Welcome to the Gumloop community 👋

If you’re interested in building powerful automations without writing a single line of code, you’ve come to the right place. Gumloop offers an intuitive and collaborative platform to create AI-powered workflow automations called flows using modular components known as nodes.

Key Features

Automation Building

Drag, drop, and link nodes onto a canvas to create powerful automations (we call them flows).

Integrations

Connect to popular services like Slack, Salesforce, Airtable, AWS, GitHub, Outlook, Google, and more.

Scalable Infrastructure

Run your flows at massive scale with no technical background needed.

Team Collaboration

Share and build flows together with your team members under a workspace.

AI-Powered Capabilities

Leverage advanced AI models to process data, generate content, analyze information, and make decisions within your flows.

Core Terminology

Nodes

The modular building blocks that you drag onto the canvas. Think of these as individual no-code Lego pieces that each perform a specific function (like reading from a Google Sheet or processing text with AI).

Flows

A series of connected nodes designed to achieve a specific goal. These are your no-code Lego creations that transform raw data into valuable outputs.

Subflows

Reusable flows embedded within larger flows. These allow you to make complex processes simple, modular, and maintainable. Learn more in our Subflows documentation.

Workbooks

Collections of related flows organized in one document, similar to how spreadsheet applications group related sheets. Learn more in our Workbooks documentation.

Workspaces

Collaborative environments where teams can build and share automations, manage credentials, and work together on projects (available on Team plan and above). Learn more in our Organizations and Workspaces documentation.

What is a Node?

Nodes are the modular components that make up a flow. Each one is a step in a series of steps towards a goal. You can drag-and-drop them on to the canvas from the node menu that can be shown/hidden through the + icon on the side panel of your workbook.

Node library menu showing various node categories

Node Anatomy

Nodes generally have three key components:

Inputs

Data that flows into the node for processing

Parameters

Configuration options that control how the node functions

Outputs

Results produced by the node that can connect to subsequent nodes

Many of these attributes may also be optional. Let’s take a look at an example:

Extract Data node example showing inputs, parameters, and outputs

This node above is an AI data extractor. It takes some content as input, extracts the data you specify (in this case ‘Company Name’) and outputs the extracted data. If you did not pass in an input to this node and tried to run it, it would fail because it’s trying to extract a company name from nothing. The data you pass in is entirely up to you. This node can perform data extraction on anything, whether it’s text from a Google Doc, a website, an email, etc.

You can click on the node title to give the node a nickname.

Node Categories

Gumloop offers various types of nodes to build comprehensive workflows:

Data Loader Nodes

Google Sheets Reader, CSV Reader, Website Scraper, and more

AI Nodes

Ask AI, Categorizer, Extract Data, Summarizer, and more

Text Manipulation Nodes

Combine Text, Split Text, Text Formatter, and more

List Operation Nodes

Combine Lists, Get List Item, Join List Items, and more

Flow Control Nodes

Input, Output, Filter, If-Else, Error Shield, and more

Integration Nodes

Gmail Sender, Slack Message Sender, Airtable Writer, and more

What is a Flow?

Flows are the heart of Gumloop, allowing you to connect nodes to execute specific tasks. When a flow is run, data passes from one node to the next, with each node manipulating or generating content along the way. Here is an example of a flow that analyzes a website using AI and outputs a Google Doc report.

Example flow showing website analysis and Google Doc output

Running a Flow

You can simply run the flow by hitting the run button in the top right corner:

After hitting run, a run report will pop up describing the current stage of the flow in real-time as actions are happening. The run report also shows the total time, credits used, and completion status of the automation run. Each node’s log is available in these collapsible components, making it easy to debug if something goes wrong.

Credits System

Flows consume credits when they run. Each flow run costs 1 credit, and certain nodes that use external APIs (like AI nodes or web scraping) cost additional credits.

Example Credit Costs

Advanced AI calls (GPT-4.1, Claude 3.7 Sonnet): 20 credits
Standard AI calls: 2 credits
Search Companies: 30 credits
Website Scraper: 1 credit
Web Search: 2 credits

Reducing Costs

You can reduce costs by providing your own API keys for certain services (available on premium plans). Learn more in our Credits documentation.

