Using Space Automate
Playbook steps, one by one
A friendly tour of every building block you can put in a playbook, and when to use each.
A playbook is made of steps. This page explains each one in everyday words. In the editor they're grouped in the palette as Input, Output, Actions and Flow.
Talking to the person
Send a message
Adds a message to what the person sees: “We've received your request.”
Ask
Pauses and asks the person a question, then stores the answer in a variable and checks it matches the type. If it doesn't fit, it asks again with a helpful message.
- Text answers, buttons (choices become buttons in chat), or a document (the person attaches a file and Space reads the fields you named).
- Always ask forces the question even if the answer was already known, useful for a final confirmation.
End
Finishes the playbook, with an optional closing message.
Doing things (“Run”)
In the editor these are one Run step with a picker for the target. You can switch a step's type later without losing its place.
| Run… | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Instruction | A helper AI follows a written instruction using your tools | “Summarize the customer's last five orders.” |
| Tool | Calls one specific tool that doesn't need approval | Look up an invoice |
| Function | Runs a custom Function and uses what it returns | Calculate a quote |
| Integration | Does something in a connected app (send an email, post to Slack, update HubSpot…). If the connection asks for approval, the run asks Approve / Cancel first | Send the confirmation email |
| API | Calls a web API directly, with values from earlier steps. Use a secure variable for any key | Check stock levels |
| Knowledge base | Searches your knowledge and returns passages, or an answer drawn from them | “What does our warranty cover?” |
By default a step's result goes only into its variable. Tick show result to also show it to the person (secure values stay masked).
Working with data
Table
Reads or changes a table: query rows, insert up to 100, update a row, or delete a row. It uses the access of whoever runs the playbook.
Set
Stores a value in a variable.
Extract (read a document)
Reads one document into a fixed list of fields, the same way every time, so later steps can rely on it. It uses the text where it can and reads scanned pages and tricky tables visually. Every quoted source is checked against the document, so the AI can't invent evidence. Good for invoices, quotes and forms.
Deciding
If
Chooses a path based on a condition. A condition can be:
- A simple comparison: equals, contains, starts with, greater than, is empty, and so on.
- Several rules: all must match, or any may.
- In plain English: “the customer sounds angry”. The AI judges it.
You can add a branch per case, plus an “else” path.
Go to
Jumps to another step. Use it for retry loops (“ask again if the lookup failed”). A run stops after 200 steps, so a loop can't run forever.
Run playbook
Starts another playbook as a sub-process. They can be nested up to three deep, and a playbook can't run itself.
Waiting and people
Review
Pauses until a person approves or declines. You choose reviewers (people or groups), and can add a message with context. Approve continues; Decline follows a “declined” path, or ends the playbook. See Reviews.
Run agent
Hands a task to a named agent and waits, however long it takes (including its own reviews and helpers). The run's result is stored for later steps. If the task doesn't finish properly, the playbook fails, unless you allow errors.
For each
Goes through a list (or table rows, up to 500) and, for each item, gives an agent a task or runs a playbook, a few at a time (1 to 10). Choose to continue or stop if one fails. At the end you get a summary: how many succeeded, failed or were skipped.
Wait
Pauses until something happens, for up to 90 days:
| Wait for | Ends when |
|---|---|
| Time | A set amount of time passes, or a date and time arrives |
| Table | A row matching your conditions appears (checked every minute) |
| A matching email arrives (checked every five minutes) |
Add a timeout path. A common pattern: wait for a reply, and if none arrives in three days, send a reminder. Waits survive restarts, and the chat stays free in the meantime.
Showing results
Page
Creates a new page at the end of a run, such as a results dashboard for this run, owned by whoever ran the playbook, with a link you can pass on.
Combining agents inside a playbook
A Run instruction step can say, in plain words, “discuss with @ada and @bo and come up with a better suggestion” or “@ada prepares the plan, then hand over to @bo”. See Agents working together. For long jobs, use Run agent steps, which wait in the background.
Things that aren't included
Space doesn't have live human transfer (use a Review step instead), custom login steps, language selectors, or image messages and cards (use buttons).
A worked example
- Ask for the order number (type: ID or code).
- Table step finds the order in the Orders table.
- If the status is “delayed”, go to the review. Otherwise, jump to the end.
- Review asks the manager to approve a 10% discount.
- Integration sends the confirmation email (asking for approval if outside the company).
- End says what happened.