Adding Inputs¶

Make your workflows configurable by accepting runtime parameters.

The Problem¶

Hardcoded values make workflows inflexible:

steps:
  - id: review
    prompt: "Review the file src/main.go"  # Hardcoded! Can't reuse for other files

Solution: Use inputs — variables you provide when running the workflow.

Defining Inputs¶

Add an inputs section to your workflow:

code-review.yaml

name: "code-review"
description: "Review any file you specify"

inputs:
  files:
    description: "The files to review"
    default: "*.go"

agents:
  reviewer:
    inline:
      description: "Code reviewer"
      prompt: "You are an expert code reviewer."

steps:
  - id: review
    agent: reviewer
    prompt: "Review these files: {{inputs.files}}"

output:
  steps: [review]
  format: markdown

Input Fields¶

Field	Required	Description
`description`	No	Explains what the input is for
`default`	No	Default value if not provided at runtime

Always Add Descriptions

Descriptions appear in error messages and help documentation, making workflows self-documenting.

Running With Inputs¶

Provide inputs using the --inputs flag:

goflow run --workflow code-review.yaml --inputs files='src/**/*.go'

Multiple Inputs¶

goflow run --workflow example.yaml \
  --inputs files='src/*.go' \
  --inputs mode=detailed

Using Defaults¶

If an input has a default value, you can omit it:

# Uses default: "*.go"
goflow run --workflow code-review.yaml

Input Template Syntax¶

Reference inputs using {{inputs.NAME}}:

prompt: "Review {{inputs.files}} in {{inputs.mode}} mode"

Where You Can Use Input Templates¶

Location	Example
Step prompts	`prompt: "Analyze {{inputs.files}}"`
Agent prompts	`prompt: "You specialize in {{inputs.language}}"`
Conditions	`contains: "{{inputs.keyword}}"`

Complete Example¶

Let's build a configurable greeting workflow:

greeting-workflow.yaml

name: "greeting-workflow"
description: "Generates a personalized greeting"

inputs:
  name:
    description: "Name of the person to greet"
    default: "World"
  style:
    description: "Greeting style: formal, casual, or pirate"
    default: "casual"

agents:
  greeter:
    inline:
      description: "Creates greetings in various styles"
      prompt: "You create greetings. Use {{inputs.style}} style."

steps:
  - id: greet
    agent: greeter
    prompt: "Create a greeting for {{inputs.name}}. Keep it to one sentence."

output:
  steps: [greet]
  format: markdown

Try It¶

# Default greeting
goflow run --workflow greeting-workflow.yaml --mock

# Custom name
goflow run --workflow greeting-workflow.yaml --inputs name='Alice' --mock

# Custom name and style
goflow run --workflow greeting-workflow.yaml \
  --inputs name='Captain Jack' \
  --inputs style='pirate' \
  --verbose

Input Validation¶

goflow validates inputs when the workflow starts:

Missing Required Input¶

If an input has no default and you don't provide it:

inputs:
  files:
    description: "Files to review"
    # No default!

goflow run --workflow example.yaml
# Error: missing required input: files

Unknown Input¶

If you pass an input that isn't defined:

goflow run --workflow example.yaml --inputs typo='value'
# Warning: unknown input 'typo' (will be ignored)

Best Practices¶

1. Use Descriptive Names¶

# ✓ Good
inputs:
  target_files:
    description: "Files to analyze (glob pattern)"

# ✗ Bad
inputs:
  f:
    description: "files"

2. Provide Sensible Defaults¶

inputs:
  depth:
    description: "Analysis depth (brief, normal, detailed)"
    default: "normal"  # Most users want this

3. Document Valid Values¶

inputs:
  format:
    description: "Output format: 'json', 'yaml', or 'markdown'"
    default: "markdown"

What You Learned¶

How to define inputs with inputs:
How to provide inputs with --inputs key='value'
How to use {{inputs.name}} in prompts
How default values work

Next Steps¶

Now that you can make workflows configurable, let's learn to chain multiple steps together:

Multi-Step Pipelines →