Workflows

A workflow is a task Osaurus remembers how to do. You describe it once, check that it works, and from then on it runs the same way every time, with one click or on a schedule.

Osaurus comes with a few ready to use. You can build your own just by describing it in a chat, and you can share any workflow with a link.

A morning with Morning Brief

It's 8 a.m. You could ask Osaurus "What's on my calendar today, what's due, and did anyone email me something I need to answer?" and wait while it works that out.

Or you click Run next to Morning Brief. A minute later you have one page: today's events, what's due, and the mail that needs a reply. Osaurus read your Calendar, Reminders and Mail right on your Mac, and wrote the page with a model on your Mac. Nothing left your computer.

Tomorrow, you can have that page waiting for you at 8 without clicking anything.

Why use a workflow?

A chat is great for a one-off question. A workflow is for the things you do again and again.

• No retyping. You explain the task once. After that it's one click, or no clicks at all.
• The same result every time. A workflow follows the same steps in the same order, so a good result stays good.
• You can see every step. Before it runs, you can read exactly what it will do, in plain words.
• You know what leaves your Mac. Every workflow is marked Runs on this Mac or Uses the cloud, so there are no surprises.
• It runs where you are. Start it from the Workflows page, from a chat, by asking Osaurus, from one of your agents, or on a schedule.
• You can share it. Send someone a link and they can install your workflow on their own Mac, with their own accounts and keys.

How it works

1. Describe it. Tell the Architect, a helper that builds workflows for you, what you want in your own words. Build with the Architect →
2. Test it. Run it once with an example to check the result.
3. Save it. It joins your workflows, ready to run.
4. Use it. Run it whenever you like, put it on a schedule, or share it with a link.

Workflows that come with Osaurus

A fresh install of Osaurus comes with seven workflows, each run by one of your teammates (the starter agents that look after your calendar, mail, files and research). They don't run until you run them or give them a time.

Workflow	What you get	Who does it	Stays on your Mac?
Morning Brief	Today's events, what's due, and the mail that needs a reply, on one page.	Planner and Courier	Yes
Meeting Prep	Your next meeting: who, when, where, related notes, and recent mail with those people.	Planner, Keeper and Courier	Yes
Mail Triage	Your unread mail sorted into needs a reply, for your information, and can wait. Nothing is sent.	Courier	Yes
New Download	For each new file in Downloads: what it is, and a suggested name and place. Nothing is moved.	Keeper	Yes
End of Day	What happened today, what's still due, and tomorrow's first event.	Planner	Yes
Research Brief	A short note on any topic you type: the answer, the findings, and a source for every claim.	Scout	No: it searches the web
Repo Digest	What changed in a code project this week, and what's not saved yet. Only on Macs with developer tools.	Builder	Yes

"Stays on your Mac" means Osaurus reads your apps and files on this Mac and writes the result with a local model. If you chose a cloud model when you first set up Osaurus, the writing step can use that model instead.

Starters

Three Starters are ready-made writing helpers you can add in a click. They only write text; they don't read your mail, files or the web.

Starter	You give it	You get
Social Post Writer	A topic, where it's going (LinkedIn, X or Instagram), and a tone	A post with hashtags
Meeting Action Items	Your meeting notes, pasted in	A summary, who does what, the decisions made, and a follow-up email
Email Reply	The email you got, what you want to say, and a tone	A subject line and a reply in that tone

Starters use Apple Intelligence when your Mac has it, and your default model otherwise.

To add one, click Workflows on the left edge of the window, click New Workflow, and pick it under Or add a ready-made workflow. You'll see a preview of the form and the result before you click Add.

Find your workflows

Click Workflows, the second icon on the narrow strip along the left edge of the window, just under Chat.

The Workflows page shows:

• Running now: anything running at the moment, with Stop, and Respond if it's waiting for an answer from you.
• All: every workflow on this Mac, each with Run (or Set Up if it still needs something).
• Drafts: workflows you started with the Architect but haven't saved yet, with Continue.
• Published: workflows you've shared on the web.
• Workspaces: workflows your team shared, if you belong to a workspace.

Tabs only appear once they have something in them. Above the tabs, New Workflow (⌘N) starts a new one and Import brings one in from a file.

Next steps

• Build your own with the Architect: describe a task, test it, and save it.
• Run a workflow: every way to start one, and what to do if something goes wrong.
• Share a workflow: get a link you can send to anyone in about a minute.
• Automations: run a workflow every morning, or whenever a file arrives.

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Under the hood

• What a workflow is, technically: a fixed graph of steps with a typed input (the form) and a typed output (the result). Steps include model calls, forms, JavaScript or Python code, tool calls, web requests, waits, loops over a list, other workflows, agents, stored data, branches, channel replies, and image or video generation. Every model step must return an answer in the step's exact shape (structured output).
• Built-in workflow files: the seven built-ins ship in Packages/OsaurusCore/Resources/Team/default-workflow-*.json and the Starters in Resources/Templates/workflow-template-*.json. They're installed on fresh installs only, visible to the Orchestrator, with no schedule. Upgrades from Osaurus Classic and Create starter agents don't add them. Repo Digest ships only with Builder.
• Model slots: a built-in's writing step uses a model slot named writer that's limited to local models, unless the model chosen during setup was a cloud model. Starters allow the cloud for writer and prefer Apple Foundation Models.
• Installed workflows live in ~/.osaurus/workflows/. A file edited outside Osaurus reads Changed outside Osaurus and won't run until you review it in Set Up….
• Not the same as a Method: a Method is a tool sequence an agent saved from a chat. A workflow is built with the Architect and has a form and a result.
• Developers: the full model is in upstream docs/WORKFLOWS.md. Runs can be started and answered over the HTTP API.