Google Flows: Build No-Code Gemini AI Agents

Google has introduced a no-code AI automation platform powered by the Gemini model. It lets you automate entire workflows with plain language instructions and connect Gmail, Drive, Chat, Calendar, Forms, and more into a single system. You can build AI agents that research, summarize, analyze, generate content, and trigger multi-step processes across your organization.

Gemini Flows combines starters, conditions, actions, and functions with Gemini’s reasoning. It doesn’t just execute steps; it interprets them. A new front-end makes it easy to describe the workflow you want, and Gemini assembles the agent for you.

What Is Gemini Flows?

Gemini Flows is Google’s no-code AI agent builder for Workspace. It allows you to define tasks in natural language and have AI agents execute them across Google apps. These agents can send emails, set up events, manage meetings, create tasks, and more. The goal is to cut repetitive work and coordinate activity across tools without manual setup.

You can create flows by describing what you want or by building visually with a drag-and-drop canvas. The system supports logical branching, content extraction, and dynamic decisions. It works inside Gmail and through a dedicated Workspace Flows interface.

Gemini Flows Overview

Category	Details
What it is	No-code AI automation platform for Google Workspace
Core model	Gemini (reasoning for research, summarization, analysis, content generation)
Who it’s for	Workspace users who want to automate multi-step tasks
Access	Requires a Google Workspace account (work or education)
Where to use	Inside Gmail and in the Workspace Flows UI
Key components	Starters, conditions, actions, functions
Supported Google apps	Gmail, Drive, Chat, Calendar, Forms
Example capabilities	Summarize emails, notify in Chat, schedule events, create tasks
Templates	Meetings, team collaboration, email boosters, action-item task creation
External integrations	Salesforce, Mailchimp (and more via connectors)
Build methods	Natural-language description or drag-and-drop canvas
Output types	Emails, Chat messages, files, tasks, CRM updates, Sheets entries
Monitoring	Agent and activity tracking in Gmail and Flows UI

Key Features of Gemini Flows

• Natural-language agent creation: Describe the task; Gemini builds the automation.
• Visual builder: Drag starter, condition, action, and function nodes onto a canvas.
• Deep app connections: Gmail, Drive, Chat, Calendar, Forms, plus integrations such as Salesforce and Mailchimp.
• Reasoning-powered steps: Research, summarize, analyze, extract details, and generate content.
• Branching logic: Use conditions to decide how the agent proceeds on each run.
• Multi-step workflows: Trigger sequences across multiple apps from a single event.
• Embedded tracking: Review your agents and activity directly in Gmail or the Flows dashboard.
• Templates: Ready-made flows for meetings, collaboration, email workflows, and action-item task creation.

Access and Setup

You need a Google Workspace account. Once enabled, you can open Flows from inside Gmail to discover and run flows, see your own agents, and track activity. You can also open the Workspace Flows UI to design and manage custom agents.

The Gmail view is helpful for quick access to common automations and status checks. The Flows UI is where you design, configure, and refine agents with more control.

Quick Automation Example: Email Summary to Chat

I set up an agent to watch for emails from specific people. When a new email arrives containing a target term (for example, “AI models”), the agent summarizes the message and posts the summary in Google Chat. It took under a minute to configure and immediately delivered the result in Chat after receiving a matching email.

This pattern is ideal for faster triage. Instead of reading the full message, you see a clear summary and can follow the link to the original email if needed.

Getting Started With Templates

The Flows site offers templates that cover common workflows:

• Better meetings
• Team connection and collaboration
• Email boosters
• Action-item task creation

A template can include steps to decide, extract content, create a task, and add a subtask. Templates are a quick way to start learning structures like decision points and extraction actions. You can manage your agents and view activity in a dedicated tab, and connect external services such as Salesforce or Mailchimp.

Building Agents Two Ways

Natural-Language Creation

You can type a description of what you want, such as “Create a lead enrichment agent.” Gemini will propose a flow that connects relevant starters and actions. This method is fast for prototyping and often produces a workable baseline with steps like extraction, analysis, and notifications.

