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Workflow Best Practices

Building good workflows requires the right balance of clear instructions, modularity, and tool usage. Use the tips below as a guide.

Building Workflows with Careti​

Careti understands your project context, making it a great partner for workflow design.

A Workflow to Create Workflows​

Workflow authoring is easier than it looks--and you can even use a workflow to create one.

First, save the create-new-workflow.md file in your workspace (for example, .agents/context/workflows/).

Then run /create-new-workflow.md and Careti will guide you through:

  1. Asking for the purpose and a short name
  2. Describing goals and expected outcomes
  3. Organizing key steps
  4. Generating a structured workflow file
💡Tip

Automate your work logs: Finished tasks are great workflow candidates. After you complete a task, ask "Turn what I just did into a workflow," and Careti will analyze the conversation and generate a workflow file.

Store project-specific workflows in .agents/context/workflows/ and global workflows in ~/Documents/Careti/Workflows/. If there is a name conflict, project workflows take precedence.

Workflow Design​

💡Tip

Start small: Begin with a single-task workflow and expand once you're comfortable.

Modularity​

Smaller, reusable workflows are easier to maintain and debug than a single large one.

Clear Comments​

As with code, explaining why matters. Good comments help both Careti and your team understand intent.

Version Control​

Keep workflows in .agents/context/workflows/ and commit them to Git. This makes versioning and team sharing easier.

Prompt Design for Careti​

Be Specific About Tool Usage​

Rather than saying "find the file," specify the tool and location.

  • Bad: "Find the user controller"
  • Good: "Use search_files to find UserController under src/controllers"

Advanced Techniques​

Common Tools​

Here are some of the tools commonly used inside workflows:

execute_command​

Run terminal commands (tests, builds, git, etc.)

<execute_command>
  <command>npm run test</command>
  <requires_approval>false</requires_approval>
</execute_command>

read_file​

Read files (code/config analysis)

<read_file>
  <path>src/config.json</path>
</read_file>

search_files​

Search across the codebase

<search_files>
  <path>src/</path>
  <query>UserController</query>
</search_files>

Tool Choice Matters​

Different tools return different levels of detail. Choose the most efficient tool for the task.

  • For whole file reads: use read_file
  • For quickly finding keywords: use search_files
  • For full directory listings: use list_files

Use Structure​

Structured workflows are easier for Careti to follow. Use sections like:

  • Purpose
  • Inputs
  • Steps
  • Constraints
  • Output format

Example Workflow Format​

# Workflow Name

## Purpose
Describe what the workflow does.

## Inputs
- What information or variables are needed?

## Steps
1. Step-by-step instructions
2. Keep steps small and actionable

## Constraints
- Rules, limits, or safety checks

## Output format
- What the assistant should return

Following these practices will help you build workflows that are reliable, reusable, and easy to maintain.