Set a workflow to Public when other members of the same workspace should be able to discover and run the same procedure. Keep it Private while it is personal, experimental, or contains material the workspace should not share.
Publishing a workflow shares its instruction and attached reference files. It does not share the creator's private chats, connected accounts, credentials, or personal permission grants.
Before you publish
Confirm that:
- the workflow produces a useful result with more than one realistic input;
- its description clearly says when to use it;
- the instruction contains no token, password, customer secret, or unnecessary personal data;
- attached files are safe for every workspace member to view;
- the owning agent is public and available to the intended members;
- approval rules are explicit for sending, publishing, deleting, purchasing, or changing external data.
Every workflow belongs to exactly one agent. A public workflow on an agent that teammates cannot access is not a useful team workflow.
Make a workflow public
- Open Workflows.
- Select the workflow you want to share.
- Review its Name, Description, Instructions, and attached files.
- Under Visibility, choose Public or select Make workflow public.
- Confirm the change.
The workflow now becomes part of the workspace's shared workflow library. If the workflow belongs to an agent you do not own, an organization Admin may need to publish it.
Public versus private
| Visibility | Who can see and use it | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Private | The workflow owner within its agent context | Drafts, personal methods, experiments, and sensitive reference material |
| Public | Workspace members who can access the owning agent | Reviewed team procedures, approved templates, and recurring cross-functional work |
Public means public inside the workspace. It does not create an unauthenticated web page or publish the workflow to the open internet.
How teammates run it
Members can use a public workflow from the owning agent's chat in two ways:
- enter its slash command, such as
/qualify-inbound-lead; - ask for the task in natural language when the workflow description clearly matches the request.
In Slack, mention Okou and include the workflow name or intended task. See Use shared workflows in Slack.
The member running the workflow supplies the request-specific inputs. Okou uses the connections and permissions available to that member and agent; it does not borrow the workflow creator's personal account access.
Share the method, not the account
The following are independent:
- Workflow visibility determines who can see and invoke the procedure.
- Agent visibility determines who can access the agent that owns it.
- Connection identifies the service account a member has connected.
- Authorization and permissions determine what the selected agent can do with that connection.
This is why two teammates can run the same public workflow and still receive an authorization request for different services. Each person grants access for their own work boundary.
Copy a workflow to another agent
Use Copy workflow when another team or agent needs a version it can evolve independently.
- Open the workflow.
- Select Copy workflow.
- Choose the destination agent.
- Open the new copy and review its instruction, files, and permissions.
- Publish the copy only after it has been tested in the destination agent.
The copy starts as a new private workflow. Changes to it do not update the original, and changes to the original do not update the copy. Treat this as a fork, not a live sync.
Copying is useful when Sales and Customer Success share a research method but need different output formats or approval boundaries. If everyone should receive future updates to one standard, keep one public workflow instead of creating copies.
Update a public workflow safely
A public workflow may already be used by teammates or automations. Before a material change:
- Identify what behavior or output will change.
- Test the revised instruction with representative inputs.
- Tell affected members when inputs, fields, destinations, or approval rules change.
- Check any automations that run the workflow.
- Keep the same slug when the change is backward-compatible; use a new workflow when the contract changes substantially.
Small improvements such as clearer citations or a stronger quality check can usually remain in the same workflow. A new workflow is safer when the audience, required inputs, or resulting action is fundamentally different.
Make a workflow private again
Changing a public workflow to Private removes team access. Other members may lose the ability to run it, and their automations that depend on it can stop.
Before making it private:
- review which people and automations use it;
- create or copy a replacement if the team still needs the method;
- notify affected owners;
- confirm that no shared reference file becomes unexpectedly unavailable.
A lightweight publishing checklist
- Clear name and memorable slug
- Description explains when to use it
- Instruction defines inputs, steps, output, and approval boundaries
- Files are current and safe to share
- Owning agent is public
- Tested by someone other than the author
- No personal credentials or private chat content
- Known automations reviewed
Next, invite teammates or help existing members join the workspace.