Automating workflows with AI

A Pilla decision lets a workflow branch yes or no based on what staff actually answered. Managers and Admins can add an inline decision that changes the shared workflow's steps. Any user on Pro or Expert can instead add their own satellite decision, which can run personal Pilla actions without changing the shared workflow.

Pilla decisions are available on Pro and Expert. Starter can use AI to build and edit ordinary workflows, but it cannot add or run Pilla decisions.

What a Pilla decision is for

A decision lets the workflow do something different depending on what happened, not just what was scheduled. You write the question, Pilla gives the yes or no answer, and what runs next depends on that answer.

Good fits include:

• After a number element, run an extra check on the No branch when the reading is out of range, and skip straight on when it is fine
• After a photo element, send the work down a "looks clean" or "needs attention" path
• After an inspection checklist, add a follow-up step only when something failed
• After a complaint note, route the work down a "minor" or "major" path based on what the worker wrote

If the workflow needs to take a different path based on what a worker entered, a Pilla decision is the step that decides which path.

How a Pilla decision works now

Managers and Admins add this shared kind of decision directly to the element whose answer Pilla should judge. Every input element on the canvas (text, number, photo, checklist, and so on) can carry one Pilla decision. Staff cannot add or edit this kind because it changes the shared workflow and its ordinary steps.

When you write the question, two branch dots appear under the element: a green dot on the left for the Yes branch and a pink dot on the right for the No branch. You then add a step to each branch. After staff complete the element in a work run, Pilla reads their answer, decides yes or no, and the workflow follows the matching branch.

Guidance elements (written, photo and video guidance) cannot carry a decision, because there is no answer to judge. Elements inside a group cannot carry one either, because group steps do not have their own branches.

How to add a Pilla decision to an element

You add a decision in the element's own card on the canvas. There is no separate menu item for it.

1. Click the element on the canvas to open its card
2. Near the bottom of the card, tick the checkbox labelled Add conditional follow-up steps
3. In the field that appears, labelled Instructions for Pilla to make a yes/no decision, type your question, for example is the entered number above 8
4. A green Yes dot and a pink No dot appear under the element card

Write the field as a yes or no question. Pilla reads the worker's answer to that element, answers your question, and follows the Yes or No branch you build next. The field placeholder shows e.g. is the entered number above 8 as a guide.

How to build out a branch

Each branch starts empty with its own circular Plus button. The green Plus on the left builds the Yes branch and the pink Plus on the right builds the No branch.

1. Click the Plus button under the Yes dot or the No dot
2. Pick an element type from the toolbar that opens (the same element types as the rest of the canvas)
3. The chosen step is added at the end of that branch, already connected
4. Fill in the new step like you would any other

You can also drag a branch dot onto an existing element to connect it, instead of adding a new step. You can only attach one step directly to each branch dot; to add more, chain extra steps off that first step. You do not have to build both branches. If a branch has no step, the workflow simply carries on after the decision when Pilla picks that branch.

How to remove a Pilla decision

To remove the decision, clear the Instructions for Pilla to make a yes/no decision field on the element card, or untick Add conditional follow-up steps.

If you have already wired up Yes or No branches, a confirmation popup appears headed Remove this Pilla rule? It warns that removing the rule also deletes its Yes and No connections, and that the steps on those branches stay on the canvas as unconnected steps so you can re-wire or delete them. Click Remove rule to confirm, or Cancel to keep the decision. If you have not wired any branches, the decision is removed straight away with no popup.

Validation warnings

The canvas flags an unfinished decision when you try to save.

• A red border around the question field means the decision has a question but neither the Yes nor the No branch is wired to a step
• The save warning lists it as {N} Pilla rules with no steps wired, where N is the number of decisions that still need at least one branch connected

Connect at least one branch, or clear the question, and the warning clears.

