# Steps

Add, change and connect the steps a workflow runs after its trigger, and pick the right step for each job.

Updated Oct 28, 2026. Source: https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/user-guides/workflows/steps

## What this does

After the trigger, a workflow in Small Business Chatbot runs its steps from top to bottom. The app calls a step a node or an action. Steps can text, email and call your contacts, wait, branch, update the CRM and call other tools.

A run starts when its trigger fires, or when you replay an earlier run under [Executions](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/user-guides/workflows/run-history). Every text, email and call a workflow sends is logged on the contact's timeline in the CRM.

**Send Text**, **Send Email** and **AI voice call** send only when outbound sending is on for their channel. **HTTP Request** steps run whatever those switches say. See [Outbound switches and limits](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/user-guides/workflows/outbound-switches-and-limits).

## Add a step

1. **Add the first step**

   In the app, open **Workflows** and pick the workflow. On the canvas, click the **Action** card under the trigger. **Select an action** lists every step. Click one, and its window opens.

   ![The Select an action dialog listing every workflow step, from Variable to Stop Current Workflow](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/static/images/docs/user-guides/steps-action-list-2026-10-28.webp)
   *Workflows › Editor, October 2026*

2. **Add the next step**

   Click the round **+** under the last step. A new step opens as **Variable**. Under **Node type**, pick the step you want.

3. **Insert a step between two others**

   Click the **+** on the line between them. The new step goes in between.

4. **Fill in its fields**

   The window has three columns: **Input** on the left, the step's settings in the middle, and **Output** on the right. Type plain text, or variables in double braces such as `{{trigger.first_name}}`. The tag button at the left of a field opens the **Reference picker**. It lists values from an earlier run. Until the workflow has run once, its **Trigger** group is empty, except in a workflow with an appointment trigger, which shows a sample appointment.

   ![An HTTP Request step window with the run's input on the left, the step's fields in the middle and the response on the right](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/static/images/docs/user-guides/steps-node-window-2026-10-28.webp)
   *Workflows › Editor, October 2026*

5. **Close and save**

   Click **Close**, then **Save workflow** under the canvas. To remove a step, open it and click **Delete node**.

## Pick the right step

| Step | What it does | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| **Send Text** | Texts the number in **Recipient phone** from your business number | [Text](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/workflows/steps/text) |
| **Send Email** | Emails the address in **To**, from the address in **From email** | [Email](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/workflows/steps/email) |
| **AI voice call** | The AI receptionist calls the number with the **Opening line**, **Goals and system rules**, **Personality** and **Call flow** you write | [AI call](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/workflows/steps/ai-call) |
| **Wait** | Pauses for minutes, hours or days, optionally only within allowed days and hours | [Wait](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/workflows/steps/wait) |
| **Relative Wait** | Pauses until a time before or after an appointment, or another date the run carries | [Wait](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/workflows/steps/wait) |
| **If** | Compares two values and continues down its TRUE or FALSE branch | [Branch](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/workflows/steps/branch) |
| **AI Agent** | Answers a question you write about the run, as text or as named fields | [AI step](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/workflows/steps/ai-step) |
| **Find Contact**, **Upsert Contact**, **Upsert Company**, **Upsert Opportunity**, **Create CRM Note**, **Create CRM Task**, **Add Contact Tag**, **Remove Contact Tag** | Find, create or update CRM records | [CRM steps](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/workflows/steps/crm-steps) |
| **Remove From Cadence** | Stops this contact's other runs in one workflow, or in all of them | [Remove from workflow](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/workflows/steps/remove-from-workflow) |
| **HTTP Request** | Calls any public web address, with a saved credential if the tool needs one | [HTTP request](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/workflows/steps/http-request) |
| **Variable**, **Text Extractor**, **Date Formatter**, **Duplicate another Node** | Stores a value, pulls text out of a value, formats a date, or copies another step's settings | [Variables](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/workflows/variables) |
| **Stop Current Workflow** | Ends the run at that point | |

A step's output is open to every step after it. [Variables](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/workflows/variables) shows how to read it.

## Branch with If

An **If** step has two exits, labelled TRUE and FALSE on the canvas. Each has its own **+**. Add the steps for each outcome under its label. To act on an AI answer, put an **AI Agent** step first, then an **If** step that checks its answer.

![An If step on the canvas with a text step on its TRUE branch and an empty FALSE branch](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/static/images/docs/user-guides/steps-if-branches-2026-10-28.webp)
*Workflows › Editor, October 2026*

## Settings

Each step's window has two tabs, **Parameters** and **Settings**. **Parameters** holds the step's own fields. **Settings** holds these, the same for every step.

![A step's Settings tab with On error set to Stop workflow and the retry policy switched off](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/static/images/docs/user-guides/steps-settings-tab-2026-10-28.webp)
*Workflows › Editor, October 2026*

### On error

What happens when the step fails. **Stop workflow**, the default, ends the run as failed once the run's three retries are used up. **Continue workflow** passes the error on as the step's output and runs the next step.

### Always output data

When the step returns nothing, it outputs an empty marker instead, so the steps after it have something to read. Off by default.

### Enable node retry policy

Tries the step again when it fails, before **On error** applies. Off by default.

### Max retry attempts

How many times to try again. Used only when the retry policy is on.

### Delay between retries (seconds)

How long to wait between tries. The default is 60.

## If something goes wrong

| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| **Save workflow** shows an error about a **Duplicate another Node** step | That step hasn't copied its settings yet | Open it, pick the **Node to duplicate**, and click **Apply duplicate**. Or delete the step. |
| **Save workflow** shows an error about an **HTTP Request** step | **Authentication** asks for a credential and none is picked | Pick a saved credential, or set **Authentication** to **None**. |
| **Trigger** in the **Reference picker** is empty | The workflow hasn't run yet | Type the variable by hand, using the trigger's reference page for its name. |