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Stages

Each stage defines what the agent does during that phase of work.

Stage Properties

PropertyDescription
NameShort identifier (e.g., “Triage”, “RCA”, “Fix”). Must be unique within a project.
InstructionsDetailed prompt for the agent — what to do, what to look for, what outputs to produce. Supports the / slash command to insert playbook prompts.
TypeEntry (starting point), Work (intermediate), or Terminal (end point).
Auto-approveIf enabled, transitions out of this stage happen without human approval.
Approver configWho can approve: Player (agent suggests based on code ownership) or Individuals (specific team members).
Archive configHow completed threads are archived: Never, Manual, or Automatic (after N days).
Ask a humanOptional guidance on when the agent should stop and escalate to a person.

Stage Types

  • Entry: Work can start here. A workflow can have multiple entry stages.
  • Work: Intermediate stages where processing happens. Requires incoming and outgoing transitions.
  • Terminal: Final stage. No outgoing transitions. Work concludes here.

Using Stages to Trigger Integration Actions

If your project has connectors enabled (e.g., Jira, Linear, Slack), the AI agent can use those integrations as part of any stage. Write stage instructions that tell the agent when and how to use them. Examples:
  • Create a Jira ticket after triage: “After completing your analysis, create a Jira ticket in the PROJ project summarizing the issue, severity, and recommended fix. Include code references.”
  • Post to Slack: “Notify the #engineering channel in Slack with a summary of your findings.”
  • Update a Linear issue: “Update the linked Linear issue with your root cause analysis and change the status to In Progress.”
The agent automatically has access to all connected integrations — you don’t need to configure anything beyond writing clear instructions in the stage’s instruction field. The agent decides how to use the tools based on your instructions and the conversation context.
Integration actions require the relevant connector to be set up at the project or organization level. See Connectors for setup guides.

Transitions

Transitions define the allowed paths between stages.

Creating a Transition

In the workflow builder, draw a connection from one stage to another. A dialog will prompt you to describe the transition conditions — the rules that tell the agent when to take this path.

Transition Conditions

Each transition includes an instruction field. Write specific conditions, not vague ones:
  • Good: “Promote to Fix when root cause has been clearly identified, the issue requires code changes, and failing scenarios demonstrate the bug.”
  • Avoid: “Move to the next stage when ready.”
The agent uses these conditions to decide which transition to request.

Approvals

Auto-approve vs. Manual

  • Auto-approve on: The agent transitions immediately when it determines the stage work is complete.
  • Auto-approve off (default): The agent requests the transition and waits for a human to approve.
When a human reviews a transition request, they are approving the work completed in the current stage — confirming the agent’s output meets expectations before it moves on.

Approver Configuration

  • Player: The agent suggests an approver based on context (e.g., who last modified the affected code). Any project member can approve.
  • Individuals: Specific team members are designated as approvers for that stage. Only they can approve.

Archival

Archive Modes

ModeBehavior
NeverThread is never auto-archived from this stage
ManualUsers can archive threads manually from the thread title bar or the inbox
AutomaticThreads are archived after a configurable number of days (1, 7, 14, or 30)
Archiving marks a thread with an archived flag — it does not move the thread to a different stage. Archived threads can be viewed using the Archived filter in the inbox, with sub-filters for Manually Archived and Automatically Archived. Archived threads can be restored at any time.

Workflow Versioning

Workflows use a draft and publish lifecycle:
  • Draft — Edit stages, transitions, and rules without affecting running work. Changes are saved to the draft.
  • Publish — When the draft is ready, publish it to make it the active version. New work uses the published version.
  • Version history — PlayerZero keeps every published version. Review past versions and roll back to a previous one when needed.
The inbox, monitors, and ticketing resolve against the published version of each workflow.

Starting from a Template

PlayerZero ships with built-in workflow templates you can use as starting points: Documentation, Engineering Scoping, L1 Support, PR Review, Product Scoping, QA Testing, and SRE Alert Response. Create a new workflow from a template, then adjust the stages to fit how your team works. You can also create a workflow by importing one — from a JSON export or from another project’s published workflow.

The Workflow Builder

The visual editor for designing workflows. Access it from Project Settings → Workflows in your project, then open a workflow to edit its stages and transitions on the canvas.

Canvas

  • Drag and drop stage nodes to arrange the layout
  • Draw connections between stages to create transitions
  • Click a stage to view or edit its properties in a side panel
  • Click an edge to view or edit the transition rule
Lists all stages grouped by type (Entry, Work, Terminal) with buttons to add new stages.

Validation

The builder displays warning indicators on stages that are missing:
  • Incoming connections (no way to reach this stage)
  • Outgoing transitions (non-terminal stage with no next steps)

Toolbar

  • Zoom in/out and fit view
  • Reorganize — auto-arrange stages in a hierarchical layout
  • Delete all — reset the workflow. A confirmation dialog prompts you to download a backup before deleting (enabled by default). The backup is a JSON file containing all stages, transitions, agent rules, and layout positions — the same format used by the Export button. Uncheck the backup option if you don’t need it.

Deleting a Stage

When you delete a stage that has active threads, you’ll be prompted to choose a destination stage. All threads currently in the deleted stage are moved to the destination, and any pending transition requests targeting the deleted stage are automatically redirected. If some threads fail to transition (for example, due to a network issue or a stuck session), the dialog shows which threads failed and why. You can retry the operation, or click Delete Anyway to remove the stage regardless — threads that couldn’t be moved will remain in their current state and can be reassigned manually.

Export & Import

Export your workflow as JSON (stages, transitions, agent rules, layout positions). Import into other projects to replicate workflows across your organization. You can also import directly from another project’s published workflow, so a process proven in one project can be reused in another without exporting a file first. When importing into a project that already has stages, the import dialog detects conflicting stage names and lets you resolve each one individually:
  • Merge — Overwrites the existing stage with the imported definition
  • Create Copy — Imports the stage as a new stage with an auto-generated unique name (e.g., “Triage (1)”)
When conflicts are found, all are initially set to Merge. You can change individual stages to Copy, or use the bulk action buttons to set all conflicts to the same resolution at once. Stages that don’t conflict with existing names are imported automatically without prompting.

The Workflow Inbox

The inbox is the operational view for managing active threads across your workflow. For full documentation, see Workflow Inbox.
  • Monitors — Set up automated checks that can trigger workflow stages on failure