Let chat orchestration propose, create, run and hand off saved workflows

Summary

Let V2 chat orchestration decide when a saved workflow is the better way to handle a request, then help the user set it up, run it, and get the results back in chat. This umbrella tracks the phased plan in docs/explanation/features/CHAT_ORCHESTRATION_WORKFLOWS_ROADMAP.md.

User Value

Chat orchestration handles one-time requests well. It can't repeat work on a schedule, react to new File Sync documents, or run work bigger than a plan allows (8 steps by default, 180 s per step, 900 s per run by default and 7,200 s at most, no loops). Durable workflows already do all of that, but today the user has to know to build one by hand.

With this work:

"Every Monday read my email and tell me what to do this week" answers for this week now, and offers a card that creates the recurring workflow.
"Review new documents from File Sync" proposes an event-driven workflow.
"Run my weekly digest now" runs an existing workflow and posts the answer back into the chat when it finishes, even hours later with the browser closed.
A 200-document review that's too big for a plan is handed off to a one-time durable workflow that posts a summary back.

Proposed Behavior

One PR per item. Each item is planned on its own when it starts (roadmap §10).

Item	Scope	Depends on
Phase 1 (#1544)	Calendar schedules: day, time and IANA timezone	—
Phase 2 (#1545)	Workflow draft service: dry-run build, blueprint builder, provenance	1
Phase 3 (#1548)	AI workflow assistant in the V2 editor: highlighted AI changes, per-turn undo, save confirmation	2, A1, A2
Phase 4 (#1547)	Orchestration proposes workflows: `workflow_propose` plus an Approve / Deny / Edit card	2
Phase 5 (#1551)	Orchestration runs existing durable workflows: `workflow_run`, start-and-link	4
Phase 6 (#1546)	Results back in chat: 6a results reader and Follow up; 6b post-back delivery, run card and chat-list indicator; 6c in-plan wait (later)	6a: 4 · 6b: 5, 6a, N1
Phase 7 (#1549)	Hand-off of big one-time jobs	4, 6b
Phase 8 (#1550)	Follow-ons: group workflows, #1347 parity, plan-replay task	4+
A1 (#1552)	Shared AI-assist thread: your message appears immediately, Cancel and Retry, one component for all four assist editors	—
A2 (#1556)	`#` document references in AI-assist inputs (plan editor now, workflow assistant in Phase 3)	A1
N1 (#1554)	V2 notification bell and panel; the Desktop notifications preference works in V2	—
N2 (#1553)	Animated workflow alerts in V2	N1
P (#1555)	Document provenance for documents that workflows and chats create	—

Key decisions (roadmap §2):

Personal workflows only in v1. Group workflows are Phase 8.
Creating a workflow from chat always needs a manual decision on a card, even when plan approval is Auto. Plans that run a saved workflow or hand off work always need manual plan approval.
The plan never waits for a workflow run. It ends once the run starts, and the server posts the results into the chat later. Results are never posted into shared or collaborative chats.
The chat capability sits behind a new admin setting that's off by default.
Planner and assistant output is untrusted. Only server-side deterministic builders create workflow definitions, and only request-thread routes with fresh authorization save them.

Acceptance Criteria

Every child issue is closed or explicitly deferred.
The roadmap doc's status table matches what shipped.
In V2 chat, "every Monday read my email…" returns this week's answer plus a proposal card, and Approve creates exactly one workflow that runs Monday at the chosen local time and notifies.
"Run my weekly digest now" asks for manual approval, starts exactly one run, and posts exactly one answer back into the private chat when the run finishes.
A one-time job beyond plan limits is handed off to a durable workflow and posts one summary back.

Notes

Roadmap sections: §6 phase detail, §8 gotchas, §9 open decisions with recommendations, §11 validation.
Related issues:
- Update the SimpleChat action for task-based workflows and reorganize its capability list #1347 SimpleChat action for task-based workflows (Phase 8 builds on the draft service)
- Split Microsoft 365 actions with sharing approvals, live file RAG, and delegated workflow execution #1493 Microsoft 365 split and delegated workflow execution (Run-as and M365 sources)
- Design generic monitor trigger model for workflows #949 Generic monitor trigger model (stays a separate design)
- Generalize workflows into repeatable AI automations without required documents #1082 Generalize workflows into repeatable AI automations
- Complete the orchestration harness with Gather, Reason, Render and explicit file creation #1509 Orchestration harness: Gather, Reason, Render
- Introduce turn-level orchestration across chat capabilities #1021 Turn-level orchestration across chat capabilities
Every row above is a sub-issue of this issue, with blocked-by links that match the "Depends on" column.

Update roadmap status: Phase 7's settled 7a design and two follow-ups

Align the roadmap with container-only result access and self-authored…

Set the run card harness's first stream number through the constructor

Re-prove a hand-off report's lineage before reading it

Document the hand-off report's lineage re-proof

Refresh the Phase 4 schema digest pin after microsoft#1641

Show workflow hand-offs under a chat answer in V2 (Phase 7b)

Document the V2 workflow hand-off card (Phase 7b)

Bump version to 0.261.256 for the V2 workflow hand-off card (Phase 7b)

Update roadmap status: 7b done; the capability is complete

Status update: 2026-10-08

Everything below landed in paullizer-react-v2-ui. With Phases 6 and 7 merged, chat can propose, create, run and hand off workflows, and their results come back into the chat. The chat features are behind four admin settings, all off by default: Propose Workflows From Chat, Run Workflows From Chat, Hand Off Large Work From Chat and Use Workflow Results In Chat.

