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Workflows

Workflows: Load Related Resources Instantly

Workflows let you instantly load groups of related files, agents, and skills with a single click. Instead of manually searching and opening multiple resources, workflows bring everything you need directly to your AI assistant.

What are Workflows?

A workflow is a saved collection of resources defined by tags. When you load a workflow, Contextium finds all files, agents, and skills that have all the workflow's tags and makes them instantly available to Claude or other AI assistants.

Think of workflows as: Preset workspaces for specific tasks or contexts.

Why Use Workflows?

Save Time

  • Before: Search for "email template", find the file, open it, search for "email agent", find it, open it, repeat...
  • After: Click "Email Marketing" workflow → Everything loads instantly

Stay Organized

  • Group related resources by project, feature, or task
  • Switch contexts quickly without losing focus
  • Keep AI assistants focused on relevant information only

Team Consistency

  • Share workflows across your team
  • Everyone accesses the same resources for the same tasks
  • Reduce "which docs do I need?" questions

How Workflows Work

Workflows use AND logic with tags:

  1. You create a workflow and select tags (e.g., category:email, team:marketing)
  2. When you load the workflow, Contextium finds resources that have ALL selected tags
  3. Those resources (files, agents, skills) are loaded into your MCP server
  4. Claude can now access them without you manually loading each one

Example:

Workflow: "Email Marketing"
Tags: category:email, team:marketing

Finds:
✅ Email_Templates.md (tags: category:email, team:marketing)
✅ Email_Agent (tags: category:email, team:marketing)
✅ Email_Formatter_Skill (tags: category:email, team:marketing)
❌ API_Documentation.md (tags: category:api, team:engineering) - doesn't match

Common Use Cases

1. Project-Based Work

Scenario: You're working on the checkout feature

Workflow Setup:

  • Name: "Checkout Development"
  • Tags: project:checkout, status:active

What Loads:

  • Checkout architecture docs
  • Payment integration guides
  • Checkout agent (if you have one)
  • Relevant API documentation

Benefit: All checkout context in one click

2. AI Agent + Supporting Docs

Scenario: You have an email marketing agent that needs templates and guidelines

Workflow Setup:

  • Name: "Email Marketing"
  • Tags: category:email, team:marketing

What Loads:

  • Email marketing agent
  • Email templates library
  • Brand guidelines
  • Compliance requirements

Benefit: Agent gets everything it needs to write on-brand emails

3. Onboarding New Team Members

Scenario: New developers need specific setup guides

Workflow Setup:

  • Name: "Engineering Onboarding"
  • Tags: team:engineering, category:onboarding

What Loads:

  • Development environment setup
  • Code review guidelines
  • Architecture overview
  • Testing standards

Benefit: One-click access to everything new hires need

4. Customer Support Context

Scenario: Support team needs product docs and troubleshooting guides

Workflow Setup:

  • Name: "Customer Support"
  • Tags: team:support, status:published

What Loads:

  • Product documentation
  • Common issues troubleshooting
  • Support response templates
  • Feature FAQ

Benefit: Support agents get instant answers

5. API Development

Scenario: Building a new API endpoint

Workflow Setup:

  • Name: "API Development"
  • Tags: category:api, team:backend

What Loads:

  • API design standards
  • Authentication documentation
  • Error handling patterns
  • API testing guides

Benefit: Consistent API implementation

6. Content Creation

Scenario: Writing blog posts or documentation

Workflow Setup:

  • Name: "Content Writing"
  • Tags: category:content, team:marketing

What Loads:

  • Writing style guide
  • SEO guidelines
  • Brand voice documentation
  • Content templates

Benefit: On-brand content every time

Creating a Workflow

Step 1: Plan Your Tags

Before creating a workflow, decide which tags define your resource group:

Questions to ask:

  • What project/feature is this for? → project:checkout
  • Which team owns this? → team:engineering
  • What type of content? → category:api
  • What's the status? → status:active

Example:

Email Marketing Workflow:
✓ category:email
✓ team:marketing
✓ status:published

Step 2: Tag Your Resources

Make sure your files, agents, and skills have the right tags:

  1. Navigate to Tags page
  2. Find or create the tags you need
  3. Apply tags to relevant files/agents/skills

Tip: Use the tags page to see which resources already have which tags.

Step 3: Create the Workflow

  1. Navigate to Workflows page
  2. Click New Workflow
  3. Enter workflow details:
    • Name: Short, descriptive (e.g., "Email Marketing")
    • Description: What this workflow loads (optional)
    • Tags: Select all tags that define this group
  4. Click Create

Your workflow is now ready to use!

Step 4: Load the Workflow

From Claude Desktop or Code:

# List available workflows
npx @contextium/mcp-server list-workflows

# Load a workflow by ID
npx @contextium/mcp-server load-workflow <workflow-id>

Or in Claude, just ask:

"Load the Email Marketing workflow"

Claude will load all matching files, agents, and skills automatically!

Managing Workflows

Edit a Workflow

  1. Navigate to Workflows page
  2. Click the Edit icon on a workflow
  3. Update name, description, or tags
  4. Click Update

Changes apply immediately - next time you load the workflow, it uses the new tags.

Delete a Workflow

  1. Navigate to Workflows page
  2. Click the Delete icon on a workflow
  3. Confirm deletion

Deleting a workflow doesn't delete the resources (files/agents/skills), just the workflow configuration.