The credit cost is indicated on each node’s tooltip.

How to Build a Flow

The flow building page is a large canvas for you to design your personalized flow. Each node can be found in the library on the left side.

Nodes are dragged and dropped onto the canvas one at a time. Once they’re on the canvas they’re ready to be connected together. The inputs of one node are derived from the outputs of another. It’s crucial that the output type matches the input type of connected nodes to prevent data mismatches and flow crashes.

Understanding Types

Each node has specific input and output types:

Type	Description
Text	A single piece of text
List of text	A collection of multiple text items
List of List of text	A nested collection of text lists

For example, if a Google Sheets Reader outputs a List of text but your AI node expects Text, you’ll need to use a node like Join List Items to convert between types. Learn more in our Types documentation.

Loop Mode

Many nodes support Loop Mode, which allows them to process lists of inputs automatically. Think of it as a “for loop” in programming:

Normal Mode: Process one item at a time
Loop Mode: Process each item in a list individually

For example, a Summarizer node in Loop Mode can process multiple emails in one operation, creating a summary for each email automatically. Learn more in our Loop Mode documentation.

The Standard Format of a Flow

Most flows follow this general pattern: Ingest data → Prepare it for AI → Process it with AI → Output a result

Loading Data

Flows typically start by ingesting some sort of data. This could be:

Reading from a Google Sheet
Importing a CSV file
Scraping a website
Reading emails from Gmail
Collecting data from Slack messages

Example: A Google Sheets Reader node fetching customer information

Text Manipulation, File & List Operations

These nodes prepare your data for processing:

Reformatting text
Splitting content into chunks
Combining multiple pieces of information
Converting between data types
Extracting specific values from complex data

Example: Using Combine Text to merge customer name with a template message

Using AI

AI nodes process the prepared data:

Summarizing long documents
Answering questions about the data
Extracting specific data points
Categorizing content
Scoring or evaluating information

Example: Using Ask AI to generate personalized email responses based on customer inquiries

Integrations

The final step is to output results to external systems:

Sending emails via Gmail
Posting messages to Slack
Writing to Google Sheets
Creating tasks in project management tools
Generating files and reports

Example: Using Gmail Sender to deliver personalized responses to customers

Real-World Flow Example

Here’s a practical example of how these components work together: Customer Support Automation

Gmail Reader → Extract Data → Categorizer → Ask AI → Gmail Sender

Gmail Reader

Fetches new customer emails

Extract Data

Pulls out customer name, issue type, and account details

Categorizer

Sorts emails into urgent, standard, or information requests

Ask AI

Generates appropriate responses based on the category

Gmail Sender

Sends the response back to the customer

This flow automates repetitive customer support tasks while maintaining personalization.

Advanced Features

Subflows

Break down complex logic for better maintenance, enable efficient looping operations, and reuse common functionality across different flows.

Triggers and Alerts

Automatically start flows based on time schedules, new emails, Slack messages, webhooks, or set up email notifications for flow failures.

Interfaces

Transform your workflows into user-friendly interfaces with simple forms that hide complex workflow logic and deliver results directly to users.

Credentials

Securely connect to external services like Gmail, Slack, Google Sheets, and more using managed credentials.

Get Started with Templates

The fastest way to get started is by using a prebuilt template. We’ve built 60+ functional flows with annotations for you to browse. Keep in mind however that the true power of the platform lies in personalization. Use templates as a starting point but then make things your own!

Browse Templates

Explore 60+ prebuilt flows to jumpstart your automation journey

Next Steps

Now that you understand the basics of Gumloop, here are some recommended next steps:

Explore Templates

Browse our template library to see what’s possible

Create Your First Flow

Start with a simple automation that solves a real problem

Set Up Credentials

Connect to external services like Gmail, Slack, and more using our Credentials guide

Join the Community

Connect with other Gumloop users at forum.gumloop.com

Get Started

Nodes

Common Errors

Introduction

Welcome to the Gumloop community 👋

Key Features

Automation Building

Integrations

Scalable Infrastructure

Team Collaboration

AI-Powered Capabilities

Core Terminology