Create Workflow

Objective

Create effective Workflows for Antigravity that enable users to trigger reusable prompts with /workflow-name (or just slash command) syntax. Workflows are saved as Markdown files that expand as prompts in the current conversation, allowing teams to standardize processes.

Workflows can be global (available everywhere in ~/.agent/workflows/) or project-specific (shared with team in .agent/workflows/). This skill teaches you to structure workflows with proper formatting, YAML frontmatter, dynamic context loading, and intelligent argument handling.

CRITICAL WORKFLOW: This skill enforces a mandatory research phase where you MUST:

1. Read all resource documentation
2. Examine existing workflows for patterns
3. Understand syntax and best practices
4. Only then create the workflow

This prevents poorly-structured workflows and ensures consistency with established patterns.

Quick Start

Workflow

1. Create .agent/workflows/ directory (project) or use ~/.agent/workflows/ (personal)
2. Create workflow-name.md file
3. Add YAML frontmatter (at minimum: description)
4. Write workflow prompt
5. Test with /workflow-name [args]

Example

File: .agent/workflows/optimize.md

---
description: Analyze this code for performance issues and suggest optimizations
---

Analyze the performance of this code and suggest three specific optimizations:

Usage: /optimize or /optimize file.ts

Antigravity receives the expanded prompt and analyzes the code in context.

Markdown Structure

Workflows should use Standard Markdown headings in the body (after YAML frontmatter).

Format choice: Antigravity workflows work best with clear Markdown headers.

Required Structure

## Objective - What the workflow does and why it matters

## Objective

What needs to happen and why this matters.
Context about who uses this and what it accomplishes.

## Process - How to execute the workflow

## Process

1. First step
2. Second step
3. Final step

## Assessment - How to know the workflow succeeded

## Assessment

- Clear, measurable criteria for successful completion.

Conditional Sections

## Context - When loading dynamic state or files

## Context

Current state: ! `git status`
Relevant files: @ package.json

## Verification - When producing artifacts that need checking

## Verification

Before completing, verify:

- Specific test or check to perform
- How to confirm it works

Automation Tags

// turbo - Auto-run a single command step Place on the line immediately before a numbered step involving run_command.

// turbo 3. Create directory

// turbo-all - Auto-run ALL command steps in the workflow Place anywhere in the file (recommend top of body).

// turbo-all

## Process

...

Intelligence Rules

Simple workflows (single operation, no artifacts):

• Required: ## Objective, ## Process, ## Assessment

Complex workflows (multi-step, produces artifacts):

• Be explicit in ## Process
• Use ## Context to load state

Workflows with dynamic arguments:

• Use #$ARGUMENTS in text
• Include argument-hint in frontmatter

Arguments Intelligence

The skill should intelligently determine whether a workflow needs arguments.

Workflows That Need Arguments

User provides specific input:

• /fix-issue [issue-number] - Needs issue number
• /review-pr [pr-number] - Needs PR number
• /optimize [file-path] - Needs file to optimize
• /commit [type] - Needs commit type (optional)

Pattern: Task operates on user-specified data Include argument-hint: [description] in frontmatter and reference #$ARGUMENTS in the body.

Workflows Without Arguments

Self-contained procedures:

• /check-todos - Operates on known file (TO-DOS.md)
• /first-principles - Operates on current conversation
• /whats-next - Analyzes current context

Pattern: Task operates on implicit context (current conversation, known files, project state) Omit argument-hint and don't reference #$ARGUMENTS.

Incorporating Arguments

In ## Objective section:

## Objective

Fix issue #$ARGUMENTS following project conventions.

In ## Process section:

## Process

1. Understand issue #$ARGUMENTS from issue tracker
2. Locate relevant code
3. Implement fix
4. Add tests

In ## Context section:

## Context

Issue details: @ issues/#$ARGUMENTS.md
Related files: ! `grep -r "TODO.*#$ARGUMENTS" src/`

Positional Arguments

For structured input, use $1, $2, $3:

---
argument-hint: <pr-number> <priority> <assignee>
---

## Objective

Review PR #$1 with priority $2 and assign to $3.

Usage: /review-pr 456 high alice

File Structure

Project workflows: .agent/workflows/ (in project root)

• Shared with team via version control
• Project-specific workflows
• Shows (project) in /help list
• Committed to git for team use

Global workflows: ~/.agent/workflows/ (user home directory)

• Available across all your projects
• Personal productivity workflows
• Shows (user) in /help list
• Not shared with team

File naming: workflow-name.md → invoked as /workflow-name

Choosing between global and project:

• Use global for: Personal workflows, general utilities, workflows you use everywhere
• Use project for: Team workflows, project-specific operations, shared conventions

YAML Frontmatter

Field: description

Required - Describes what the workflow does

description: Analyze this code for performance issues and suggest optimizations

Shown in the /help command list.

