Max, the workflow assistant
What Max can do in the editor: build a workflow from a sentence, make small edits, test steps, explain runs and fix failures, and where it needs you.
Max is the AI assistant inside the Coworkly editor. You talk to it in the chat, and it works on the workflow you have open: it can build the whole thing from one sentence, change a single field, or tell you why last night's run failed.
Max does not run your workflows. It builds and edits them. Once a workflow is on, triggers start it and the steps do the work, with or without Max.
What Max can do
| You want to | Say something like | What Max does |
|---|---|---|
| Build a workflow | "Every weekday at 9, summarize the top AI stories and post them to #general" | Plans the steps, builds the graph, and proves each step on real data |
| Change one thing | "Swap the channel to #alerts" | Edits that step and nothing else |
| Add to it | "Also email me a copy" | Adds the step and wires it in |
| Take something out | "Remove the approval" | Removes the step and reconnects what was around it |
| Test it | "Run the classify step" | Runs the step on real input and shows what came back |
| Understand it | "What does this workflow do?" | Explains the graph, branch by branch |
| Find a failure | "Why did the last run fail?" | Reads recent runs and points at the step where it went wrong |
| Fix it | "Fix that" | Repairs the step and runs it again to check |
| Turn it on or off | "Turn it on" | Activates or deactivates, after you say so |
Build a workflow from a description
Describe the outcome in a sentence. Max proposes a plan, builds the graph on the canvas, then runs a verification pass: every step that only reads is run for real, and every step that would send something is shown as a preview. It repairs what fails and checks again until each step is proven. See Build mode & the plan and How verification works.
Make small changes
On a canvas that already has steps, the same chat edits in place. There is no plan for an edit, only the change.
- Rename a step, change a schedule, rewrite an agent's prompt.
- Add a condition, a branch or a loop.
- Point a step at a different channel, sheet, store or account.
- Rewire steps, or remove one.
Select a step first and the chat shows "editing step name", which scopes your next message to it. "Make this run hourly" then needs no further explanation.
Pick the right step and operation
Max searches the integration library by what you want to do ("send a message to a channel", "create a calendar event"), reads the exact fields that operation takes, and wires the next step to the data the previous one really produced. For a webhook from a product whose payload you did not give it, it looks up the vendor's documented payload first.
Test and prove
Max can run one step, run the whole draft, preview a send without sending it, and deliver a test payload to a webhook step. Nothing is sent for real while it builds. See Testing before activation.
Explain and diagnose
Ask what a workflow does, what a step returned, or why a run failed. Max reads the live canvas and the five most recent runs, with each step's input, output and error. To get answers with no risk of an edit, switch the chat to Ask mode.
Finish what is missing
When a workflow needs setup, the workflows list shows what is missing, and fix with Max opens the canvas with that list in the chat. See the workflows index.
Look things up
Max reads the built-in runbooks for common automations, and can search the web and read a page when a vendor's documentation is the only source. Web search and reading a vendor's webhook payload use your workspace's AI credits.
Keep a credential safe
Paste an API key into the chat and ask Max to store it. It is saved encrypted in the workspace's secrets, and the step refers to it by name, so the key itself never sits in the workflow.
Remember earlier conversations
Max can search your earlier chats with it, across your workflows, so "do it the way we did the invoice one" has something to go on.
Where Max needs you
Max proves what it can on its own. Four things are yours:
- Connecting an account. Signing in to Slack, Google or GitHub is your click. With one connection for an app Max uses it; with two or more it asks which. See Connecting your accounts.
- A real sample. A form, an upload or a webhook step is proven against one real submission that only you can send.
- Something that does not exist yet. A store, a knowledge base or a workflow to call has to exist before a step can use it.
- Turning it on. Max activates a workflow only when you tell it to. The Activate button does the same.
Each of these shows up as a visible question on the plan, never a silent stop.
What Max will not do
- Change anything in Ask mode. The tools that edit are removed before the model sees them.
- Send real messages while building. Sends are previews until the workflow is on.
- Touch a live workflow by editing. A workflow that is on keeps running its published version until you publish the edits.
- Reach outside your workspace. Max sees what you can see, and works through the same permissions.
Undo
Every turn Max takes leaves a checkpoint. Undo Max's changes on the canvas rail restores the graph to exactly before its last turn. It stays available until you activate, start another turn, or edit past it. See Canvas tools.
Where to find Max
- In the editor. The chat is always there, docked in the left column or as a bar along the bottom. Ctrl/⌘+I brings it up from anywhere. See The chat.
- On the docs pages. Ask the docs opens Max in a panel that answers from this documentation and links the pages it used. That one only reads the docs; it cannot see or change your workflows. See Ask the docs.
- From your own AI client. The tools Max uses are also available to Claude, Cursor and other clients over MCP.
FAQ
Does Max cost anything? Each turn is a model call, billed to the workspace's AI credits. A medium build is typically around a dollar. See AI settings & models.
Can I still build by hand? Yes. Drag, rewire and configure whenever you like, alongside Max or without it. See Build by hand.
What if Max gets it wrong? Tell it what is wrong in plain words, or undo the turn. Editing a step by hand is always allowed.
Which model is Max? The platform's model, chosen and tuned by Coworkly. The chat has no model picker.