Drag-and-Drop Canvas

You can also click “New agent” to open the visual builder. Add nodes, connect them, and configure each step. This approach gives you precise control over triggers, logic, and outputs.

Starters

• When a new email arrives
• When someone joins a space
• When a meeting is scheduled or updated
• When a form is submitted

Conditions

• Check sender or subject
• Look for keywords or phrases
• Validate extracted fields (e.g., company, contact, intent)

Actions and Functions

• Summarize or analyze content with Gemini
• Extract entities (names, companies, contact details)
• Send emails
• Post to Chat
• Create tasks or calendar events
• Update records (e.g., notes, Sheets, CRM)

Lead Enrichment Agent: Step-by-Step

A lead enrichment agent can activate on incoming leads from Gmail or Forms. It can pull lead details, research the company, score the lead, and update your CRM or record system. Here’s how a typical version works.

1) Describe the Agent

• Prompt: “Create a lead enrichment agent.”
• Intent: On new lead arrival, gather contact details and company information, enrich with research, qualify based on criteria, and update a record.

Gemini assembles a draft workflow with a trigger, extraction, enrichment, and a record update. In some cases, the initial record step may target a notes app or similar destination; you can switch it to Sheets or another system as needed.

2) Configure the Trigger

• Starter: When a new email arrives (or when a new form response is received).
• Scope: Match emails that look like leads (e.g., sent to a lead alias or containing lead-related keywords).

3) Add a Decision Step

• Condition: Is this message a lead? Check sender, subject, and content against criteria.
• If yes: Proceed to extraction and enrichment.
• If no: End or route to a different branch.

4) Extract Lead Details

• Fields to extract: Company name, contact person, email, phone number, relevant product or service, stated priority.
• Use Gemini to parse the email and return a structured result.

5) Enrich the Lead

• Research: Ask Gemini to gather public details about the company to inform qualification.
• Score: Apply criteria you specify (e.g., size, fit, intent signals) and produce a lead score or status.

6) Notify and Record

• Notifications: Send a summary via email and post a concise message in Google Chat that includes the extracted fields, lead assessment, and a link to the original email.
• Record update: Add or update the lead in your chosen system. You can use a note or write to a structured sheet for tracking.

This agent can be created quickly by describing the intent and refining the nodes. In testing, the agent extracted the name, company, email, phone number, summarized the client ask, included a priority, and linked back to the source email.

Improving the Workflow: Conditional Extraction and Notifications

To refine the lead flow:

• Starter: When a new email arrives.
• Condition: Decide if it’s a lead based on your rules.
• Extraction: Pull company, contact name, email, phone, and intent.
• Notifications: Send a confirmation email and a Chat message with the summary and extracted fields.

Make sure to specify the recipient for the notification email. Once set, the system processes new leads, sends a clear summary, and keeps the original email linked for context.

Add Structured Storage in Sheets

You can add a step to write extracted fields to a Google Sheet. This keeps lead data structured for follow-up and reporting. Append a new row with fields such as:

• Timestamp
• Company
• Contact name
• Email
• Phone
• Requested service or product
• Priority
• Lead score or status
• Source email link

This simple addition turns your agent into a continuous intake and logging system for incoming leads.

Accessing Flows Inside Gmail

Inside Gmail, you can:

• Discover flows related to email tasks.
• Launch your agents.
• Review activity generated by your automations.

This in-inbox view helps you keep tabs on what the agents are doing without switching apps. It’s especially useful for email-to-Chat summaries and action-item conversions.

The Workspace Flows UI

In the Flows UI, you can:

• Design agents with the canvas builder.
• Edit the nodes created by a natural-language description.
• Add starters, conditions, actions, and functions.
• Connect external services such as Salesforce and Mailchimp.
• View agent history and troubleshoot runs.

