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Overview

Use this guide to create a new custom workflow from scratch. You will define basic workflow details, generate or add fields, and assign validations to stages. Once published, the workflow will appear on the Workflows page and can be used to create sessions.
This page covers how to create and use a custom workflow. Once your workflow is created, you can create sessions, upload documents, run processing, and export results from the session table.

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Before you start

  • You must have access to the Workflows section in ALK.
  • Have a clear idea of what you want to extract and validate (for example, key fields, red flags, routing rules).

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When to create a custom workflow

Create a custom workflow when you cannot find an existing workflow that matches the task you need to complete. This is most useful when you need a specific set of fields, validations, routing, or prompts that are not covered by the default workflows.

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Choose a builder

Clicking Create Workflow asks you to pick how you want to build it:
The Advanced builder is in Beta. It is functional and safe to use, but still being refined. If you only need to pull fields out of documents and route them through review stages, use the Simple builder.

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What the Advanced canvas can do

Blocks are grouped into five categories:
  • Triggers — Manual Trigger (start when clicked), Webhook (start when called from another service), Scheduled (run automatically on a schedule).
  • Inputs — Reference, source-of-truth text such as a job description, policy, or rubric, available to any step as {{node name}}. See Add reusable reference inputs.
  • AI Tasks — Extract, Classify, Validate, Reason, Summarize, and Generate Document.
  • Actions — Web Request, Send Email, Send Message (WhatsApp, Teams, or Slack), and Export.
  • Logic — Condition to branch on a rule, and Stage to group items and optionally require approval.
Connecting blocks: drag a block so its connector sits near another block’s connector and ALK creates the link for you. It will not create a connection that would loop back on itself or that would replace one already in place, so you can move blocks around the canvas without disturbing the graph you have built.

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Add reusable reference inputs

Use a Reference input when several workflow steps need the same source-of-truth information, such as a job description, policy, scoring rubric, contract language, or company name.
1

Add a Reference block

On the Advanced canvas, open the block library and add a Reference input.
2

Give it a clear name

Rename the block to something short you will reference later, such as jd or company_name. Other steps then cite it as {{jd}} or {{company_name}}.The names branch, branches, and values_by_document are reserved for workflow routing and cannot be used.
3

Add the reference text

Paste the content directly into the Reference text box, or click Upload document to have ALK extract the text from a PDF, image, Word, or text file and prefill the box for you. You can edit the extracted text afterwards.Uploading requires a saved workflow — save once before you upload. Reference text is required; a Reference block with an empty box will flag as incomplete.
4

Optionally limit its scope

Under Limit to steps, choose which steps can cite this reference. Leave it empty to make it available to every step in the workflow.
5

Cite it downstream

In the instructions for a downstream step, refer to the named value. For example: “Screen this résumé against {{jd}} and return a fit score with supporting reasons.”

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Creating a custom workflow

The steps below use the Simple builder.
1

Create a new workflow

Go to the Workflows section, click Create Workflow (top-right), and choose Simple.
2

Input workflow details

Enter the Workflow name and Description. Optionally, use AI Assist from the description section to generate a starter field set.
3

Add and refine fields

In the Fields step:
  • If you used AI Assist, edit the generated fields to match your requirements.
  • Add any missing fields manually.
  • Update field definitions so they align with your intended extraction, validation, and routing behavior.
4

Assign validation to stages

Click Continue to go to the Stages step. Assign the required validation checks to each stage, and confirm validations match your screening requirements and compliance rules.
5

Finish and find your workflow

Complete the workflow setup and return to the Workflows page. Your custom workflow will now appear in the workflows list.
6

Create a session and review the table

Select your newly created custom workflow, create a new session, and open the session to view the screening table.

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Access a workflow

  1. Go to app.alk.work and sign in with your credentials.
  2. On the home page, select the Workflows tab on the navigation bar at the top.
  3. On the workflow page, scroll until you see Explore. Select the workflow you want to run. If you do not see it, click “See all”, then select the workflow.

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Create a new template session

After selecting a workflow, you will see three steps for setting up your workflow: Step 1: Overview. This shows the workflow name, what ALK can do, the description or instruction provided to ALK, and the workflow use cases. Feel free to edit the workflow name and instructions as needed. If you are satisfied with the default template name and instructions, click Continue. If you make any changes, Continue is replaced by Reset and AI Assist. Click AI Assist to continue to the fields and allow ALK to generate the necessary fields based on your updated instructions. Click Reset if you want to revert to the default template. If you selected AI Assist, you will be prompted to confirm whether you want to replace the default fields with the newly generated ones from ALK based on your updated instructions. Step 2: Fields. Here you will see the fields from either the default template or those newly generated from your updated instructions. There are five columns to note: field, task type, field type, dependency, and instructions. The field column contains the set of fields ALK generates based on your instructions, such as invoice number, vendor name, and other key information you typically review for the workflow you are running. For each field, you will see the task type. Some fields are Extraction, where ALK pulls information directly from the document. Others may be Classification, Validation, Reasoning, Summarization, or even Generate, depending on what you need. You can also choose the field type, such as text, number, or date. For example, if you want ALK to extract when an invoice was created, set the field type to date. Another powerful column is dependencies. For later fields, you can tell ALK which earlier fields to consider before answering, which helps keep outputs consistent across the entire screening. In the instructions column, you can fine-tune exactly what ALK should look for. For example, you might specify: “Extract the vendor’s tax identification number (TIN, EIN, VAT number, or equivalent).” These kinds of instructions help prevent common extraction mistakes and keep your results clean. You can also decide to add more fields where necessary. Step 3: Stages. Stages are the named stops in your workflow. They help you structure review and routing. They are essentially categories. You can create a stage that requires reviewer approval before moving forward.
To route properly to a stage, ensure you have a Recommendation, Decision, or Summary field set up. You can go back and change this field to a Single Select or Multi Select field type, then route it to one or more stages. Also ensure the instruction given to ALK clearly states what to return and where to route it. For example: “Using PO Number and Line Items, determine whether a goods receipt or delivery confirmation is present and matches the invoiced items. Return ‘Matched’ if receipt evidence aligns, ‘Partial’ if only some items are confirmed, or ‘No Receipt’ if no receipt documentation is found.”
You can also include approvals for each stage where necessary. You can create stages such as Pending Approval, Approved, and Paid. Some stages are created by default depending on the template. In this case, once an invoice is matched or updated, you can route it to the Approval stage and assign a reviewer. When you add a workspace member as an approver, ALK automatically gives them editor access to the workflow and access to its documents so they can complete the review. If rejected, you can route it to another stage, such as Pending Approval, or create a Not Approved stage. This makes it easier to find, approve, and review invoices, documents, or entries by category or stage. After doing this, go ahead to start the workflow. Next steps
  • Upload documents to the session table.
  • Click Run to process the session.
  • Review results in the table, then Export when ready.
  • If you need to edit fields or add new columns, see How To Add Custom Columns.

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Need help?

If you run into issues, contact the Wamiri support team at support@wamiri.com. Include:
  • What you were trying to do
  • What happened instead
  • Any error messages
  • Steps to reproduce
  • Screenshots or recordings (if available)