--- title: "Build and run your first workflow" description: "The hello-world path: a single agent that does something useful, then a small two-agent handoff. Twenty minutes from a blank canvas to a working multi-agen" slug: getting-started/your-first-workflow section: getting-started canonical_url: https://cerevisor.com/docs/getting-started/your-first-workflow last_verified: 2026-05-18 last_verified_version: "1.2.0" updated_at: 2026-05-18T15:08:18.053416+00:00 --- You have Cerevisor installed and at least one provider connected. Time to ship a workflow. This page walks two paths: 1. **Single-agent hello world**: a one-agent workflow that produces real output. Five minutes. 2. **Two-agent handoff**: a researcher passes findings to a writer. Fifteen minutes. The smallest workflow that demonstrates what makes Cerevisor different from a chat window. You can stop after path 1 if you just want to confirm everything's wired up. --- ## Path 1: Single-agent hello world ### Open a blank canvas From the Home Screen, click **Blank workflow**. You'll see an empty canvas with a single column labeled "Phase 1". If you closed the Home Screen, use **Ctrl/Cmd+N** to create a new workflow. ### Add an agent Three ways to add an agent, pick the one that feels easiest: - **Drag from the left palette.** Open the Agent Palette by clicking its icon on the left edge of the canvas, then drag any role card onto the canvas. - **Right-click the canvas** → **Add agent**. - **Double-click an empty area** of the canvas. For this hello world, pick **Researcher**. ### Configure it Click the agent card to select it, then click the gear icon (or press **Enter** with the card selected) to open the **Agent Config** popup. Set these: - **Name:** `Quick Researcher` - **Instructions:** `Research the current state of multi-agent AI workflow tools in 2026. Summarize the three most notable platforms, what makes each distinct, and who they're for. Cite sources.` - **Output definition:** `A 300-word summary in markdown with inline source citations.` Leave everything else at defaults. Click **Save**. ### Run it Click the **Run** button in the top-right of the canvas (or press **Ctrl/Cmd+R**). A confirmation modal shows you the estimated cost and the permissions the workflow will need. Click **Run**. The agent card lights up. You'll see streaming output appear in real time. When it finishes, the card shows a green check; click it to see the full output. That's it. You just ran a multi-agent workflow with one agent. > **What just happened?** Cerevisor generated a prompt from your configuration, sent it to your default provider, granted the agent the tools it needs (`web_search`, `read_file`, `web_fetch`), let it call those tools in a loop until it produced the output you defined, then saved everything to `~/.cerevisor/audit-logs/`. You can replay this workflow any time by hitting Run again. --- ## Path 2: Two-agent handoff Now let's chain two agents. The researcher you just built will feed a writer agent that turns the findings into a publishable blog post. ### Add a second column Right-click an empty area to the right of your existing column and choose **Add column**. Or click the **+** button at the top of the canvas where the column headers live. Name it `Phase 2: Writing`. ### Add a writer agent Drag a **Blog post writer** role into the new column (or use any of the three add-agent methods from Path 1). Configure it: - **Name:** `Blog Writer` - **Instructions:** `Turn the upstream research into a 600-word blog post for cerevisor.com. Match the existing cerevisor.com voice: clear, second-person, no hype. Include a 1-sentence summary at the top.` - **Output definition:** `A markdown blog post, 600 words, with a title and a 1-sentence summary line.` ### Connect them Hover over the right edge of `Quick Researcher`. A handle appears. Click and drag it to the left edge of `Blog Writer`. A connection line draws between them. That's a **handoff**: the writer will read everything the researcher produced before starting. You can also let Cerevisor auto-connect. With **Smart auto-connect** enabled (the default), any agent you add to a new column is automatically wired from the previous column's outputs. Manual wires you draw always override auto-connect. ### Run Hit **Ctrl/Cmd+R** again. This time Cerevisor will tell you it's running two waves: ``` Wave 1: Quick Researcher Wave 2: Blog Writer (after Wave 1) ``` When Wave 1 finishes, Wave 2 starts automatically. The writer's prompt will include the researcher's output as context. When the run completes, click the writer card to read the blog post. --- ## What to try next You've covered the core loop. From here, real workflows usually add a few more things: - **Skills.** Drag a skill (e.g. `recency-research`) from the Skills panel onto an agent for a more capable researcher. See [Working with Skills](../guides/working-with-skills/). - **Markdown input/output files.** Attach `spec.md` to the writer as an input file so it has context the researcher didn't generate. See [Attach markdown files](../guides/building-workflows/attach-markdown-files.md). - **A reviewer agent.** Add a third column with a Reviewer role that critiques the blog post and proposes edits. See [Connect agents](../guides/building-workflows/connect-agents.md). - **Conditional connections.** Branch based on a confidence score (e.g. "if the researcher's confidence is low, send to a senior researcher; otherwise to the writer"). See [Control flow](../guides/building-workflows/control-flow-conditions-loops-gates.md). - **Save your workflow.** Ctrl/Cmd+S writes a `.cerevisor` file you can re-open, share, or schedule. See [File formats](../reference/file-formats.md). ## Where to go next → [Guides → Building Workflows](../guides/building-workflows/) for the full set of things you can do with agents and connections.