Distributing and Scheduling Workflows
Entry Points
Entry points control how a workflow is triggered. A single workflow can have multiple entry points - available in chat, callable via API, and scheduled to run nightly, all at the same time.
When creating a new workflow, you select the trigger type.
Core:
- Chat - available in the chat launcher as a library item
- API - callable via HTTP POST from external systems
- Schedule - runs automatically on a recurring cadence
- Chat Follow-up - handles continuation messages in a chat thread
App triggers (webhook and polling):
- GitHub, Slack, JIRA, Microsoft Teams, Telegram, Bugsnag, Webhook, Gmail, Outlook Mail, SERP, Google News
Entry Points vs Sharing
Entry points control how users run your workflow - they interact with the workflow's outputs without seeing its internal structure.
Sharing gives users access to edit the workflow itself - they can see and modify the workflow's logic and configuration.
Users with view-only access can open a workflow and run it, but cannot modify it. If they try to open the Settings or Versions tabs, they'll see a message indicating that edit access is required.
Creating an Entry Point
Once you've built a workflow, creating an entry point is straightforward:
- Head to the Entry Points section
- Click "Create New Entry Point"
- Select which workflow you want to connect
- Choose your entry point type and configure away
- Each workflow can have multiple entry points - maybe one for your team to use in chat, another for your automated systems to call via API, and a third that runs every Monday morning.
Chat Entry Points
A Chat entry point makes a workflow available in the Aisle chat launcher. Users see it as a library item, fill in any input parameters, and run it directly from chat.
Configuring Access
Organization-wide - visible to everyone in your organization.
Per-user - add specific people by name or email for targeted access.
Follow-up Behavior
When someone runs your workflow from chat, they often send follow-up messages in the same thread. The Follow-up Behavior setting in the Chat entry point config controls how those continuation messages are handled:
AI Model - continuation messages are sent directly to a selected model. Use this for workflows that produce a result and then let the user ask questions about it conversationally.
Workflow - continuation messages are routed to a separate follow-up workflow. Use this when follow-up messages need structured processing - validation, data lookup, conditional logic, or any response that should go through a workflow rather than a raw model call.
To build a follow-up workflow, create a new workflow using the Chat Follow-up trigger type. This pre-configures two standard inputs the system provides automatically:
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
user_message | The text of the follow-up message |
message_thread | Full conversation history as a JSON array, so the workflow has context of what was discussed |
Once built, select this workflow as the follow-up handler in the Chat entry point's Follow-up Behavior setting.
API Entry Points
An API entry point generates a unique URL for the workflow. Send a POST request with the workflow's input parameters as a JSON body to run it programmatically.
The entry point page shows the exact URL and a curl example pre-filled with your parameter names.
Security and Access Keys
While API endpoints can be created without authentication, most production use cases benefit from access key security.
Managing Access Keys
Click "Manage Access Keys" to open the key management panel. Keys can be given a label, and each key is unique and can be revoked independently. Keys are only shown once at creation - so ensure you store them securely.
When an access key is required:
Include it in the Authorization header of your API request as Authorization: Bearer YOUR ACCESS_KEY.
Requests without valid keys receive a 401 Unauthorized response. Invalid or revoked keys are rejected immediately
Schedule Entry Points
Schedule entry points run a workflow automatically on a recurring cadence.
Schedule Configuration
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Interval Type | Choose between minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months |
| Start Time | When the schedule should begin running |
| Specific Timing | For weekly/monthly schedules, select exact days and times |
Common automation patterns:
- Competitive Intelligence: Weekly on Monday mornings
- Data Synchronization: Nightly at midnight
- User Analytics: Monthly on the 1st
- System Health Checks: Every hour
Webhook Entry Points
Webhook entry points let external services trigger your workflows automatically. When the connected service sends an event, Aisle receives it and runs the workflow with the event data as input.
| Source | Setup guide |
|---|---|
| Slack | Slack Webhook |
| Jira | Jira Webhook |
| GitHub | GitHub Webhook |
| Microsoft Teams | Teams Webhook |
| Telegram | Telegram Webhook |
| Bugsnag | Bugsnag Webhook |
| Webhook | Webhook - for any service that can send an HTTP POST |
Polling Entry Points
Polling entry points watch an external source on a schedule and trigger your workflow when new items appear.
| Source | What it watches |
|---|---|
| Gmail | New emails in an inbox or label |
| Microsoft Outlook | New emails in a folder |
| Google News RSS | New articles matching a search topic |
| SERP News Monitor | New search results for a keyword |
See Polling Triggers for setup and workflow variables for each source.
Monitoring and Logs
All entry points for a workflow are listed in the workflow's Entry Points section. Click any entry point to edit its configuration or view its run logs. Logs can be filtered by entry point. See all entry points across all workflows on the Entrypoints page.
Permissions: Anyone with edit access to a workflow can manage its entry points.