The satellite decision that runs actions

There is a second kind of Pilla decision that sits beside an element as its own node and branches to Pilla actions rather than ordinary steps. It is available on Pro and Expert from the right "Decision" satellite button on an element. Any user can add their own satellite decision and connect it to their own Pilla actions without changing the shared steps. Managers and Admins on Expert can also connect it to a third-party action, such as posting to Slack.

You add one by hovering over an element to reveal the circular Plus button on its right, clicking it, and picking Decision from the menu. This adds a separate node to the right of the element, headed Pilla decision with a grey background. It has a single question field labelled What should Pilla decide? with the placeholder e.g. Were all critical items ticked? Was the photo clean and well-lit?. Pilla evaluates the question when the element is saved.

Each branch has a green Yes dot and a pink No dot on the right of the node. Clicking the Plus button on a dot adds a Pilla action to that branch. A red border means the node is not connected to anything. The play icon in its header tests the decision; it is greyed out with the tooltip Add a question first until you type a question.

Tips

• A decision is most useful right after the element whose answer it judges, so phrase the question about that one answer, for example is the entered number above 8
• Phrase the question so Yes is the "happy path", it makes the canvas easier to read at a glance
• You do not have to build both branches. Wire only the branch that needs an extra step, and the workflow carries on as normal on the other one
• A decision needs at least one branch wired before the canvas will save, so either connect a branch or clear the question
• Clearing the question on a decision that has wired branches always asks you to confirm, and leaves the branch steps on the canvas so you can re-use them

A Pilla action is an AI-powered step you add on the canvas in the web app. Pilla reads the answers from the steps above it plus your written instruction, works out the right details and carries out the action through the service you chose. On Pro and Expert, any user can add their own Pilla-native actions without changing the shared workflow. Managers and Admins on Expert can also use connected third-party services. You add an action from the right "Action" satellite button on a step, and the trigger node can also run an action at the start of a workflow.

What a Pilla action is for

An action is the "do something useful" step at the end of a chain. The element gathers the answer, a Pilla decision picks a branch, and the action gets the work done in another tool. Actions run quietly in the background when a workflow run reaches that point, so staff never see the action node on their phone.

Good fits include:

• Posting a summary of a daily inspection to a #site-updates Slack channel after a step is completed
• Creating a Google Calendar event for a maintenance follow-up after the No branch of a Pilla decision
• Uploading a generated report to a Google Drive folder after a closing step
• Sending a polite team message inside Pilla to thank staff after the Yes branch confirms a clean handover

If the workflow ends with "and then this should happen in tool X", that is an action.

Pilla acts on your behalf

Actions run under the identity of whoever connected the service, not as a separate Pilla robot.

If you connected Slack, a message posted by a Pilla action appears in Slack as if you posted it. The same goes for Google Calendar (the event shows you as the organiser), Google Drive (the file is created in your Drive), and WhatsApp (the message is sent from your WhatsApp Business number).

This applies to every outside integration. The only exception is Pilla itself, where the team message is sent from Pilla, so the on-behalf-of note does not apply.

The reason is consistency. Most integrations have no robot mode at all, so a single "your account did this" model is simpler to explain and matches how a person would have used the tool by hand.

How to add a Pilla action

You add an action node with the circular Plus button on the canvas; there is no right-click menu.

From the right of a step

1. Hover over a step on the canvas to reveal the round + button on its right side
2. Click the + to open the add menu
3. Pick Action (the menu also offers Decision for a Pilla decision)
4. A new action node appears to the right of the step, already joined to it

From a Pilla decision's Yes or No branch

1. Add a Pilla decision to the right of a step first (it has a green Yes branch and a pink No branch on its right side)
2. Click the round + button next to the Yes branch or the No branch
3. A new action node appears at the end of that branch, already joined. There is no menu to pick from here, because an action is the only thing a branch can lead to

The header of the new node reads Pilla action with a grey background. The grey is the same on every action node, whichever branch it sits on.

