Task types
A playbook is a step-by-step process. When you start it in a project you get a run, and a run is made of tasks — the individual steps a person or Florent works through. There are five task types. Some are done by a person; the rest run automatically.
This page explains what each type is, who does the work, and when a builder picks it. For how to actually fill in or upload a task, see Completing tasks. For how to approve what Florent produces, see Reviewing AI work.
The five types at a glance
Every task shares the same wrapper, whatever its type: a Name, a Description (the instructions whoever does it sees), an optional Group label that clusters related tasks, who it’s assigned to, whether it needs approval, and which tasks must finish first. Only the Configuration changes by type. Builders set all of this in the no-code editor.
A sixth entry, Form fill, also appears in the builder’s Add task menu. It’s a close relative of the others — covered at the end of this page.
Human tasks vs. automatic tasks
The single most useful thing to know about task types is who runs them:
- Form and File upload are human tasks. A person has to claim them and do the work. They appear in that person’s My work queue.
- Document, Action, and AI task are automatic. Florent or the playbook starts them by itself the moment they’re ready — you don’t (and can’t) “start” them.
Either way, a task only becomes Available once every task it waits for has finished. Until then it shows Blocked (shown as Waiting in the run). A blocked task early in a run is normal — it flips to Available on its own.
If an automatic task is just sitting there, check the run workspace — a task it waits for is probably still Blocked.
Form — a person fills fields
A Form task collects structured information from a person. Use it whenever someone needs to type in or confirm data: intake details, a decision, a manual record entry.
- Who does it: the assigned person. Not automatic.
- When it’s ready: as soon as its dependencies finish, it lands in the assignee’s My work under Available.
- What comes out: either the values the person submits, or a created/updated record — depending on how the builder set it up.
A builder configures a Form one of two ways:
Custom fields
Record type
The form has its own fields, used only by this task. The output is just the submitted values — no record is created. Use this for one-off inputs a later step will read.
Florent can pre-fill a form with suggestions (marked Suggested by AI) when the builder turns on Florent assist. You can accept, edit, or discard those suggestions — but a person always submits the form. Florent never completes a form on its own.
If the form writes to a record type, that record type has to exist first. When none exist, the builder’s picker says Create a record type in the Library — see Record types.
See Completing tasks for how to claim and submit a Form.
File upload — a person provides documents
A File upload task asks a person to upload one or more files. Use it whenever the process needs source documents from someone before anything can be read, extracted, or generated — for example “Upload the signed agreement” or “Upload the invoice PDFs.”
- Who does it: the assigned person. Not automatic.
- When it’s ready: when its dependencies finish.
- What comes out: the uploaded files, which become project files.
A builder sets up each upload field with a label, the allowed file types, a maximum size (50 MB by default), whether it’s required, and whether multiple files are allowed.
Uploaded files are project-wide. A file uploaded in one task is visible to every task in the run and to every other run in the same project — files belong to the project, not to a single task. This is what lets a later Document task read the files someone just uploaded.
See Completing tasks for how to upload and complete one. Files also live in the project’s Files pool.
Document — Florent reads files into records, facts, or annotations
A Document task is the workhorse for getting data out of documents. Florent reads one or more project files and — depending on configuration — writes structured records into a record type, answers specific questions, transcribes audio, or marks up PDFs. Pick it whenever the goal is to turn a pile of documents into clean, structured data.
- Who does it: Florent, automatically. The task says “Florent works on this automatically when it becomes available.” You can leave the page — the run keeps going and posts results here for review.
- When it’s ready: it auto-triggers once its dependencies finish.
While it runs, you’ll see progress states such as Reading document, Transcribing audio, or Filling the form. When Florent is done, the drafts park at Pending approval.
What the builder chooses
A Document task has two main decisions: where the files come from, and what to produce.
Where the files come from
- Attached files — files uploaded when the run starts.
- Files from another task — file output produced earlier in this run.
- Project files — files already on the project, optionally filtered by tag.
- Context path — file references carried in a run value.
What the step produces (Mode)
- Extract from each file — one record per file.
- Extract one combined result — read everything together, produce one record.
- Extract table rows — one record per table-like row in the document.
- Fill known context rows — extract values for a fixed list of rows the builder defines.
