What the canvas is
The call flow canvas lets you design a call as connected steps instead of one prompt. Each step has its own instructions, and the connections between steps say when the Finn moves on. It's also the only way to give a Finn tools.
Once a Finn has a saved canvas, the canvas runs on every call in place of the Finn's workflow prompt. Its identity, style and response guidelines still apply to every step.
Most Finns can run on a prompt alone. Build a canvas when:
- The call has a fixed order: confirm identity before discussing the account, read a disclosure before booking.
- The caller's answer changes what happens next.
- The Finn needs a tool: calendar, transfer, or your API.
The canvas is a dashboard feature. There's no API for reading or editing it.
Opening the canvas
- Open the Finn and click Edit.
- Go to the Call flow tab.
- Click Convert to conversational flow. On a Finn that already has a canvas, the same card is called Callflow canvas and shows how many steps it has.
The card is disabled until the Finn has been saved once.
A new canvas starts with a Start step. Either click Start from a template or Add a Conversation step.
Step types
| Step | What it does |
|---|---|
| Start | Where the call begins. One per canvas. It can't be deleted or duplicated. |
| Conversation | The AI says and does what the step's instruction prompt describes, listens, and moves on based on the caller's reply. Tools attach here. |
| End Call | Hangs up. Nothing can follow it. |
The Add step menu also lists Subagent, Press Digit, Logic Split, Agent Transfer, In-Call SMS, In-Call WhatsApp, Extract Variable and MCP. These are marked Coming soon and can't be added.
Field-by-field detail is on workflow nodes.
Building a flow
- Add a step. Use Add step, or the + under an existing step, which adds a Conversation step already connected to it.
- Connect steps. Drag from one step's handle to another, or add a transition in the step's side panel.
- Edit a step. Click it to open its side panel: name, instruction prompt, steer back, transitions and tools.
- Delete or duplicate. Use the step's actions menu, or select it and press Delete.
Toolbar controls:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Undo / Redo | ⌘Z and ⌘⇧Z (Ctrl on Windows) |
| Find | Search steps by name or content (⌘F) |
| Auto-arrange | Tidies the layout |
| Lock canvas | Stops steps being moved by accident |
| Fullscreen | Expands the canvas |
Templates
More actions (the … button) → Templates opens a set of playbooks, filtered by Inbound or Outbound and by industry. Picking one replaces whatever is on the canvas.
Issues
The toolbar shows OK when the canvas has no issues, or a count when it has some. Click it to see the list:
| Message | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Connect Start to the first step. | Start has no outgoing connection |
| Add an End Call (or Call Transfer) step so the call can finish. | No End Call step anywhere |
| "…" has no prompt. | A Conversation step with an empty instruction prompt |
| "…" is a dead end — add a path out. | A Conversation step with no transitions |
| "…" is unreachable — nothing connects into it. | Nothing leads to the step |
| "…" has N paths with no condition — the AI can't tell them apart. | Two or more transitions out of a step, and some have no condition |
| Tool "…" on "…" has no URL. | An API request, Webhook or Custom function without a URL |
| Tool "…" on "…" needs a Cal.com API key. | A calendar tool without a key |
| Transfer tool on "…" needs a number. | Call Transfer without a number |
Issues don't stop you saving. A canvas with issues saves and runs as it is, so clear the list before you test.
Saving
Click Save canvas. Until you do, nothing is stored: the toolbar shows Unsaved, and closing the canvas asks Discard unsaved changes? with Discard & close or Save & close.
Saving overwrites the Finn's canvas. There is no version history and no way to restore an earlier save. Use Export JSON to keep a copy before a big change.
Test calls and deployments you create after saving use the new canvas.
Delete, next to Save, removes the canvas. The Finn goes back to running on its prompt.
Export and import
Both are under More actions.
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Export JSON | Shows the canvas as JSON (the canvas_workflow payload). Copy it or Download .json. |
| Import JSON | Paste a canvas_workflow payload or Upload file. It replaces the current canvas. |
Use these to back up a flow before editing it, or to copy one between Finns. The export includes tool settings, including any Cal.com API key and header values, so store it like a secret.
What goes wrong
The Finn moves on too early or too late. Transition conditions are read by the AI against what the caller said. Write them as plain descriptions of the caller's reply ("caller agrees to a demo"), not keywords. See workflow nodes.
The Finn gets stuck on a step. If the caller's replies keep matching no transition, the Finn moves on anyway after a few turns. Give each step a transition with no condition, so that move goes where you intend.
Contact details are missing from the conversation. Step prompts don't take placeholders. Put contact data in the welcome message. See workflow variables.
A tool never fires. It's attached to a different step than the one the conversation is on. See tools overview.
Related
- Workflow nodes: what each step does
- Workflow variables: contact data on a canvas Finn
- Testing a workflow
- Tools overview