Automate with pipelines

A pipeline is appropriate when you know the sequence of work and how data should move between steps.

Design the data flow

List the pipeline input, the output produced by each step, and the final result. Use $variable references to map earlier output into later input.

Keep mappings explicit. A pipeline that relies on accidental response shape is difficult to debug and easy to break.

Pass files between steps

Use a file input when a step needs the file itself. Open More Step Options on the step that needs the file and select Add File. Then choose where the file comes from:

• Added before the pipeline starts — enter the name you will use when adding the file on the pipeline's Run page.
• Created by an earlier step — choose an earlier step, then select its main file or enter a specific file name.

Enter a Short name for this step so the step knows how to find the file. Keep This file is required turned on if the step cannot continue without it. The pipeline checks for that file when the step runs, so a step that is skipped does not need its file.

To add a file from an earlier run, open the run that created it and select Use in another run beside the file. Then open the pipeline's Run page and make sure its name matches the name configured on the step.

Files are separate from the other information passed between steps. Typing a file name into a regular field does not share the file itself.

Configure each step

For every step:

1. select an agent or team;
2. map the required input;
3. name the output you need later;
4. decide what should happen on failure;
5. add a condition only when skipping is intentional.

Handle failure intentionally

Each step can either use the pipeline-wide recovery setting or override it with its own. The options are:

• Stop and show the error — the failure propagates and the pipeline stops. This is the default.
• Retry — reattempt the same step, with a configurable attempt count and backoff. Use it for transient failures.
• Try a backup agent — hand the step to a different agent when the first one fails.
• Skip — continue without this step's output. Choose it only when the downstream workflow is still valid.
• Pass error along — feed the error into the next step as input, for a workflow that handles failures itself.

Try a backup agent is agent-only: the backup you nominate must be an agent, and the option is not offered on a step that targets a team. Give a team-targeted step retry, skip, or stop instead — or split the fragile part into its own agent step so it can have a backup.

Test before triggering

Run the pipeline manually with normal and malformed inputs. Open the finished run and expand each step to check its output, the files it received, and the files it created. Automate it only after failures are understandable and safe to retry.

A schedule or an inbound webhook points at an agent or a team, not at a pipeline. To start a pipeline without a person clicking Run, call POST /pipelines/{pipeline_id}/run from whatever already runs on your side — the same place a cron job or a webhook receiver would live.