Use Artifacts
Configure your workflow to produce structured, downloadable artifacts -- reports, dashboards, briefs, and more -- with rich formatting, interactive charts, and PDF export.
Prerequisites
- A workflow with at least one stage and agent assignment (see Add Stages and Set Up Assignments)
- Familiarity with task directives (see Set Up Assignments)
What is an artifact?
An artifact is a structured, presentable document that a workflow produces as its primary deliverable. Unlike raw text output that appears in the event timeline, artifacts have rich formatting: headings, data tables, charts, KPI cards, callout boxes, and more. They render as interactive HTML directly in the browser and can be downloaded as PDF.
Think of artifacts as the polished end product of a workflow -- not working notes, but something you would share with a stakeholder. You can publish artifacts with a share link so anyone can view them, even without a platform account.
Steps
1. Enable artifacts on a stage assignment
Open your workflow in the Workflow Builder and click the assignment node for the agent that should produce the artifact. In the assignment drawer, enable the Can Create Artifacts toggle.
When enabled, the agent receives two framework tools during execution: artifact (to create, edit, and list document sections) and preview_artifact (to take a visual screenshot for self-review). Without this toggle, the agent cannot create, edit, or preview artifacts.
2. Write a task directive that describes the artifact
The agent needs clear instructions about what to produce. In the assignment's Task Directive field, describe:
- What kind of document to create (report, dashboard, brief, memo)
- What sections to include
- What data to analyze or summarize
- The intended audience and tone
Be specific about the structure you want. Instead of "write a report", say "create a report with an executive summary, a KPI section showing revenue and churn metrics, a data table of monthly performance, and a chart comparing Q1 vs Q2 results." The more specific your directive, the better the artifact.
3. Provide input data with seed documents
Stages can have seed documents -- project documents that are injected into the agent's context before execution begins. This gives the agent structured input data to analyze and build artifacts from.
To configure seed documents:
- Click the assignment node in the Workflow Builder.
- In the assignment drawer, go to the Documents section.
- Select one or more documents from your project's document library.
The agent receives these documents as context when the stage starts, alongside the task directive and any upstream stage results.
Seed documents are especially useful for data-driven artifacts. Upload a CSV, analysis report, or research brief as a project document, then select it as a seed document for the artifact stage. The agent can reference the data directly.
4. Use multiple stages for complex artifacts
An artifact created in one stage can be edited in a later stage. This enables multi-pass workflows:
- Stage 1 -- "Research" agent creates an initial artifact with findings
- Stage 2 -- "Editor" agent reviews and refines the artifact, updating sections, adding charts, or fixing formatting
The agent in Stage 2 automatically sees the existing artifact. It can use the artifact tool to list current sections, then apply targeted edits -- replacing specific sections, removing unnecessary ones, or adding new content. No special configuration is needed beyond enabling Can Create Artifacts on both assignments.
5. Let agents preview their own artifacts
When Can Create Artifacts is enabled on an assignment, the agent automatically receives a second tool: preview_artifact. This tool takes a screenshot of the artifact as it would appear to a viewer and returns the image directly to the agent.
Agents can use this to:
- Catch layout problems, missing data, or formatting issues
- Verify that charts render correctly with the provided data
- Check that images and tables display as intended
No configuration is needed -- the tool is injected automatically alongside the artifact tool. You can mention it in the task directive to encourage the agent to use it:
"After building the report, preview it to verify the charts and KPI cards render correctly. Fix any issues before completing."
6. Run the workflow
Start the workflow as usual (see Run a Workflow). The agent processes its task directive, uses the artifact tool to build the document, and the artifact appears in the run results when the stage completes.
7. View the artifact
After the run completes, open the run detail page and click the Artifacts tab. Artifacts render as interactive HTML:
- Charts are interactive -- hover over data points for details
- Tables show formatted, aligned data with optional row highlighting
- KPI cards display metrics with trend indicators
- Images embedded in artifacts use stable, permanent URLs -- they will never break, even months after the run completes
- If the workflow produced multiple artifacts, they appear as tabbed pills -- click each tab to switch between them
8. Publish and share an artifact
You can share any artifact with people who do not have a platform account -- stakeholders, clients, or collaborators -- by publishing it with a share link.
- On the artifact card, click the Publish button.
- A unique share link appears in a copyable text input next to the button (e.g.,
https://your-domain/shared/abc123...). - Copy the link and send it to anyone. They can view the artifact in their browser with full formatting -- charts, tables, KPI cards, images -- without logging in.
To revoke access, click Unpublish on the same card. The share link stops working immediately.
Published artifacts are great for recurring workflows. Run a weekly analytics workflow, publish the artifact, and share the same link each week -- stakeholders can bookmark it.
9. Download as PDF
Click the Download PDF button on any artifact card. The platform renders the artifact using its built-in template (report, brief, dashboard, or memo) and streams a PDF download to your browser. The PDF includes professional formatting with pagination, headers, footers, and rendered charts.
10. Save to your document library
How artifacts are saved depends on your project's Long-Term Memory configuration:
| Configuration | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Long-Term Memory enabled, Open knowledge source | Artifacts are automatically saved to your project's document library and classified into the knowledge graph. No action needed. |
| Long-Term Memory enabled, Curated knowledge source | A Save to Documents button appears on the artifact card. Click it to save and classify the artifact. |
| Long-Term Memory disabled | A Save to Documents button appears. The artifact is saved to the document library but not classified into the knowledge graph. |
Available section types
Artifacts support the following section types. The agent selects and populates these based on your task directive:
| Section type | What it renders |
|---|---|
| heading | Section heading (levels 1--3) |
| markdown | Prose content with full markdown formatting |
| table | Data table with headers, rows, and optional caption |
| kpi_row | Row of key metric cards with values, changes, and trend indicators |
| chart | Data visualization -- bar, line, pie, or area chart |
| callout | Highlighted notice box (info, warning, or success style) |
| divider | Horizontal rule separating sections |
| page_break | Forces a new page in the PDF export |
| image | Image with optional caption |
A cover page is auto-generated from the artifact's title and metadata -- you do not need to request it.
Tips
If an artifact is not quite right, tweak the task directive and re-run from that stage instead of re-running the entire workflow.
Use outcome routing to branch workflows based on data conditions, then produce different artifact types on each branch -- a detailed report for complex cases, a brief summary for simple ones.
You do not need to specify every section. A good task directive describes the goal and key requirements -- the agent decides how to structure the artifact. For example: "Create a quarterly performance dashboard highlighting the top 5 KPIs and any metrics that declined more than 10%."
What's next
- Monitor Runs to review past runs and their artifacts
- Reference: Artifacts for the full specification of section types, templates, and tool behavior
Learn more
- Reference: Assignments for all assignment capabilities
- Reference: Running Workflows for execution details