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Core Concepts

Read this page once before diving into Platform tour or Building a Wrkflow. Feature pages assume you know these terms.

Wrk uses a small set of building blocks repeatedly. Once these six concepts are clear, the rest of the platform becomes much easier to reason about.

Wrkflow​

Definition: A Wrkflow is the full automation you design and run in Wrk.

A Wrkflow defines the order of work, the conditions between steps, the data passed forward, and the points where the run should stop, retry, or wait for a person. Think of the Wrkflow as the unit of delivery: it is what gets tested, launched, monitored, and improved.

See Wrkflows for the Wrkflow Automation screen and operational details.

Wrk Action​

Definition: A Wrk Action is one executable step inside a Wrkflow.

A Wrk Action can call an API, automate a browser with RPA, transform data, invoke AI, or send work to a human reviewer. Wrk Actions are intentionally narrow so you can debug a single step without losing the context of the entire run.

Connector and connected account​

Definition: A Connector is Wrk's authenticated bridge to an external system. A connected account is the linked credential you create in the Wrk UI that a Connector uses at runtime.

Connectors store auth method and service-specific configuration required for Wrk Actions and Triggers. When you link Gmail or Slack in the platform, you are creating a connected account backed by a Connector — the reusable link that Wrk Actions can call without signing in again.

See Connected accounts for where to manage them in the UI.

Trigger​

Definition: A Trigger is the event that starts a Wrkflow run.

Triggers can be time-based (schedule), webhook-driven, email-driven, manually invoked, or tied to a Connector event. The Trigger defines how data first enters the Wrkflow and how often the process can begin.

Human-in-the-Loop​

Definition: A Human-in-the-Loop step pauses automation so a person can review, approve, reject, or correct the work.

Use Human-in-the-Loop when business risk is too high for full automation or when judgment is required. You can assign the task, define timeout behavior, and decide what happens after approval, rejection, or no response.

For when and why to use human steps, see Human-in-the-Loop.

Orchestration​

Definition: Orchestration is the layer that coordinates all Wrkflow steps from start to finish.

Wrk orchestration tracks dependencies, moves data between Wrk Actions, handles retries, preserves run state, and keeps API, RPA, AI, and human tasks in one control plane.

For a deeper look at how Wrk combines execution styles, see Orchestration model.

Wrkflow execution flow​

Next steps​