What you can build with Riff

Agents, Automations and Dashboards

• Automation (workflows): follow predefined steps. "If X, then do Y."

• Agents: make judgment calls. "Given the goal and context, what should we do next?"

• Dashboards: see what's happening. "Show me the current state."

When to use which

Use a Dashboard when you need visibility into current state.

Examples: Sales pipeline by stage. Support tickets this week. Key metrics from multiple sources in one view.

Use Automation when the path is known and repeatable.

Examples: Move a file. Post a message. Update a record. Send a daily digest.

Use an Agent when the path depends on context.

Examples: Which deals need attention today? What's the best next step? Why did this metric spike?

You can combine them

• A dashboard can trigger an agent to explain an anomaly

• An automation can update a dashboard's data source

• An agent can recommend which dashboard to check based on your question

Most apps use all three together.

Quick decision guide

If you need to...	Use...	Example
See current state	Dashboard	Sales by region, support backlog, weekly signups
Track changes over time	Dashboard	Revenue trend, NPS score, active users
Run same steps repeatedly	Automation	Daily backup, file sync, scheduled report
React to events	Automation	New deal → Slack, form submit → email, ticket → assign
Understand context	Agent	"Why did churn spike?" "Which customers are at risk?"
Make decisions	Agent	Prioritize leads, recommend next action, triage issues
Combine data sources	Dashboard + Agent	Show metrics, ask agent "What should we focus on?"

Get Started

Quickstart Agent

Build an agent that searches the web, scores relevance using your criteria, and sends you a personalized digest. No feeds. No noise.

Quickstart Automation

Build a feedback form that stores submissions in your database, then an automation that runs daily to summarize all new feedback and posts it to Slack.

Quickstart Dashboard

Turn a Google Sheet into a live dashboard - no copy-paste, updates automatically.