Getting Started

Build your first AI workflow in 10 minutes. In this tutorial, you'll create a people research agent that uses advanced LLM-powered search tools to extract and structure information about individuals.

What You'll Build

A people research agent that:

Accepts user input through a chat interface
Searches the web using AI-powered tools (Exa and Linkup)
Extracts and structures information about individuals
Returns formatted JSON data with location, profession, and education

Step-by-Step Tutorial

Click New Workflow in the dashboard and name it "Getting Started".

Every new workflow includes a Start block by default—this is the entry point that receives user input. Since we'll trigger this workflow via chat, no configuration is needed for the Start block.

Drag an Agent Block onto the canvas from the left panel and configure it:

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 to connect <start.input> to the user prompt

Enhance your agent with web search capabilities. Click on the Agent block to select it.

In the Tools section:

Click Add Tool
Select Exa and Linkup from the available tools
Provide your API keys for both tools to enable web search and data access

Test your workflow using the Chat panel on the right side of the screen.

In the chat panel:

Click the dropdown and select agent1.content to view the agent's output
Enter a test message: "John is a software engineer from San Francisco who studied Computer Science at Stanford University."
Click Send to execute the workflow

The agent will analyze the person and return structured information.

Configure your agent to return structured JSON data. Click on the Agent block to select it.

In the Response Format section:

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

Return to the Chat panel to test the structured response format.

With the response format configured, new output options are now available:

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

The agent will now return structured JSON output with the person's information organized into location, profession, and education fields.

What You've Built

You've successfully created an AI workflow that:

✅ Accepts user input through a chat interface
✅ Processes unstructured text using AI
✅ Integrates external search tools (Exa and Linkup)
✅ Returns structured JSON data with AI-generated schemas
✅ Demonstrates real-time testing and iteration
✅ Showcases the power of visual, no-code development

Key Concepts You Learned

Core Workflow Concepts

Data Flow
Connect blocks by dragging connections to pass data between workflow steps

Chat Interface
Test workflows in real-time with the chat panel and select different output options

Tool Integration
Extend agent capabilities by integrating external services like Exa and Linkup

Variable References
Access block outputs using the <blockName.output> syntax

Structured Output
Define JSON schemas to ensure consistent, formatted responses from AI

AI-Generated Schemas
Use the magic wand (✨) to generate schemas from natural language prompts

Iterative Development
Build, test, and refine workflows quickly with immediate feedback

Next Steps

Explore Workflow Blocks

Discover API, Function, Condition, and other workflow blocks

Browse Integrations

Connect 160+ services including Gmail, Slack, Notion, and more

Add Custom Logic

Write custom functions for advanced data processing

Deploy Your Workflow

Make your workflow accessible via REST API or webhooks

Resources

Need detailed explanations? Visit the Blocks documentation for comprehensive guides on each component.

Looking for integrations? Explore the Tools documentation to see all 160+ available integrations.

Ready to go live? Learn about Execution and Deployment to make your workflows production-ready.

Common Questions

About 10 minutes. The tutorial walks you through creating a people research agent with web search tools and structured output. You will have a fully working workflow by the end.

You need API keys for the search tools (Exa and Linkup) used in this tutorial. For the AI model, you can either use Sim's hosted keys (included with your plan credits) or bring your own OpenAI API key. If you prefer not to set up search tool keys, you can still build a basic agent workflow without them.

No. The entire tutorial uses the visual drag-and-drop interface. You will connect blocks, configure settings, and test through the chat panel without writing any code.

Yes. The Agent block supports models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Groq, Cerebras, DeepSeek, Mistral, xAI, and more. You can select any available model from the dropdown. If you self-host, you can also use local models through Ollama.

Sim does not currently support importing workflows from other automation platforms. However, you can use the Copilot feature to describe what you want in natural language and have it build the workflow for you, which is often faster than manual recreation.

Use the Chat panel to test iteratively and inspect outputs from each block. You can click the dropdown to view different block outputs and pinpoint where the issue is. The execution logs (accessible from the Logs tab) show detailed information about each step including token usage, costs, and any errors.

Explore the Blocks documentation to learn about Condition, Router, Function, and API blocks. Browse the Tools section to discover 160+ integrations you can add to your agents. When you are ready to deploy, check the Execution docs for REST API, webhook, and scheduled trigger options.