Getting Started

Open Visual Workflow AI and click "New Workflow" in the dashboard. Name it "Getting Started".

When you create a new workflow, it automatically includes a Start block - this is the entry point that receives input from users. For this example, we'll be triggering the workflow via chat, so we don't need to configure anything on the Start block.

Now drag an Agent Block onto the canvas from the blocks panel on the left.

Configure the Agent Block:

• Model: Select "OpenAI GPT-4o"
• System Prompt: "You are a people research agent. When given a person's name, use your available search tools to find comprehensive information about them including their location, profession, educational background, and other relevant details."
• User Prompt: Drag the connection from the Start block's output into this field (this connects <start.input> to the user prompt)

Let's enhance our agent with tools for better capabilities. Click on the Agent block to select it.

In the Tools section:

• Click Add Tool
• Select Exa from the available tools
• Select Linkup from the available tools
• Add your API keys for both tools (this allows the agent to search the web and access additional information)

Now let's test our workflow. Go to the Chat panel on the right side of the screen.

In the chat panel:

• Click the dropdown and select agent1.content (this will show us the output of our agent)
• Enter a test message like: "John is a software engineer from San Francisco who studied Computer Science at Stanford University."
• Click "Send" to run the workflow

You should see the agent's response analyzing the person described in your text.

Now let's make our agent return structured data. Click on the Agent block to select it.

In the Response Format section:

• Click the magic wand icon (✨) next to the schema field
• In the prompt that appears, type: "create a schema named person, that contains location, profession, and education"
• The AI will generate a JSON schema for you automatically

Go back to the Chat panel.

Since we added a response format, new output options are now available:

• Click the dropdown and select the new structured output option (the schema we just created)
• Enter a new test message like: "Sarah is a marketing manager from New York who has an MBA from Harvard Business School."
• Click "Send" to run the workflow again

You should now see structured JSON output with the person's information organized into location, profession, and education fields.