Modes

Agent Forge gives you two ways to work: Lite Mode for fast, conversational building and Workflow Mode for full visual workflow control. Both modes use the same Agent Forge foundation, but they are designed for different levels of structure, visibility, and production readiness.

Lite Mode is the fastest way to ask, prototype, and iterate. Workflow Mode is the full builder for designing, debugging, deploying, and operating production workflows.

Overview

Lite Mode is a chat-first workspace. You describe what you want, attach files or skills when needed, and let Agent Forge help you build from a simple conversation. It is designed for quick tasks, exploration, and users who do not want to manage a canvas directly.

Workflow Mode is the complete workflow builder. You work with blocks on a canvas, connect data between steps, configure execution paths, inspect logs, use the built-in copilot, and deploy workflows through APIs, chat interfaces, webhooks, and schedules.

Both modes are part of the same product experience:

• Lite Mode emphasizes speed, conversation, and guided assistance

• Workflow Mode emphasizes structure, control, repeatability, and production readiness

• Switching modes lets you move between simple prompting and detailed workflow engineering

• Mobile workspaces use the Lite experience to keep the interface focused and usable on smaller screens

Lite Mode

Lite Mode is the simplest way to use Agent Forge. Instead of starting with a blank workflow canvas, you start with a chat. You can ask Agent Forge for help, describe a task, attach context, and keep a history of conversations inside the workspace.

What Lite Mode Is Best For

Lite Mode is ideal when you want to move quickly:

• Quick AI tasks - Ask questions, draft content, summarize information, or reason through a problem without building a full workflow

• Early workflow discovery - Describe the automation you want before deciding how it should be structured

• Guided building - Let Agent Forge help you turn plain language into a more concrete plan

• Skill-based assistance - Attach selected skills to a message so the agent receives additional instructions and domain context

• File-assisted work - Include relevant files in a message when the task needs more context

• Lightweight iteration - Start a new chat, revisit previous conversations, and refine the request over time

Lite Mode Workspace

In Lite Mode, the workspace is centered around conversation:

• Chats — Create new conversations, open previous chats, rename threads, and continue work from earlier context.

• Message Area — Ask Agent Forge what you want to build, analyze, write, or automate.

• Skills — Attach reusable instructions to a specific message when the agent needs specialized guidance.

• Artifacts — Review generated outputs in a focused panel when the assistant creates richer results.

How Lite Mode Handles Work

Lite Mode keeps the interface intentionally direct. The agent stays in an ask-oriented experience, so the conversation remains the main control surface. This is useful when the task is still exploratory or when you want Agent Forge to help before you commit to a full workflow design.

1

Start with a request

Describe the outcome you want in natural language. This can be a simple question, a draft request, an automation idea, or a workflow concept.

2

Add context

Attach files or selected skills when the agent needs more information about your domain, process, or expected output.

3

Iterate in chat

Refine the result through follow-up messages. Lite Mode keeps the flow conversational so you can move quickly.

4

Switch when structure matters

When the task needs a repeatable workflow, visual block configuration, debugging, or deployment, switch into Workflow Mode.

Lite Mode Safety Model

Lite Mode is designed to keep high-impact actions clear. Read-only actions such as searching, listing, retrieving, or fetching data can run with less interruption. Mutating actions such as creating, updating, deleting, sending, posting, uploading, or changing environment variables are treated more carefully.

This keeps Lite Mode useful for fast work while making important changes visible before they happen. Examples include:

• Read operations - Search documentation, list files, read documents, fetch data, or query existing information

• Write operations - Send an email, update a document, append rows to a sheet, create a calendar event, post to Slack, or change external systems

• Unknown operations - Actions that are not clearly read-only default to a more cautious path

Lite Mode is best for guided interaction and fast iteration. For complex workflows, repeated production runs, or detailed data routing, use Workflow Mode.

Workflow Mode

Workflow Mode is the full Agent Forge workflow builder. It gives you direct access to the canvas, blocks, connections, templates, logs, debugging tools, deployment controls, and workflow configuration.

In Workflow Mode, you are not only asking Agent Forge for an answer. You are designing how a system should run.

What Workflow Mode Is Best For

Workflow Mode is ideal when your work needs structure:

• Production workflows - Build repeatable automations with explicit inputs, outputs, and execution paths

• Visual orchestration - Connect blocks on a canvas and control how data moves between them

• Multi-step logic - Add conditions, routers, loops, parallel branches, APIs, functions, tools, and response formatting

• Deployment - Expose workflows through APIs, chat deployments, webhooks, and schedules

• Debugging - Run workflows step-by-step, inspect block outputs, and understand where a workflow succeeds or fails

• Monitoring - Review logs, performance, cost, and execution history

• Templates - Start from pre-built templates or publish workflows for reuse

• YAML and JSON editing - Edit workflow structure directly when a text-based representation is more efficient

Workflow Mode Workspace

Workflow Mode exposes the full builder environment:

• Workflow Canvas — Drag blocks onto the canvas and connect them into a complete execution graph.