- Find facts — answer specific questions (each fact is a key plus a question). Results go to the run, not a record.
- Annotate PDF — produce marked-up PDF files from an annotation brief.
For the record-writing modes, the builder points the output at a record type. Florent fills exactly the fields defined on that record type — there’s no separate column-mapping step.
What you get and what you must do
For the record-writing modes, nothing is saved automatically. Florent produces drafts that wait at Pending approval. An approver opens the drafts panel, checks each value against its source citation, then edits, approves, rejects, or discards. Approval is the only thing that writes records into the project.
A record-writing Document task can’t be activated without approval turned on. Approval is the gate that writes records — by design, there’s no way to skip it.
On approval, the records appear in the run summary’s Records created section and on the record type. The diagnostic modes — Find facts and Annotate PDF — don’t write records, so they can finish without the records-approval flow.
Florent can read text files, PDFs, and Word (.docx) files. It can’t read an image-only file, a .doc, or a corrupt or password-protected PDF — those fail with a clear message before any AI work happens.
The approval and review steps are owned by Reviewing AI work. For the standalone equivalent — extracting across hundreds of files at once — see Extract data.
Action — runs a packaged automation
An Action task runs a pre-built automation from the Actions library — extracting fields from files, generating documents from records, or filling forms. Pick it when a packaged automation already does the job and you want it to run automatically inside the flow.
- Who does it: automatic. The task says “This task is handled by the playbook.” No one starts it.
- When it’s ready: it auto-triggers once its dependencies finish.
- What comes out: whatever the action produces, shown in the task panel if the builder turned on Show output for review.
The builder picks the action, maps each of its inputs to a value produced earlier in the run, and can set retry-on-failure rules. If a required input can’t be resolved, the task fails and names the missing value.
You can also run an action directly over many of a project’s files or records at once, outside any playbook — that’s a batch action run, launched from a project’s Project actions tab.
To build the underlying actions, see Extract data and Document templates.
AI task — Florent does open-ended work
An AI task is a free-form step you hand to Florent. The builder writes a prompt describing what to do; Florent works through it — searching records, reading files, running actions, leaving comments — and returns text or structured output.
- Who does it: Florent, automatically. The task says “Florent works on this automatically when it becomes available.”
- When it’s ready: it auto-triggers once its dependencies finish.
- What comes out: free text or structured output. If Florent wrote any records, or the task needs approval, it parks at Pending approval and nothing downstream can use the result until an approver accepts it — the same drafts-review flow as a Document task.
The builder sets the prompt, the model, and a turn limit, and grants Florent the capabilities it’s allowed to use. Anything that writes records is staged as drafts and forces approval.
Pick an AI task for judgment or multi-step work that isn’t a clean “extract into a record type” — summarizing, cross-referencing a contract against a customer record, drafting a comment, or chaining a few tools together. Pick Document instead when the job is specifically reading files into a record type, and Action when a packaged automation already exists.
Form fill — Florent fills a blank form
Form fill is the sixth entry in the Add task menu. Florent takes a blank PDF or image form, fills it with the run’s values, and parks the completed file for approval. It’s a close relative of the Document and Action types — Florent does the work automatically, and a person approves the result before it counts. Use it when you have a fixed form template that needs the run’s data dropped into it.
Which type should a builder pick?
A person types in or confirms structured information
Form — intake details, a decision, manual record entry. Add a record type if the form should create or update real data.
A person needs to provide source documents
File upload — the source files a later step will read, extract, or generate from.
Turn documents into records, transcribe, answer fixed questions, or mark up PDFs
Document — Florent reads the files and drafts the results for review.
Run a packaged automation automatically in the flow
Action — when an extract, generate, or fill automation already exists in the library.
Open-ended AI work, judgment, or multi-step reasoning
AI task — for work that doesn’t fit a clean extraction, with light tool use.
Drop the run's values into a blank PDF or image form
Form fill — Florent fills the form and parks it for approval.
Where to go next
Add tasks, set their order, and configure each type in the no-code editor.
Claim, fill, and submit Form and File upload tasks.
Approve, correct, or reject the drafts a Document or AI task produces.
Who owns a task and who signs it off.