# Agents, skills, and workflows

> Agents, skills, and workflows each make work repeatable in a different way. Learn what each one is, who runs it, and when to use it.

Source: https://docs.tulipfarm.ai/concepts/agents-skills-and-workflows/

Agents, skills, and workflows are three ways to make work repeatable. An agent does a job, a skill is a procedure to follow, and a workflow is a fixed series of steps.

## Compare them

| | What it is | Who runs it | When to use it |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Agent** | A saved AI assistant with its own name, instructions, model, skills, and allowed actions. | A person with run permission starts a task. A manager can also put it on a schedule. People can ask it in a Slack channel. | The job needs judgment, and you want to hand it off again and again. |
| **Skill** | A reusable step-by-step procedure. | It never runs alone. An agent or a chat follows it. | You want the AI to follow the same procedure every time. |
| **Workflow** | A reusable automation made of steps. Each execution is a run. | A trigger starts it, such as a schedule, a table change, or another app. A person with run permission can also start it. | The steps are the same every time, and the order matters. |

## Agents

An agent is a saved AI assistant. You share it with people and teams.

Each piece of work you give an agent is an agent task. A task is private to you. It keeps its history, its result, and the credits it used. You find your tasks in **My agent tasks**.

An agent works with the permissions of the person who asked, narrowed by the agent's own limits. An agent never gets more access than that person has.

You create an agent in two ways:

- Select **Create in chat** and describe the agent's job.
- Select **Configure manually** and fill in each step.

Each agent has four permission levels:

| Permission | What it lets a person do |
| --- | --- |
| Read | See the agent. |
| Invoke | Start tasks with the agent. |
| Edit | Change the agent's instructions. |
| Manage | Change access and execution, and activate the agent. |

## Skills

A skill is a reusable procedure that an agent can follow. A skill adds steps to follow. It never adds tools or permissions.

You get a skill in two ways:

- Select **Ask chat to make a skill**.
- Select **Import skill** and enter a source URL.

A skill manager reviews each saved version of a skill before agents use it.

## Workflows

A workflow is a reusable automation. You describe it in chat, review its diagram, and save it. Each time it executes, that is a run.

A workflow can start in several ways:

- A person runs it manually.
- A schedule starts it.
- A table row changes.
- A web request or a connected app starts it.

A workflow can include steps such as an agent step, a condition, a delay, a question for a person, and row changes.

> **Note:** Saving an agent, skill, or workflow does not turn it on. See [Saved, activated, and running](https://docs.tulipfarm.ai/concepts/saved-activated-running/).

## Where to find them

The sidebar group **Agents & workflows** holds **Agents**, **Skills**, and **Workflows**. Your agent tasks are in **My agent tasks**.

## Related

- [Build an agent](https://docs.tulipfarm.ai/guides/build-an-agent/)
- [Schedule an agent](https://docs.tulipfarm.ai/guides/schedule-an-agent/)
- [Review agent tasks](https://docs.tulipfarm.ai/guides/review-agent-tasks/)
- [Create skills](https://docs.tulipfarm.ai/guides/create-skills/)
- [Build a workflow](https://docs.tulipfarm.ai/guides/build-a-workflow/)
- [Approvals and agent permissions](https://docs.tulipfarm.ai/security/approvals-and-agent-permissions/)