# Understanding the Vincent Studio Architecture: Workflows, Tasks, and Steps

### Summary

Understand Vincent Studio's core architecture before you begin building. Studio uses a three-level hierarchy of **Workflows**, **Tasks**, and **Steps** to transform complex legal processes into manageable, reusable **custom legal workflows**.

### Why This is Important

Understanding this architecture is the key to creating effective, scalable AI tools for your organization. It allows you to codify your team's best practices into a structured process, ensuring consistent, high-quality results while balancing powerful automation with essential human control.

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**A Living Product:** Vincent Studio is a dynamic tool that will continuously evolve with new features and capabilities based on the needs of our users. As a Studio publisher, your feedback is essential in shaping this evolution.
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### The Three-Level Hierarchy of Vincent Studio

Studio organizes AI capabilities into a structured hierarchy that turns complex processes into manageable and reusable components.

#### 1. Workflows: The Highest Level of Organization

A **Workflow** is the top-level container that mirrors a real-world legal process your team follows, such as analyzing a complaint, reviewing a contract, or managing a discovery request.

When an end-user selects a **Workflow**, it initiates a sequence of **Tasks** and **Steps** within Vincent's conversational interface. A **Workflow** can be a simple, single-task automation or an elaborate, multi-stage pipeline that combines automated actions with strategic user choices.

#### 2. Tasks: The "Engine" of Your Workflow

**Tasks** are the discrete activities that a legal professional performs as part of their job. Within a **Workflow**, **Tasks** are the "engine" that drives the process forward. At least one **Task** must be present for a **Workflow** to function.

**Tasks** can be either:

* **Immediate Tasks:** These run automatically as soon as the required input (like a document upload) is provided. They are perfect for routine processing like data extraction or initial analysis.
* **Suggested Tasks:** These present options to the user at strategic decision points, such as offering to review risk clauses, translate content, or generate negotiation points after an initial document analysis is complete.

#### 3. Steps: The Execution Layer

**Steps** are the most granular level of the hierarchy. They are the specific, low-level operations within a **Task** that handle data processing or transformation. While a **Task** orchestrates the activity, each **Step** encapsulates a specific method of processing information, like extracting a timeline from a document or comparing two contracts.

<figure><img src="https://1556743161-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MS8Dq_iqEIflAmbaOkI-887967055%2Fuploads%2FcS3d4VOTOu1YoKq77na4%2FStudio&#x27;s%20architecture%20is%20a%20three-level%20hierarchy%2C%20from%20the%20broad%20Workflow%20down%20to%20the%20specific%20Step..gif?alt=media&#x26;token=86dccc54-e990-40ed-9010-9414f408e871" alt=""><figcaption><p>Studio's architecture is a three-level hierarchy, from the broad Workflow down to the specific Step.</p></figcaption></figure>

### How Context Flows Through the Architecture

When a user runs a **Workflow**, Studio assembles a comprehensive context to ensure the AI's output is based on all relevant information. This cumulative context includes:

* The global system prompt that defines Vincent's core voice and behavior.
* The specific **Workflow** prompt that sets the purpose and tone.
* The individual instructions from each **Task** and **Step**.
* The complete history of the current conversation.
* All documents uploaded during the session.

This layered approach ensures that Vincent understands not just *what* to do, but *how* to do it in a way that aligns with your organization's standards.

### Best Practices & Pro Tips

* **Map Your Process First:** Before building in Studio, sketch out your manual process on paper. Identify the overall goal (your **Workflow**), the main activities (your **Tasks**), and the specific actions within those activities (your **Steps**).
* **Design for Reusability:** Think of **Tasks** as modular building blocks. A well-designed "Summarize Document" **Task** could be reused in dozens of different **Workflows**, saving you significant time.

### Related Articles

* [Getting Started with Vincent Studio Workflows](https://support.vlex.com/vincent-by-vlex-1/vincent-studio/getting-started-with-vincent-studio-workflows)
* [How to Create a New Workflow in Vincent Studio (4-Step Guide)](https://support.vlex.com/vincent-by-vlex-1/vincent-studio/creating-and-managing-ai-workflows-in-vincent-studio/how-to-create-a-new-workflow-in-vincent-studio-4-step-guide)

### Ready to Build Your First Workflow?

Now that you understand the architecture, you're ready to start building. See how Vincent can revolutionize your legal processes.

[**Contact our sales team for a personalized demo today.**](https://vlex.com/book-a-demo?utm_source=website\&utm_medium=organic\&utm_campaign=web_trial_homepage\&campaign_id=4270741)

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| **New to Vincent Studio?**                                                                                                                                                                                 | **Already a Vincent Studio Customer?**                                                                                                                     |
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