View Workflow Resources

To see what a workflow will load before using it:

  1. Navigate to Workflows page
  2. The card shows tag count
  3. (Future feature: Click to preview resources)

Workflow Best Practices

1. Use Specific Tag Combinations

Bad:

Tags: category:documentation
→ Loads ALL documentation (hundreds of files)

Good:

Tags: category:documentation, project:checkout, status:published
→ Loads only published checkout documentation

2. Create Workflows for Frequent Tasks

If you repeatedly access the same set of resources, create a workflow:

✅ Daily standup prep → Workflow ✅ Code review checklist → Workflow ✅ Customer onboarding → Workflow ❌ One-time research → Just search manually

3. Name Workflows Clearly

Bad names:

  • "Project 1"
  • "Docs"
  • "Stuff"

Good names:

  • "Email Marketing Campaign"
  • "Checkout Feature Development"
  • "Engineering Onboarding"

4. Document Workflow Purpose

Use the description field to explain:

  • What resources this loads
  • When to use this workflow
  • Who should use it

Example:

Name: API Development Standards
Description: Loads all API design docs, auth guides, and testing
patterns for backend engineers building new endpoints.

5. Review and Update Regularly

Every quarter:

  • Review workflows - are they still needed?
  • Update tags if resources changed
  • Delete unused workflows
  • Create new workflows for emerging patterns

6. Share Workflows Across Team

Workflows are workspace-wide, so:

  • Create workflows for common team tasks
  • Document workflows in your team handbook
  • Train new hires on key workflows

Tag Strategy for Workflows

To make workflows effective, use a consistent tagging strategy:

Recommended Tag Types

Project Tags:

project:checkout
project:authentication
project:dashboard

Category Tags:

category:api
category:documentation
category:guide
category:reference

Team Tags:

team:engineering
team:product
team:support
team:marketing

Status Tags:

status:active
status:published
status:archived
status:draft

Tag Combination Patterns

Project + Status:

project:checkout + status:active
→ Current checkout work

Category + Team:

category:api + team:backend
→ Backend API documentation

Project + Category + Team:

project:mobile-app + category:guide + team:ios
→ iOS development guides for mobile app

Workflows vs. Search

When to use Workflows:

  • Repeated access to same resource groups
  • Loading resources into AI assistants
  • Switching between predefined contexts
  • Team-wide standardized resource sets

When to use Search:

  • One-time lookups
  • Exploring unfamiliar content
  • Finding resources by keyword
  • Discovering new resources

Best approach: Use both!

  • Create workflows for frequent tasks
  • Use search for everything else

Workflows + MCP

Workflows are especially powerful with the Model Context Protocol (MCP):

Traditional Approach

You: "Claude, help me write an email campaign"
Claude: "I don't have context about your email templates"
You: [Search for email template]
You: [Open email template file]
You: [Copy and paste to Claude]
Claude: "Now I can help!"

Workflows Approach

You: "Load Email Marketing workflow"
Claude: [Automatically loads templates, guidelines, and agent]
You: "Help me write an email campaign"
Claude: "Based on your templates and brand guidelines..."

Result: 10x faster context switching

Troubleshooting

"Workflow loads no resources"

Cause: No resources have ALL the workflow's tags (AND logic)

Solution:

  1. Check workflow tags
  2. Verify resources have all those tags
  3. Adjust tags or workflow definition

"Workflow loads too many resources"

Cause: Tags are too broad

Solution:

  • Add more specific tags to workflow
  • Use 3-4 tags instead of 1-2
  • Example: category:api → category:api + project:checkout + status:published

"Can't find my workflow"

Cause: Workflows are workspace-specific

Solution:

  • Verify you're in the correct workspace
  • Check if workflow was deleted
  • Recreate if needed

Examples by Industry

SaaS Company

Workflow: "Feature Launch Checklist"
Tags: project:new-feature, category:checklist, status:active

Loads:
- Feature spec document
- QA testing checklist
- Release notes template
- Marketing launch plan

Consulting Firm

Workflow: "Client Onboarding"
Tags: category:onboarding, team:consulting, status:published

Loads:
- Client intake form
- Project kickoff template
- Consulting playbook
- Contract templates

E-commerce

Workflow: "Product Launch"
Tags: project:product-launch, category:template, team:product

Loads:
- Product description template
- Launch checklist
- Marketing email templates
- Product photography guidelines

Healthcare

Workflow: "Patient Care Guidelines"
Tags: category:clinical, team:nursing, status:approved

Loads:
- Clinical protocols
- Treatment guidelines
- Medication reference
- Patient education materials

Advanced Use Cases

Multi-Team Workflows

Create workflows that span teams:

Workflow: "Feature Development Cycle"
Tags: project:new-feature, status:active

Loads for everyone:
- Engineering specs (team:engineering)
- Design mockups (team:design)
- QA test plans (team:qa)
- Launch plan (team:marketing)

Dynamic Agent Context

Give AI agents different context based on task:

Support Agent + "Billing Issues" workflow
→ Loads billing docs, payment troubleshooting

Support Agent + "Technical Issues" workflow
→ Loads technical docs, debugging guides

Compliance & Audit Trails

Track which resources are accessed:

Workflow: "HIPAA Compliance Review"
Tags: category:compliance, regulation:hipaa, status:current

Ensures reviewers access current, approved docs only

Next Steps

Pro Tip: Start with 1-2 workflows for your most common tasks. Once you see the time savings, expand to more workflows!

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