Configuration fields

The action node has three fields, filled in top to bottom. Later fields only appear once earlier ones are picked. Until you choose a service the field shows Pick a service, and until you choose a tool it shows Pick a tool.

Service (picker, required)

This is the integration the action will run through. The picker only lists services that have actions ready to use, which today are Pilla, Slack, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Shopify and WhatsApp. Pilla itself sits at the top and is always available; the rest only become selectable once they are connected. A service that is not connected yet shows a small Connect button you can use to link it on the spot. Other services you may see on the "Manage my integrations" screen do not appear in this picker until they have actions wired up.

To connect a service ahead of time instead, open the avatar menu in the top-left corner of the top bar and pick Manage my integrations (managers and admins only).

Tool (picker, required)

Once a service is picked, the Tool picker appears. It lists the actions available on that service, which vary by service. The connected services that have tools wired up today are:

Pick one tool. The instruction field below updates to match the chosen tool.

Instruction (textarea, required)

This is where you tell Pilla what to do. The label changes based on the tool you have picked, for example:

• Pilla "Send team message" shows Tell Pilla what to send *
• Slack "Post message to channel" shows Tell Pilla what to write on your behalf *
• Google Calendar "Create event" shows Tell Pilla what event to create on your behalf *

A short helper line below the label reminds you where the action will run (for example "The message will be posted in Slack as you."). The helper line is only shown for outside integrations, not for Pilla.

Write the instruction in plain English. Pilla reads your instruction, looks at the answers from the steps above the action, and works out the details when the workflow runs.

For example, the placeholder for Slack reads: e.g. Post a polite summary to the #ops channel. Mention the worker and how many issues were raised.

Availability

Pilla actions are available on Pro and Expert from the right "Action" satellite button on a step and from the trigger node at the start of a workflow. Any user can add and manage their own actions that use Pilla itself, such as "Send team message"; those actions need no connection. Managers and Admins on Expert can also use supported outside services such as Slack, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Shopify and WhatsApp. Connect those services from Manage my integrations or from the service picker before using them. Starter can use AI to build and edit ordinary workflows, but it cannot add or run Pilla action steps.

Validation warnings

A red border around the action node means it is orphaned: it is not joined to the rest of the workflow, so nothing leads to it from the trigger. This usually happens when the step it was attached to is deleted, or when you drag the node away from the chain. The fix is to connect it back into the flow, either to the right of a step or to the Yes or No branch of a Pilla decision.

The test button (the play icon in the header) is disabled until the action has a service, a tool and an instruction. The tooltip tells you what is still missing: "Add a prompt first" if there is no instruction, or "Pick a service and action first" if the service or tool is empty. When everything is filled in, the tooltip reads "Test this action".

Tips

• Be specific in the instruction. "Post a polite one-line summary to #ops mentioning the worker and the issue count" works better than "let Slack know"
• Mention channel names, calendar names or folder names directly in the instruction. Pilla uses those names to pick the right destination
• Test the action with the play button before you save, so you can see what Pilla sends through the integration on a real workflow run
• If you delete the step an action was attached to, the action node is left with a red border because nothing leads to it any more, so reconnect it into the flow before you save
• Use a Pilla "Send team message" action when you want an action that needs no outside connection

A decision connector lets Pilla read a worker's answer on a step, judge it against a rule you write, and branch the workflow onto a Yes path or a No path. You add it by attaching a Pilla rule to a single step on the canvas, then building out a Yes branch and a No branch underneath it. Pilla picks the branch at run time, so staff only ever see the steps on the path that applies to them.

What a decision connector is for

A decision connector lets a workflow take a different path depending on what a worker actually entered, not just on what was scheduled. You write the rule, Pilla reads the answer on the step above and judges it Yes or No, and only the matching branch runs.

This is the third way to link steps together on the canvas. An Open connector lets staff do both steps in any order, a Gated connector hides the next step until the first is done, and a decision connector splits the flow in two and follows only one branch.