Field: allowed-tools

Optional - Restricts which tools Antigravity can use. NOTE: Ensure tool names match Antigravity's available tools.

• run_command (Shell)
• view_file (Read)
• replace_file_content (Edit)
• grep_search (Grep)
• list_dir (Ls)

allowed-tools: [run_command, view_file]

Arguments Usage

All Arguments String

Use #$ARGUMENTS to capture all arguments strings.

Workflow file: .agent/workflows/fix-issue.md

---
description: Fix issue following coding standards
---

Fix issue #$ARGUMENTS following our coding standards

Usage: /fix-issue 123 high-priority Antigravity receives: "Fix issue #123 high-priority following our coding standards"

Positional Arguments Syntax

Use $1, $2 for split arguments.

Workflow file: .agent/workflows/review-pr.md

---
description: Review PR with priority and assignee
---

Review PR #$1 with priority $2 and assign to $3

Usage: /review-pr 456 high alice Antigravity receives: "Review PR #456 with priority high and assign to alice"

See resources/arguments.md for advanced patterns.

Dynamic Context

Execute bash commands before the prompt using the exclamation mark prefix directly before backticks (no space between).

Note: Examples below show a space after the exclamation mark to prevent execution during skill loading. In actual workflows, remove the space.

Example:

---
description: Create a git commit
---

## Context

- Current git status: ! `git status`
- Current git diff: ! `git diff HEAD`
- Current branch: ! `git branch --show-current`
- Recent commits: ! `git log --oneline -10`

## Your task

Based on the above changes, create a single git commit.

The bash commands execute and their output is included in the expanded prompt.

File References

Use @ prefix to reference specific files:

---
description: Review implementation
---

Review the implementation in @ src/utils/helpers.js

(Note: Remove the space after @ in actual usage)

Antigravity can access the referenced file's contents.

Best Practices

1. Always use Markdown Headers

# Antigravity workflows use standard Markdown structure

After frontmatter, use headers:

• ## Objective - What and why (always)
• ## Process - How to do it (always)
• ## Assessment - Definition of done (always)
• Additional sections as needed

2. Clear descriptions Write descriptive summaries for the /help list.

3. Use dynamic context for state-dependent tasks Load fresh status for git ops or tests.

4. Restrict tools when appropriate Use allowed-tools if you want to strictly limit capability (e.g. read-only analysis).

5. Use #$ARGUMENTS for flexibility Let users specify files or IDs at runtime.

6. Reference relevant files Use @filename to load context automatically.

Generation Protocol

Step 0: Mandatory Research

CRITICAL: Complete this research phase BEFORE proceeding to any other steps.

You MUST read and understand these materials before creating any workflow:

1. Read ALL resource files in order: Use the view_file tool to read these files:

• resources/prompt-examples.md - Real-world patterns and examples
• resources/patterns.md - Verified workflow patterns
• resources/arguments.md - Argument handling examples
• resources/tool-restrictions.md - Tool restriction patterns

2. Examine existing workflows: Use list_dir to find existing workflows:

ls .agent/workflows/

Then view_file 2-3 relevant existing workflows.

3. Identify the right pattern: Based on the user's request, match it to one of these patterns from prompt-examples.md:

• Pattern 1: Numbered workflow (git ops, CI) - for multi-step processes
• Pattern 2: Reference/docs (CLI wrappers) - for command documentation
• Pattern 3: Section-based analysis (research, investigation) - for analysis tasks
• Subagent patterns: For workflows that launch other tools

4. Check for similar existing workflows: Before creating a new workflow, check if a similar one already exists.

Step 1: Analyze Request

Analyze the user's request to understand what they want:

• What is the workflow's purpose?
• Does it need user input (#$ARGUMENTS)?
• Does it produce files or artifacts?
• Does it require verification or testing?
• Is it simple (single-step) or complex (multi-step)?

Step 2: Ask Questions If Needed

INTELLIGENCE RULE: Only ask questions if critical information is truly missing. If the request is clear, skip directly to scope and format questions.

Step 2b: Ask Scope

ALWAYS ask about scope unless explicitly specified in the request: Use notify_user:

• question: "Where should this workflow be available?"
• options:
  • "Global (all projects)" - description: "Saved to ~/.agent/workflows/"
  • "Project only" - description: "Saved to .agent/workflows/"

Detection rules:

• If request says "global workflow" → Skip, use global scope
• If request says "project workflow" or "team workflow" → Skip, use project scope
• Otherwise → ALWAYS ask

Step 3: Choose Format

Determine format based on existing patterns:

Recommendation:

• Antigravity prefers standard Markdown headers (## Objective, ## Process) for all workflows.

Step 4: Create Frontmatter

Create YAML frontmatter based on gathered information:

---
name: workflow-name
description: Clear description of what it does
argument-hint: [input] # Only if arguments needed
allowed-tools: [...] # Only if tool restrictions needed
---