changing status, assignees, dates | Cron + AI instructions |
| Examples | Bug triage, sprint board | Weekly report, daily inbox summary |
Key terms
- Workflow — An orchestration definition with triggers, nodes, and branches that runs deterministically and produces a run record.
- Trigger — The event that starts a workflow: a schedule, an inbound webhook, or a Composio event.
- Node — A single step inside a workflow (action, condition, agent call, approval gate, etc.).
- Run — One execution of a workflow, with a timestamped log of every node and its output.
- Version — A saved snapshot of a workflow definition. Publishing a new version does not affect in-progress runs.
- Task — A scheduled AI instruction in plain language, run automatically on a recurring interval. Not the same as an Issue work item.
- Schedule — The recurring interval for a task or workflow trigger — daily, weekly, monthly, or a cron expression.
- Heartbeat — An ambient monitoring mode where the AI watches for a condition and only notifies you when something changes.
- Automation — The broader concept of AI doing recurring work without manual intervention. Workflows and tasks are the two primary primitives.