# Steps and data

> Steps are what a workflow does, in order. Each one hands its result to the steps after it, which read it with @ references.

Web page: https://docs.lodol.com/docs/concepts/steps-and-data

A step is one thing a workflow does: add a row, send a message, make a decision, wait for an approval. Steps run in order, and each can use the results of every step before it.

## Two kinds of steps

**App actions** work in one of your apps through your connection to it, such as Google Sheets' **Append row** or Slack's **Send a message to a channel**. There are thousands of them; the [integrations directory](https://docs.lodol.com/docs/integrations.md) lists every one with its inputs and outputs.

**Built-in steps** are Lodol's own. They decide which steps run, repeat steps, wait for people, call AI models, and work with data and files:

| Built-in step | Use it to |
| --- | --- |
| [If and Otherwise](https://docs.lodol.com/docs/guides/conditions.md) | Run steps only when something is true |
| [Repeat](https://docs.lodol.com/docs/guides/loops.md) | Run steps once per item in a list, or several times |
| [Request approval](https://docs.lodol.com/docs/guides/approvals.md) | Pause until a person approves, rejects or replies |
| [Run an AI agent](https://docs.lodol.com/docs/guides/ai-agents.md) | Have an AI read, research or decide, and hand back fields |
| [Text](https://docs.lodol.com/docs/integrations/built-in/text.md), [Lists](https://docs.lodol.com/docs/integrations/built-in/lists.md), [Math](https://docs.lodol.com/docs/integrations/built-in/math.md), [Dates & Times](https://docs.lodol.com/docs/integrations/built-in/datetime.md) | Format, clean up, count and convert values |
| [Files](https://docs.lodol.com/docs/integrations/built-in/files.md) | Read what's inside a file, make a CSV, Excel or PDF file, or resize an image |
| [Stored values](https://docs.lodol.com/docs/guides/stored-values.md) | Remember a value from one run to the next |
| [Wait](https://docs.lodol.com/docs/integrations/built-in/delay.md) | Pause for a while, or until a date and time |
| [Run a workflow](https://docs.lodol.com/docs/guides/sub-workflows.md) | Use another workflow as a step |
| [Call an API, Run Python code](https://docs.lodol.com/docs/guides/http-and-code.md) | Reach a service with no app in Lodol, or compute something no step covers |

## Every step hands its result to the steps after it

The trigger's event and each step's result have a name. Later steps read them with an `@` reference: in the editor you type `@` and pick the value, and it appears as a single token in the field.

In the Stripe example, the trigger's event is called `payment`, so the Slack step's **Message** can read:

```txt title="Send a message to a channel › Message"
New payment: @payment.amount @payment.currency for @payment.description
```

Stripe sends `amount` in cents, so the finished workflow divides it by 100 and formats it first; see [Money can arrive in cents](#good-to-know-about-data).

References reach as deep as the data goes:

| Reference | Reads |
| --- | --- |
| `@payment.amount` | The `amount` field of the trigger's event |
| `@lead.company.name` | A field inside a field |
| `@sheet.rows` | A whole list, ready for a [Repeat](https://docs.lodol.com/docs/guides/loops.md) step |
| `@sheet.rows[0]` | The first item of a list (`[-1]` is the last) |

Every action's integration page lists its **Outputs**: the fields its result has. A step that returns a list puts it inside a field rather than returning the bare list: Google Sheets' **Read rows** returns its rows in `rows`, so a Repeat goes over `@sheet.rows`, not `@sheet`.

## Good to know about data

Data from apps arrives the way the app stores it, which isn't always the way people read it. These are the cases that most often surprise people.

<Accordions type="multiple">
  <Accordion title="Money can arrive in cents">
    Stripe and similar apps report amounts in the smallest unit of the currency: `12500` is $125.00. Divide by 100 before you compare the amount with a figure or show it to anyone, so a condition reads the way you'd say it ("is at least 1,000").
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Format numbers before people read them">
    Calculations produce values like `6.234567891`. Before a number appears in an email or message, put it through **Round number**, or **Format number** with a style such as `thousands` or `usd`. There's no percent style: multiply the ratio by 100, round it, and write `%` after it.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Dates arrive as machine text">
    Apps send dates like `2026-10-06T14:30:00Z`. Use **Make date readable** before a date appears in a message ("Tuesday, October 6 at 2:30 PM"). To check whether a date falls within a window, such as "in the next 30 days", use **Difference between dates** and compare the number of days, rather than comparing the dates as text.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Text is compared exactly">
    "Paid" is not "paid". When you compare text that people type, like a status column in a sheet, put it through **Format text** as lowercase first, and compare it with lowercase text. To test for an empty cell, compare it with empty text.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Numbers can arrive as text">
    Spreadsheet cells and some money fields arrive as text. Comparing them with a number works, but adding to them joins the text instead (`0` + `12.50` gives `012.50`). Turn the text into a number with **Extract from text** set to extract a number. To total a column across many rows, use **Get one field from every item** and then **Calculate total**, which read numeric text as numbers and skip blanks.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Read sheet columns by name, not position">
    Google Sheets' **Read rows** returns each row keyed by its header, so you can read `@row.Email`. Its new-row trigger keeps the columns under `fields`: read `@row.fields.Amount`. Avoid positions like `@row[2]`: if someone reorders the columns, the step quietly reads the wrong one.
  </Accordion>
</Accordions>

## Workspace values

Besides step results, a step can read values your workspace keeps, such as a base URL every workflow shares. Write them as `@values.NAME`, for example `@values.BASE_URL`. Keys and passwords don't belong in values: store them as [secrets](https://docs.lodol.com/docs/concepts/connections.md#secrets), which stay encrypted and hidden.

## Next

<Cards>
  <Card title="Inputs and outputs" description="Give a workflow values when it starts, and hand values back." href="/docs/concepts/inputs-and-outputs" />
  <Card title="Runs" description="See exactly what each step did, every time." href="/docs/concepts/runs" />
</Cards>