Merged into `paullizer-react-v2-ui`

Item	Issue	PR	Version
Phase 0: roadmap and issues	#1543	#1557	—
Phase 1: calendar schedules	#1544	#1561	0.261.193
Phase 2: workflow draft service	#1545	#1566	0.261.202
Phase 3a: change tracking	#1548	#1569	0.261.203
Phase 3b: assist endpoint	#1548	#1577	0.261.208
Phase 3c: Ask AI tab	#1548	#1593	0.261.213
Phase 3 follow-up: server check of Enable AI Workflow Assistant for Draft with AI	—	#1596	0.261.215
Phase 4: orchestration proposes workflows	#1547	#1580	0.261.207
Phase 5: orchestration runs workflows	#1551	#1594	0.261.212
Phase 6a: results reader and Follow up	#1546	#1592	0.261.214
Phase 6a: `workflow_results` planner capability	#1546	#1607	0.261.217
Phase 6b-1: server delivery and status route	#1546	#1610	0.261.227
Phase 6b-2: V2 run card, tracker and chat-list indicator	#1546	#1639	0.261.251
Phase 7a: server hand-off	#1549	#1640	0.261.250
Phase 7a follow-up: re-prove a hand-off report's lineage	#1549	#1647	0.261.252
Phase 7b: V2 hand-off card	#1549	#1683	0.261.295
A1: shared AI-assist thread	#1552	#1564	0.261.200
A2: `#` references in assist inputs	#1556	#1568, landed with #1564	0.261.201
N1: V2 notifications	#1554	#1563	0.261.195
N2: animated workflow alerts	#1553	#1567	0.261.199
P: document provenance	#1555	#1562	0.261.194

Also merged: #1597 cleared the 19 py/log-injection alerts (0.261.216), #1598 fixed test-harness drift, and the status PRs #1595, #1601, #1627, #1633, #1648 and #1707 kept the roadmap up to date.

Optional, not started

Phase 6c, the in-plan wait (Post workflow results back into chat and answer follow-ups from them #1546). The issue says to add it only if planners need a workflow's output later in the same plan.
Phase 8 (Workflow orchestration follow-ons: group workflows, SimpleChat action parity and plan replay #1550): group workflows, Update the SimpleChat action for task-based workflows and reorganize its capability list #1347 parity and plan replay.
The follow-ups listed on Post workflow results back into chat and answer follow-ups from them #1546, Hand off big one-time jobs from chat to a durable workflow #1549 and in each PR.

Acceptance criteria

Every child issue is closed or explicitly deferred. Add calendar schedules (day, time and timezone) to workflows #1544 to Hand off big one-time jobs from chat to a durable workflow #1549 and Let chat orchestration run existing durable workflows #1551 to Support # document references in the plan editor's Ask AI #1556 are ready to close, with 6c deferred on Post workflow results back into chat and answer follow-ups from them #1546. Phase 8 (Workflow orchestration follow-ons: group workflows, SimpleChat action parity and plan replay #1550) is optional and not started.
The roadmap doc's status table matches what shipped (Update roadmap status: 7b done; the capability is complete #1707).
"Every Monday read my email…": Phase 4's proposal card (Phase 4: orchestration proposes workflows #1580) offers the recurring workflow, behind Propose Workflows From Chat. For a schedule, the card offers Create & start, Create paused, Edit and Deny rather than an Approve button. Create & start creates exactly one enabled workflow, and accepting again reuses its deterministic ID. Phase 1 runs it on the chosen day and time in the chosen IANA time zone, and Phase 2's digest alerts notify in the bell.
"Run my weekly digest now": Phase 5 (Phase 5: orchestration runs existing workflows (workflow_run, start-and-link) #1594), behind Run Workflows From Chat, always asks for manual plan approval and starts exactly one run. 6b (Phase 6b-1: post workflow results back into chat (server and status route) #1610 and Phase 6b-2: show chat-started workflow runs and their posted results in V2 #1639) posts exactly one answer back into the private chat when the run finishes.
A one-time job beyond plan limits is handed off to a durable workflow and posts one summary back: 7a, its lineage follow-up and 7b (Phase 7a: hand off large chat requests to a one-time workflow (server, 0.261.238) #1640, Phase 7a follow-up: re-prove a hand-off report's lineage before reading it (0.261.252) #1647 and Show workflow hand-offs under a chat answer in V2 (Phase 7b) #1683), behind Hand Off Large Work From Chat.

Verified from tests and review, not on a live tenant.

Child issues

These PRs target paullizer-react-v2-ui, not the default branch, so their Closes keywords didn't close anything. Everything these issues track has merged, so they're ready to close: #1544, #1545, #1546, #1547, #1548, #1549, #1551, #1552, #1553, #1554, #1555 and #1556. #1546 defers 6c, and #1550 (Phase 8) is optional and not started.

Once the child issues are closed and #1550 is deferred or moved out, this issue can close too.

Give replay workflows a default 'Run failed' alert

Bump version to 0.261.305 for plan replay

Document workflow plan replay

Add the wait-for-quick-workflows setting and its wait cap

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Let chat orchestration propose, create, run and hand off saved workflows #1543

Summary

User Value

Proposed Behavior

Acceptance Criteria

Notes

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Status update: 2026-10-08

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Let chat orchestration propose, create, run and hand off saved workflows #1543

Description

Summary

User Value

Proposed Behavior

Acceptance Criteria

Notes

Activity

31 remaining items

paullizer commented on Oct 8, 2026

Status update: 2026-10-08

Merged into paullizer-react-v2-ui

Optional, not started

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Child issues

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Merged into `paullizer-react-v2-ui`