# Workflow or Agent? — Advanced Agent Workflows and Skills

Source: https://www.geekswithgeeks.com/en/agent-workflows/wf-workflow-vs-agent

> Choose between a fixed workflow and an autonomous agent and start with the simplest option that works.

## Two kinds of systems

A **workflow** follows steps you wrote in code: the model fills in each step but you control the path. An **agent** decides its own next step in a loop, using tools until it finishes. Agents are flexible but slower, costlier and harder to predict.

## From one prompt to a system

Reliable agent systems are built from a few simple patterns that you combine, not from one giant prompt.

![Four connected patterns of increasing autonomy.](assets/figures/agent-workflows/section-1-map.svg) — Figure 1.1 — From fixed chains to autonomous loops.

## Train vs taxi

A train follows fixed tracks: predictable and cheap for a known route. A taxi can go anywhere, but you pay more and need a driver you trust. Use the train whenever the route is known.

## Start simple

Try a single well-written prompt first, then a short chain, and only then an agent loop. Add complexity only when measurements show the simpler version falls short.

**Quiz:** Who decides the next step in a workflow?

- [ ] The model alone, every time
- [x] The code you wrote
- [ ] The user at random
- [ ] The operating system

*Answer:* The code you wrote. In a workflow the path is fixed by code; in an agent the model chooses the path.