Recipe, skill, routine, or workflow? An AI agent glossary
Understand the practical differences between AI agent recipes, prompts, skills, routines, workflows, schedules, and automations.
An AI agent recipe describes a repeatable job. A skill supplies reusable know-how. A workflow connects steps into an outcome. A routine or schedule determines when that workflow runs. Automation describes how much of the process proceeds without a person.
Vendors use these words differently, so the safest approach is to ask what each object contains and what it can change—not rely on the label alone.
The terminology at a glance
| Term | Practical meaning | Main question |
|---|---|---|
| Prompt | A request or instruction given to a model or agent | What are you asking now? |
| Recipe | A reusable brief for a defined job and result | How should this job be repeated? |
| Skill | Reusable procedural knowledge or capability instructions | How does the agent perform this kind of work? |
| Workflow | Connected steps, tools, decisions, and handoffs | How does work move from trigger to outcome? |
| Routine | A repeatable workflow associated with timing or an event | When should the work run? |
| Schedule | A time-based trigger | At what time or interval does it start? |
| Automation | A degree of execution without human intervention | Which steps happen without approval? |
These objects can be combined. A scheduled workflow may invoke several skills while following a recipe and pausing before an external action.
What is a prompt?
A prompt is the instruction presented to the model or agent during a run. It may be one sentence or a detailed brief. Prompts are flexible, but they often omit operational context such as authoritative sources, permissions, and stopping conditions.
Use a prompt for exploration or a one-time request. Promote it into a recipe when the job repeats and consistency matters.
What is a recipe?
A recipe packages a job so someone can run it again. In Matrix, a recipe identifies the inputs, work, expected result, and review step. Current Matrix Recipes are copied and started manually; copying one does not install software, connect tools, or create a schedule.
Use a recipe when the outcome should be repeatable but the operator still needs to provide sources or supervise the run.
What is a skill?
A skill captures reusable instructions for a capability. It might explain how to review a pull request, classify customer risk, apply brand voice, or prepare a weekly account-health report.
Skills are broader than a single recipe. One skill can support several jobs, and one recipe can invoke several skills. Availability and packaging differ across agent products.
What is a workflow?
A workflow is the full path from trigger to outcome:
trigger → gather evidence → perform work → verify → request approval → act → record result
The workflow includes systems and people, not just model instructions. A sales follow-up workflow may read meeting notes, update a draft, ask an account owner to approve it, send through email, and record the outcome.
The recipe describes how to run that job. The workflow describes how the job fits into operations.
What is a routine or schedule?
In Grok Bot's terminology, a skill records how to perform a task, while a routine tells a Bot when to run it—on a schedule or, where supported, after an event. See xAI's definitions.
Matrix separates the task brief from scheduling as well. A copied recipe runs once unless a supported runtime is configured to run recurring work. Review the current Matrix behavior.
This separation is healthy. Changing the trigger should not silently change permissions or approval rules.
What is automation?
Automation is not a document type. It is a property of the workflow.
A workflow may be:
- manually started and manually approved;
- automatically started but manually approved;
- manually started with bounded autonomous execution;
- automatically started and executed, with exceptions escalated;
- fully automatic within an explicitly low-risk boundary.
Describe the actual autonomy level instead of calling the entire system “automated.”
A concrete example
Consider a weekly competitor report:
- Prompt: “Summarize competitor changes this week.”
- Recipe: named competitors, primary sources, comparison fields, output format, and review rules.
- Skills: web research, source evaluation, and Matrix editorial style.
- Workflow: collect changes, verify them, draft the report, request review, and store the approved version.
- Routine: run every Monday at 09:00.
- Automation: research and drafting happen automatically; publication requires approval.
The distinctions make failures easier to diagnose. If the report is weak, improve the recipe or skills. If it runs at the wrong time, fix the routine. If it publishes prematurely, fix the approval boundary.
Frequently asked questions
Is a skill the same as a workflow?
No. A skill describes reusable know-how. A workflow connects work, tools, decisions, and people from a trigger to an outcome.
Is a routine the same as a schedule?
Not always. A schedule is time-based. A routine may also begin after a supported event, such as a new ticket or message.
Does copying a Matrix recipe automate the task?
No. It gives the agent a reusable task brief. Tool connections, permissions, scheduling, and approval rules remain separate.
Which object should I create first?
Start with a successful task. Capture it as a repeatable AI agent recipe, refine the needed skills, and define the workflow before adding a routine or schedule.
Try a first task in Matrix
Take one sample task and identify its brief, reusable instructions and trigger separately.
- Follow the quickstart to sign in, choose a computer and complete any required provisioning. To use the native app, follow the desktop installation and approval steps.
- Choose a recipe, read its prerequisites and adapt its task brief. Open a separate session with a small sample project or synthetic input. Configure the agent access needed for that task and make the expected output explicit.
- Only describe repetition as configured when an actual scheduler or routine has been set up.
For a worked coding example, use the setup and reconnect walkthrough. Inspect the result before expanding the scope or leaving a longer task unattended.
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