• Control Bar — Run, debug, duplicate, delete, export, auto-layout, publish, and manage workflow actions.

• Blocks Panel — Add agents, APIs, functions, routers, conditions, loops, parallel blocks, response blocks, and tools.

• Copilot Panel — Use the built-in copilot to help create, modify, explain, or improve workflows.

• Template Library — Start from existing workflow patterns instead of building every workflow from scratch.

• Logs and Debugging — Inspect workflow execution, block outputs, errors, timing, and cost information.

How Workflow Mode Handles Work

Workflow Mode makes the workflow explicit. Each block has a job, each connection controls data flow, and each execution can be inspected through logs and block states.

1

Design the workflow

Add blocks to represent each step of the process. Use Agent blocks for AI reasoning, API blocks for external services, Function blocks for custom logic, and orchestration blocks for control flow.

2

Connect the data

Pass outputs from one block into another using variable references and connection interfaces. This creates a clear data path through the workflow.

3

Test and debug

Run the workflow manually, inspect outputs, use debug controls, and adjust block configuration until the workflow behaves correctly.

4

Deploy and monitor

Deploy the workflow as an API, chat interface, webhook-driven automation, or scheduled job. Review logs and execution history as the workflow runs.

Key Differences

Lite Mode and Workflow Mode are not competing builders. They are different levels of control over the same platform.

Experience

Lite Mode uses a chat-centered interface where you interact through messages, files, skills, and conversation history.

Workflow Mode uses a visual workflow canvas where you place blocks, connect them, configure each step, and manage the full workflow lifecycle.

Control

Best Fit

Output

Lite Mode Emphasizes

Speed - Start working immediately without choosing blocks or configuring a canvas.

Conversation - Keep the request and result in a single chat flow.

Guidance - Ask Agent Forge to help reason through the work before you build it.

Low setup - Useful when the task is still small, unclear, or exploratory.

Focused interaction - Especially useful on mobile and smaller screens.

Workflow Mode Emphasizes

Structure - Represent each step as a block with clear inputs and outputs.

Repeatability - Run the same process reliably through manual execution, APIs, webhooks, or schedules.

Observability - Inspect logs, costs, block outputs, execution status, and errors.

Control - Configure models, tools, prompts, response schemas, routing, loops, custom code, and integrations.

Deployment - Turn a workflow into a production-ready interface or endpoint.

When to Use Each Mode

Use Lite Mode when:

• You want the fastest path from idea to result

• You are still figuring out what the workflow should do

• You need help drafting, researching, summarizing, or planning

• You want to attach a skill or file to a specific request

• You are working from a smaller screen

• You do not need a reusable workflow yet

Use Workflow Mode when:

• You need to build a workflow that runs more than once

• You need exact control over each step

• You need branching logic, loops, parallel execution, APIs, or custom code

• You need to deploy the workflow for other systems or users

• You need logs, debugging, cost visibility, or execution history

• You want to publish, duplicate, export, or manage workflow templates

Switching Between Modes

The mode switch appears in the workspace header on desktop. In Lite Mode, the button switches you into Workflow Mode. In Workflow Mode, the button switches you back to Lite.

Switching changes the interface you are working in:

• Switch to Workflow Mode opens the canvas-based workflow builder

• Switch to Lite returns to the chat-centered experience

• Lite Mode chats are kept separate from workflow-specific copilot chats

• Workflow Mode pages focus on workflows, templates, logs, and builder controls

If you are on a mobile device, Agent Forge uses the Lite Mode experience so the workspace remains focused and easy to navigate.

Block-Level Advanced Configuration

Workflow Mode also includes a smaller block-level concept: some blocks can switch between Basic Mode and Advanced Mode inside the block itself.

This is separate from the workspace-level Lite Mode and Workflow Mode switch.

Basic block configuration shows the most common fields for the block. It keeps setup fast and reduces noise when the default configuration is enough.

Advanced block configuration reveals additional fields for more exact control. These are often manual IDs, lower-level inputs, structured settings, or provider-specific options that are not needed for every workflow.

Examples of block-level advanced settings include:

• Manually entering a Google Docs document ID

• Manually entering a Google Sheets spreadsheet ID

• Providing a Slack channel ID directly

• Configuring structured starter input for manual runs

• Exposing provider-specific identifiers that are useful in production systems

Workflow Mode gives you the full workflow builder. Block-level Advanced Mode reveals additional configuration inside an individual block. They are related, but they are not the same switch.

Recommended Workflow

A common pattern is to start simple and increase control only when the work needs it:

1

Explore in Lite Mode

Use chat to describe the process, ask questions, attach context, and clarify what the workflow should accomplish.

2

Move to Workflow Mode

Switch to the workflow builder when the process needs repeatable execution, multiple blocks, integrations, or deployment.

3

Build the workflow

Add blocks, connect data, configure tools, define outputs, and test the workflow manually.

4

Refine with block advanced settings

Turn on block-level Advanced Mode only where additional control is needed.

5

Deploy and monitor

Expose the workflow through the right execution method and review logs as it runs.