--- title: Build a workflow yourself, or ask AI to start it url: https://www.opero.pro/resources/2026-08-31-workflow-builder collection: resources --- **Kind:** blog · **Read time:** 6 min · **Author:** Opero · **Tag:** Product Update · **Published:** 2026-08-31 ## Metrics | Value | Label | | --- | --- | | 100+ | Ready-made actions | | 11 | Block types | | 0 | Lines of code | ## TL;DR - **Build it on a canvas** — add the steps, connect them, and click Activate. No code or config file needed. - **100+ ready actions** — every action Opero can already do in Zoho, e-conomic, Wrike, Attio, SharePoint, WooCommerce and Business Central is now a block you can drop on the board. - **AI reads the messy parts** — the AI block pulls the useful details out of a PDF, form, or long email. - **People stay in control** — an approval step can pause the workflow until someone approves it. - **You see every run** — live step list, plain-language failures, a link you can paste to a colleague, and a Slack ping when a run breaks. - **Start with an AI draft** — describe what you want in one sentence and the chat agent creates a workflow for you to review. Every company has repetitive work: an email arrives, someone copies details into another system, checks the result, and sends a reply. The next day, they do it all again. Opero can now handle jobs like these. You can build the steps on a canvas, or describe what you need and let AI create a first draft. ## What a workflow is A workflow is simply a list of steps that Opero follows for you. It has three parts: 1. **A start.** Something happens. An email lands. The clock hits 7am. A record changes in one of your systems. 2. **Some steps.** Read a record. Ask the AI to read a PDF. Write a record somewhere else. Send an email. 3. **A result.** For example, a record is updated or an email is sent. You put these parts together on one screen. ## Try it yourself Move the steps, connect them, or add one of the systems below. On a phone, the workflow changes to a vertical layout so the steps remain easy to follow. ## The canvas ![The Opero workflow canvas. A block rail on the left holds triggers, actions, channels and logic. On the board, an email trigger runs into a CRM lookup and then an Agent brain block, which splits to a draft invoice on the true branch and a Slack message on the false branch.] Blocks sit in a list on the left. Drag one onto the board, then connect it to the next block. The lines show which step comes next. Click a block and a panel opens. It asks for exactly what that block needs, and nothing else. You pick fields from a list. There is no JSON to write and no YAML to get wrong. You can undo or redo changes. An incomplete block gets a coloured dot, and Opero will not activate the workflow until every required field is complete. ## Choose what each step should do ![The Add a block picker. Systems shown as cards with their own logos and an action count each: Zoho CRM 29, Attio 27, Wrike 23, e-conomic 22, Zoho Desk 11, Business Central 6, SharePoint 4, WooCommerce 4, and a card for SAP, Salesforce, ServiceNow and the rest of the stack.] Opero already talks to the systems your team runs on. CRMs, finance, ticketing, project tools, document stores. Each action is available as a block. There are more than 100 to choose from. Blocks are grouped by system. Choose a system, then choose an action such as “create draft invoice.” Opero shows the fields that action needs and tells you if anything is missing before you run it. ## Use AI for unstructured information Real work is messy. A report is a PDF with a table in it. An email has the order number buried in the fourth paragraph. A form comes in with the fields half filled. The **Agent brain** block reads that information and pulls out the fields you need, such as quantities, line items, and dates. The next step receives clean, structured data. ## Add approval where it matters Some steps should never happen on their own. Sending a customer an invoice is one. Committing a purchase order is another. Add an **Approval gate** and the workflow pauses until someone approves or rejects it. If they approve, it continues from the same place. Opero does not allow delete actions in a workflow, so an automated run cannot erase a record. ## See what happens when it runs You can follow every workflow run: - Every run shows a live list of its steps as they happen. - A failed run gets a plain-language card that says what went wrong, not a stack trace. - Opero posts to your Slack channel when a run fails. - Every run has its own link. Paste it to a colleague and they open the same view you are looking at. - Run history pages back through everything, not just the last twenty. ## Three ways to start a workflow - **On a clock.** Pick a time and a timezone. The timezone box fills itself in from your browser, so 7am means 7am where you are. - **From an email.** Your workflow gets an address and starts when it receives a message. It ignores automatic out-of-office replies. - **On a system event.** A record changes in your CRM, or an order lands in your store, and the workflow starts on its own. ## Or ask AI to create a first draft Tell the chat agent what you want in a sentence. It creates a draft with the blocks already connected. You review it, fill in any missing details, and switch it on. ## An example Here is the workflow shown near the top of this page. A request arrives in the workflow's inbox. Opero finds the matching CRM record, then the Agent brain block reads the line items, quantities, and totals. If everything matches, Opero creates a draft invoice and waits for someone to approve it. If anything looks off, it posts in Slack instead and asks someone to take a look. One team sends the request. Another reviews the draft. Nobody has to type the same information twice. ## Where to find it Open **Workflows** in the left menu. Start with a manual trigger and two blocks, press Run now, and watch the steps light up. When it works as expected, replace the manual trigger with a schedule.