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Agent Builder gives you several AI step types because each one has a different job in the flow. The main choice is whether a step should reply, reason privately, call tools, delegate, pause for a person, or choose a path. Use this guide when you know what the agent should do, but you are deciding which step belongs on the canvas.

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Quick chooser

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AI Respond vs AI Think

These two are the most common pair. Common pattern:
1

AI Think

Read the trigger input, inspect data, classify the request, or build a structured finding.
2

By Connector action

Run the deterministic tool call, such as a NetSuite query or an Erstan document action.
3

AI Respond

Explain the result to the user using the earlier step outputs.
For final response steps, keep tool access off unless the response itself truly needs a fresh lookup. This makes the run easier to review.

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AI Plan & Execute vs separate steps

AI Plan & Execute is useful when one step should decide the plan, call tools, and produce an answer. It is compact and flexible. Use it for:
  • Low-risk research or analysis where the exact tool sequence can vary.
  • A simple assistant that needs to search, inspect, and answer in one place.
  • Early prototyping before you split the flow into more auditable steps.
Prefer separate AI Think, action, approval, and AI Respond steps for:
  • NetSuite, accounting, finance, or ERP workflows.
  • Any path that creates or updates records.
  • Workflows that need human review before a write.
  • Repeatable automations where each step should be easy to test and diagnose.
For write-critical workflows, split the flow. Put lookup and drafting in read-only steps, add an approval gate, then run the write in a dedicated connector action or tool-enabled step.

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AI Agent

Use AI Agent when the step should delegate to another saved agent instead of doing the work inline. Good uses:
  • A workforce-style agent that routes work to specialist agents.
  • A manager agent that asks a reporting agent, AP agent, or AR agent to handle a subtask.
  • A reusable sub-process that already exists as its own agent.
Do not use AI Agent just to make a normal model call. Use AI Think or AI Respond when the logic belongs inside the current agent.

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Wait vs Approval

Both pause the run, but they mean different things. Examples:
  • Use AI Wait for User Input when an invoice is missing a vendor name and the user needs to provide it.
  • Use AI Approval when the agent has drafted a vendor bill and needs permission before creating it in NetSuite.

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Branching and routing

Use AI Branch when the path depends on judgment. For example, classify an incoming email as “collections”, “vendor bill”, “report request”, or “other” based on messy message text. Use Rule-Based Decision when the path is deterministic. For example, if amount > 10000, route to approval; otherwise continue.

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Loops

Use loops when the same work repeats. For finance workflows, AI For Each is usually easier to review because each item is explicit. Keep loop limits tight so a bad input cannot create a runaway run.

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Connector actions vs tool-enabled AI steps

There are two ways to use tools in a builder flow. For NetSuite work, the safest shape is usually:
  1. AI Think to decide what needs to be looked up.
  2. Read-only NetSuite tools or connector actions to fetch data.
  3. AI Respond or AI Wait for User Input to review the draft result.
  4. AI Approval before any write.
  5. A dedicated write step for the approved NetSuite create or update.

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Common patterns

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Next steps

The visual builder

Place these steps on the canvas and wire them together.

Step reference

See every trigger, AI step, action, and utility step.

Tools by connector

Understand connector-backed action steps.

Approvals

Review write actions before they run.