SMF·GUMLOOP
Can a prompt replace Gumloop?
Automation — workflow automation and app integrations
Exhibit tracking slip
Verdict
A visual workflow builder where a step can be 'summarize this with an LLM' as a first-class node, chained with regular data-transformation steps — Gumloop's actual AI-native angle — is a real weekend build with your own model API key. What doesn't survive: Gumloop's library of pre-built connector nodes and its visual no-code canvas polish for non-developers.
Exhibit A — The prompt
Received on31.07.2026Build a linear workflow tool where an LLM call is a first-class step type, not just data transformation — Gumloop's actual AI-native idea. Use Next.js/TypeScript with Postgres, and a model key read from ANTHROPIC_API_KEY or OPENAI_API_KEY. Implement three node types usable in sequence: a trigger (webhook or manual run), a transform step (a small explicit JS function), and an AI step (send the current data plus a configured prompt template to the model, use its response as the step's output). Let the user define a workflow as an ordered list of these node types, a config file or a simple form-based builder, not a full drag-and-drop canvas, and run it end-to-end on trigger. Show each step's output before the next runs, both live during a run and in a stored run history, so an AI step's output can be inspected rather than trusted blindly. Store every run in Postgres with per-step status. Do not build a true visual drag-and-drop canvas, a library of pre-built connector nodes for specific services, or team-shared libraries — those are out of scope; workflows here are configured, not visually dragged into place. Requires an Anthropic or OpenAI API key, plus hosting and a database.
Opening prefills the prompt — press enter to run it.
Exhibit B — What you lose
- B.1 a library of pre-built connector nodes for many services
- B.2 a true visual drag-and-drop canvas for non-developers
- B.3 team-shared workflow libraries
- B.4 high-scale durable execution
Prior art
Exhibit C — Why people still pay: connector breadth and execution reliability
Chaining a couple of AI and data steps together is a weekend; a library of pre-built connectors plus a true visual canvas usable by non-developers is a much larger, more polished product.
Questions
Can AI actually be a step in the workflow, not just at the end?
Yes — that's the core idea here. An AI step can sit anywhere in the sequence, its output feeding into the next transform or AI step, matching Gumloop's own AI-native workflow design.
Is there a visual drag-and-drop canvas?
No — workflows are configured as an ordered list of steps rather than dragged into place visually. A true visual canvas is real UI-builder engineering this build doesn't attempt.
How many services does it connect to out of the box?
None pre-built — the transform step is a generic function you write, and any API call needs to be coded into it yourself, unlike Gumloop's library of pre-built connectors.
What does it cost to run?
Hosting, a database, and model API usage for AI steps, billed per token — costs scale with how many workflows include an AI step and how often they run.
Related tools
Receipt