> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.meetgail.com/platform/workflows/core-concepts/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.meetgail.com/_mcp/server.

# Core Concepts

> The building blocks behind every workflow, from nodes and variables to secrets, triggers, and templates.

Once you have built a workflow or two, a handful of ideas explain how everything
fits together. This section covers the concepts that show up again and again:
how steps connect and pass data, how to compute values on the fly, how to keep
sensitive information safe, how a workflow gets started, and how to test it
before you rely on it.

You do not need to read these in order. Start with whatever you are trying to
do and follow the links from there.

## The essentials

#### [Nodes & Connections](/platform/workflows/core-concepts/nodes-connections)

How steps and the arrows between them form a workflow.

#### [Variables & Data Flow](/platform/workflows/core-concepts/variables-data-flow)

How data travels from one step to the next as a run proceeds.

#### [Expressions](/platform/workflows/core-concepts/expressions)

Build text and compute values from the data your steps produce.

#### [Configuration](/platform/workflows/core-concepts/configuration)

Keep your agency's shared settings in one place and read them from any step.

#### [Secrets](/platform/workflows/core-concepts/secrets)

Store API keys and passwords safely and reference them by name.

## Running and starting workflows

#### [Starting a Workflow](/platform/workflows/core-concepts/starting-a-workflow)

Define the information a run needs, including file attachments.

#### [Triggers & Webhooks](/platform/workflows/core-concepts/triggers-webhooks)

Start a workflow from another system, a form submission, a Facebook lead, or a Gail call.

#### [Timeouts & Retries](/platform/workflows/core-concepts/timeouts-retries)

What happens when a step is slow or fails.

#### [Testing & Debugging](/platform/workflows/core-concepts/testing-debugging)

Step through a run and watch what each step does.

## Reuse

#### [Templates](/platform/workflows/core-concepts/templates)

Save a workflow's design and reuse it as a starting point.

> Documentation for Gail, the AI platform for financial services. Learn how to set up GailGPT and Gail Agent to automate customer communications for insurance, banking, and finance.

## Docs

- [Nodes & Connections](https://docs.meetgail.com/platform/workflows/core-concepts/nodes-connections.md): How individual steps and the arrows between them combine into a workflow.
- [Variables & Data Flow](https://docs.meetgail.com/platform/workflows/core-concepts/variables-data-flow.md): How data moves from one step to the next as a workflow runs.
- [Expressions](https://docs.meetgail.com/platform/workflows/core-concepts/expressions.md): Build text and compute values on the fly from the data your steps produce.
- [String Templates](https://docs.meetgail.com/platform/workflows/core-concepts/expressions/string-templates.md): Compose text with live values dropped in, and repeat text for every item in a list.
- [Using Expressions in Nodes](https://docs.meetgail.com/platform/workflows/core-concepts/expressions/using-expressions-in-nodes.md): Calculate, compare, and choose between values using CEL, the expression language behind workflows.
- [Function Reference](https://docs.meetgail.com/platform/workflows/core-concepts/expressions/function-reference.md): The functions you can call inside an expression, from text checks to phone-number formatting.
- [Configuration](https://docs.meetgail.com/platform/workflows/core-concepts/configuration.md): Keep your agency's shared settings in one place and read them by name from any workflow.
- [Secrets](https://docs.meetgail.com/platform/workflows/core-concepts/secrets.md): Store API keys, passwords, and tokens safely and reference them in a workflow by name.
- [Starting a Workflow](https://docs.meetgail.com/platform/workflows/core-concepts/starting-a-workflow.md): Define the information a run needs to begin, including optional file attachments.
- [Triggers & Webhooks](https://docs.meetgail.com/platform/workflows/core-concepts/triggers-webhooks.md): Start a published workflow from another system, a JotForm or Google Form submission, or a Facebook lead ad.
- [Timeouts & Retries](https://docs.meetgail.com/platform/workflows/core-concepts/timeouts-retries.md): What happens when a step is slow, hangs, or fails while a workflow runs.
- [Testing & Debugging](https://docs.meetgail.com/platform/workflows/core-concepts/testing-debugging.md): Step through a run one node at a time, stop at chosen nodes, stand in for a node's result, and follow a run's progress from start to finish.
- [Templates](https://docs.meetgail.com/platform/workflows/core-concepts/templates.md): Save a workflow's design and reuse it as the starting point for new workflows.