The canvas is a straightforward way to express logic and ensure each branch does the right thing. For meeting-related flows, you can provide details like date, time, and attendees, then connect follow-up steps such as summaries, tasks, or notifications.

Templates To Jumpstart Your Setup

Templates focus on common needs:

• Meetings: Prepare agendas, log decisions, and create follow-up tasks.
• Team connection: Post updates to Chat or send group emails.
• Email boosters: Extract content, summarize, and route messages.
• Action items: Detect explicit requests and create tasks with subtasks.

A typical “action-item” template can include:

• Decide: Confirm the message contains an action request.
• Extract: Pull the task description and metadata.
• Create task: Add it to your task manager.
• Add subtask: Break down the request into smaller steps.

You can start with a template and tailor the nodes to your rules, recipients, and tools.

Step-by-Step: Building an Email-to-Chat Summary Agent

Build with Natural Language

1. Describe your intent: “Summarize emails from [sender or domain] that mention [keyword] and post the summary in Google Chat.”
2. Review the draft flow: Confirm the email starter, keyword filter, Gemini summarization, and Chat action.
3. Set parameters: Define sender filters, keywords, and target Chat space.
4. Test: Send a sample email that matches your criteria and confirm the Chat summary arrives with a link back to the original message.

Build with the Canvas

1. Add a starter: New email received.
2. Add a condition: Subject or body contains your target keyword.
3. Add a function: Summarize the email with Gemini.
4. Add an action: Post the summary to a specific Chat space.
5. Optional: Send a confirmation email to yourself or a group.

Step-by-Step: Building a Lead Enrichment Agent

Natural-Language Draft

1. Describe: “When a new lead arrives by email or form, extract contact details, research the company, qualify, and update our record, then notify the team.”
2. Accept the draft: Ensure the flow includes extraction, enrichment, scoring, and notifications.
3. Edit: Replace any placeholder record step (e.g., a note) with an update to a specific Google Sheet or CRM connector.

Canvas Refinement

1. Starter: New email received (or new form response).
2. Condition: Determine if it’s a lead.
3. Extraction: Pull company, contact name, email, phone, request, and priority.
4. Enrichment: Ask Gemini to research the company and apply your qualification criteria.
5. Actions:
   • Send an email with the summary.
   • Post a Chat message with key fields and the source link.
   • Write a new row to a Google Sheet with all extracted and derived fields.

Notifications and Monitoring

You can track agent activity inside Gmail and in the Flows UI. For notifications:

• Email: Send concise summaries to specific recipients.
• Chat: Post summaries in a dedicated space for quick team visibility.
• Links: Include the original message link so you can review full context.

Monitoring helps confirm the agent runs as expected and makes it easier to refine filters, prompts, and actions.

External Integrations Mentioned

Flows can connect with external tools:

• Salesforce: Sync lead updates or add records as part of your sales process.
• Mailchimp: Trigger newsletter or campaign actions based on events from Gmail or Forms.

These integrations expand what your agents can do across customer and marketing systems.

Practical Design Notes

• Keep your conditions explicit so only relevant items trigger follow-up steps.
• Use extraction to structure unformatted text into fields you can store and search.
• Combine email and Chat notifications for both archival and quick visibility.
• Write to Sheets for a straightforward data store that is easy to share and report on.
• Start with templates or a natural-language description, then refine in the canvas.

Final Thoughts

Gemini Flows brings AI-driven agents to Google Workspace with natural-language setup and a visual builder. It connects Gmail, Drive, Chat, Calendar, and Forms, applies Gemini’s reasoning for summarization and analysis, and runs multi-step workflows with branching logic. You can start quickly with templates or build custom flows for your exact tasks.

From summarizing key emails in Chat to qualifying leads and logging them in Sheets, Flows helps you coordinate work across apps without manual effort. With access inside Gmail and a dedicated Flows UI, it’s straightforward to build, run, and monitor agents that fit your day-to-day needs.