> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.asteroid.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Build in the platform

> Describe the task to Astro, and it builds and edits the workflow for you.

Astro is the assistant inside the [Asteroid platform](https://platform.asteroid.ai). You describe the task in
plain language. Astro builds the [graph](/concepts/graphs), writes the [node](/concepts/nodes) instructions,
runs the workflow, and explains what happened.

You stay in control. Astro writes every edit to a draft, so your published workflow keeps running untouched.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Build" icon="hammer" horizontal>Create a workflow from a description, or from a document such as a PDF</Card>
  <Card title="Improve" icon="trending-up" horizontal>Rewrite instructions and add the edge cases an execution exposed</Card>
  <Card title="Explain" icon="brain" horizontal>Ask what the workflow does and how each node works</Card>
  <Card title="Debug" icon="bug" horizontal>Open an execution and find out why it went wrong</Card>
</CardGroup>

## Open Astro

Astro has two entry points.

<Card title="Create a new workflow" icon="plus" img="/images/astro-create-page.png" horizontal>Type what you want in the chatbox on the **Create** page.</Card>

<Card title="Work on a workflow you have" icon="keyboard" img="/images/astro-builder-page.png" horizontal>Click the Astro button in the top left of the **Builder** or **Execution** page.</Card>

Astro opens as a chat panel with the message history and an input box.

Above the input box sit six quick-start prompts. Click one to begin, or type your own request.

| Prompt                              | What you get                                                  |
| :---------------------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------ |
| What can you help me with?          | A tour of what Astro does                                     |
| What does my workflow do?           | An explanation of the current workflow                        |
| Improve my prompts                  | Suggested rewrites for every node instruction                 |
| Optimize this workflow with scripts | Reliable nodes converted to scripts that run on the fast path |
| Examine an execution                | An analysis of one execution                                  |
| Build workflow from PDF             | A workflow built to the steps in a document                   |

## How a session goes

<Steps>
  <Step title="Describe the task">
    Say what you want the workflow to do. Name the site, the steps, and the result you expect.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Astro builds">
    Astro reads the current workflow, then adds and edits nodes and transitions. Edits save as it makes them.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review">
    Open the graph and read what changed. Every edit lands in the draft.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Refine">
    Tell Astro what to change. Ask for one change at a time, and keep the conversation going.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What Astro can change

Astro works on the workflow in front of it. It can:

* Read, add, edit, rename, and delete nodes
* Rewrite node instructions and change node configuration
* Add and remove [transitions](/concepts/transitions) between nodes
* Change workflow settings
* Start a live [environment](/concepts/environments) and drive it
* Write scripts that put reliable nodes on the fast path
* Start executions and read what happened in them
* Manage [schedules](/operate/schedules) and [agent profiles](/concepts/profiles)
* Search these docs and validate the workflow

<Info>
  Astro edits the draft. An execution started from the API runs the published version. Publish the draft to make
  your changes live — see [Test, iterate, publish](/build/test-and-publish) and [Versions](/concepts/versions).
</Info>

## The live environment

Astro can start a live environment and work in it while you watch. A live environment is a real browser or a
real Linux desktop. Take the mouse and keyboard at any time and show Astro the site yourself.

Use it two ways:

* **Before you build.** On the **Create** page, choose **Or start blank for an environment**. Pick **Browser**
  or **Linux**. Astro asks what you want to do. Explore the site together, and Astro learns the flow before it
  writes a single node.
* **During an execution.** The **Execution** page shows the browser live. Send the workflow a message, or take over the
  browser. Pause the execution, cancel it, or edit the graph while it runs.

## Point Astro at an execution

Type `@` in the chat input to mention an execution. A menu lists your recent runs. Pick one, and Astro reads
its timeline, its screenshots, and its reasoning.

<Card title="Mention an execution" icon="at-sign" img="/images/astro-mention-executions.png" horizontal>Ask "Why did this fail?" and mention the execution. Astro finds the step that broke and proposes the fix.</Card>

## Get good results from Astro

* **Say the goal, not the symptom.** Ask "how do I make the form filling more reliable?" Do not ask "make it better".
* **Give context.** Name the node, the execution, or the error you are looking at.
* **Change one thing at a time.** Small requests are easy to review and easy to undo.
* **Read the diff.** Astro saves edits as it makes them, so check the graph before you publish.
* **Run it after every change.** An execution tells you more than a review does.
* **Keep going.** Tell Astro what was wrong with its first answer. The second one lands closer.

To write the instructions yourself, see [Write good instructions](/build/instructions).

## Conversations

One conversation belongs to one workflow. You can keep several conversations for the same workflow, each with its
own history. Use the conversation selector to open a past conversation, pick it up where you left it, or
delete it.

Separate conversations keep separate topics apart. Build the happy path in one, and chase a failing run in another.

## Next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Write good instructions" icon="pen-line" href="/build/instructions">What separates a node that works once from one that works every day</Card>
  <Card title="Test, iterate, publish" icon="check-check" href="/build/test-and-publish">The loop between "it runs" and "it is ready"</Card>
  <Card title="Workflows are graphs" icon="workflow" href="/concepts/graphs">Why a workflow is a graph, and what that buys you</Card>
  <Card title="Nodes" icon="box" href="/concepts/nodes">The three node types and what each one does</Card>
</CardGroup>