Good fits include:

• Routing a number entry onto a "fine" or "out of range" path, like revealing an escalation step only when a temperature reading is too high
• Splitting a complaint check onto a "minor" or "major" path based on the photo and the worker's note
• Branching after an inspection so the No branch runs a fix-it sequence and the Yes branch runs a quick sign-off
• Picking between two different chains of follow-up steps based on the live answer, not just on a fixed schedule

How a decision connector is built

A decision connector is not a separate node you drop between two steps. It is a Pilla rule attached to a single step. When you write a rule on a step, two extra connection points appear under that step: a green Yes handle on the left and a pink No handle on the right. You build a branch out of each one.

The step keeps its normal bottom handle for the main flow, so a step can carry on down the main column AND fork on a Yes / No rule. Only steps that capture an answer can carry a rule, because Pilla needs something to judge. Guidance steps, which only show information, cannot carry one, and the rule field does not appear on a step that sits inside a group.

Only one branch runs in any given workflow run. Pilla reads the worker's saved answer, judges it against your rule, then reveals the steps on the matching branch.

How to add a decision connector to a step

You add the rule from the step's own card on the canvas, then wire up the two branches.

1. Click the step on the canvas to focus it
2. Near the bottom of the card, tick the checkbox labelled Add conditional follow-up steps
3. In the field that appears, labelled Instructions for Pilla to make a yes/no decision, type the rule as a plain instruction. The placeholder reads e.g. is the entered number above 8
4. The green Yes handle (left) and pink No handle (right) appear under the card, each with its own + button

Once a rule is written, build out each branch from its + button:

1. Click the + button under the green Yes handle or the pink No handle. The tooltip reads Add step
2. A picker opens showing the element types you can add
3. Pick an element type. The new step spawns on that branch, already connected
4. Keep adding to that branch using the connector picker on the new step, the same way you build the main column

A branch root must be a step, so the picker only offers element types, not groups. Write the rule so the Yes branch is the "happy path" and the No branch handles the exception. It makes the canvas easier to scan.

How a decision connector behaves on mobile

On mobile a worker never sees the branch steps up front. They see the step that carries the rule, answer it, and save.

The moment the answer is saved, a quiet line reading Pilla is checking... appears under the step while Pilla judges it. Once the verdict lands, the steps on the matching branch appear, and the steps on the other branch never show at all. The first step of the branch that ran carries a short note headed Pilla decision explaining why that path was chosen.

The same thing happens in the workflow runs view on the web app. A step being judged shows Pilla is checking..., and once Pilla decides, the matching branch steps appear with the Pilla decision note on the first one.

How to remove a decision connector

To take the rule off a step, clear the Instructions for Pilla to make a yes/no decision field back to empty, or untick Add conditional follow-up steps.

If the Yes or No branches are already wired up, a confirmation popup appears titled Remove this Pilla rule?. It reads: "Removing the rule also deletes its Yes and No connections. The steps on those branches stay on the canvas as unconnected steps, so you can rewire or delete them." Click the red Remove rule button to confirm, or Cancel to keep the rule.

To clear a single branch without removing the whole rule, click the line between the step and the first step on that branch, then click the red trash icon in the line's toolbar. The + button on that branch reappears so you can wire a different first step.

Tips

• Use a decision connector when a step's answer should change what runs next. If you only need to gate a later step on completion order, a Gated connector is simpler
• Phrase the rule as a clear yes or no question, like "is the entered number above 8", so Pilla has something definite to judge
• Keep the Yes branch as the happy path and put the exception handling on No. It makes a quick scan of the canvas easier to follow
• Each branch can be as long as you like. Staff on mobile only ever see the path that ran, never the other branch
• Pilla judges the answer at run time when the worker saves the step, so there is no preview button on the canvas. To see how a rule plays out, run the workflow and watch the branch appear in the workflow runs view
• Removing a rule leaves its branch steps on the canvas as loose steps rather than deleting them, so check the canvas afterwards and rewire or delete anything you no longer need