Skip to main content
Flow is Alter’s built-in tool orchestrator. Instead of loading all your enabled tools into every request, Flow acts as a single tool that intelligently routes your requests to the right tools.
Enable Tools First — Flow can only use tools you’ve already enabled in Tool Manager. It doesn’t automatically enable disabled tools. Make sure the tools you need are toggled on before using Flow.

​
Why Use Flow?

Save Context Space

Flow loads as a single tool instead of all enabled tools, freeing up your context window for actual content

Faster Performance

Smaller payloads process faster and reduce latency on every request

Save Fair Use Budget

Fewer tokens per request means less usage against your fair use policy budget
Every tool you enable consumes space in your context window. When you have 10+ tools enabled, this significantly impacts performance. Flow solves this by acting as a single tool that orchestrates all others.

​
Enable Flow

1

Open Settings

Press ⌘ , (Command + Comma) or click Settings in the menu
2

Go to Tool Manager

Navigate to the Tool Manager tab
3

Enable Flow

Under Local Tools > Alter, toggle Flow on
Remember: Flow can only orchestrate tools that are already enabled. Enable the specific tools you need (Calendar, Gmail, Slack, etc.) in addition to Flow itself.

​
How Flow Works

When you send a request with Flow enabled, it follows this process:
1

Analyze

Flow analyzes your request to understand what you’re trying to accomplish
2

Select

From your enabled tools, Flow selects the appropriate tool(s) for the task
3

Execute

Flow executes the tool calls in sequence, passing data between steps as needed
4

Summarize

Results are condensed into a concise response with key data points preserved

​
Examples

Request: “What meetings do I have today?”Flow automatically:
  1. Recognizes you need calendar information
  2. Selects the Calendar tool
  3. Retrieves your meetings
No need to manually select the Calendar tool — Flow handles it.

​
When to Use Flow vs Specific Tools

Use Flow

  • You’re not sure which tool to use
  • You want simple, natural language requests
  • You have many tools enabled
  • You’re doing complex multi-step tasks

Use Specific Tool Actions

  • You know exactly which tool you need
  • You want the fastest possible execution
  • You’re building repeatable workflows
  • You need predictable, consistent behavior
90% Rule: For 90% of tasks, Flow is the best choice. Create specific tool actions only when you need optimized, repeatable workflows.

​
Best Practice: Configure “Ask Anything”

The Ask Anything action is Alter’s default — it’s used when you type in the prompt box without selecting a specific action.
1

Open Action Editor

Go to Settings > Actions
2

Find Ask Anything

Look for the “Ask Anything” action
3

Click Advanced

Expand the Advanced section
4

Select Only Flow

In the Tools section, select only Flow (deselect all other tools)
5

Save

Save your changes
Now your default interactions will use Flow’s orchestration instead of loading all enabled tools into every request.
Flow automatically chains tools together when a task requires multiple steps. The output of one tool can be referenced in subsequent calls using the $N syntax.

​
Reference Syntax

SyntaxDescription
$1Raw output from step 1
$2Raw output from step 2
$N:instructionTransform step N’s output using an instruction

​
Example with Transformation

When scraping a website and formatting the results:
  1. Flow uses a web tool to fetch content
  2. Applies transformation: $1:Extract the key frameworks and format as bullet points
  3. The LLM processes the raw content before passing to the next tool
This allows Flow to:
  • Extract only relevant information from large outputs
  • Format data appropriately for the next tool
  • Reduce noise in subsequent steps
Flow includes a built-in summarization step that optimizes how results are returned to your conversation.

​
What Summarization Does

After executing tools, Flow:
  1. Condenses the output — Compresses verbose tool outputs
  2. Preserves important data — Keeps IDs, URLs, references, and data points
  3. Surfaces key insights — Highlights links, ideas, and findings for follow-up
  4. Provides source citations — Uses [Step N] notation for traceability

​
Why This Matters

Without summarization, complex workflows would bloat your context window. By turn 5 or 6, you’d hit token limits.Flow’s summarization ensures:
  • Efficient context — Only essential information is kept
  • Actionable replies — Important data points are preserved
  • Better performance — Less context = faster responses
  • Traceability — [Step N] citations verify information sources

​
Example Output

Task completed successfully.

Key artifacts for next actions:
- Meeting ID: 12345 [Step 1]
- Attendees: [email protected], [email protected] [Step 1]
- Draft email prepared [Step 2]

Important findings:
- Meeting conflicts with another event at 3pm [Step 1]
- Alice has an out-of-office message active [Step 2]

​
Tips for Best Results

Be Specific

Good: “Send a Slack message to the engineering channel”

Vague: “Message the team”

Specific requests help Flow select the right tool.

Chain Naturally

Flow handles multi-step tasks well. Don’t break complex requests into multiple prompts — let Flow orchestrate the chain.

Review Results

Flow shows which tools it’s using. If it selects the wrong one, rephrase your request with more detail.

​
Troubleshooting

Rephrase your request with more specific details:
  • Instead of: “Check my messages”
  • Try: “Check my unread Slack messages in the general channel”
The more specific you are, the better Flow can match your intent to the right tool.
Make sure the tool is:
  • Enabled in Tool Manager (Flow can’t use disabled tools)
  • Properly configured (e.g., authenticated with Gmail)
  • Not restricted by your action settings
Even with Flow, very large requests can be slow. Try:
  • Breaking very complex tasks into 2-3 steps
  • Using specific tool actions for frequently repeated tasks
  • Enabling only essential tools in Tool Manager

Tool Manager Guide

Learn how to connect and manage your tools

Tools Not Working

Fix common integration issues

Alter Actions

Build custom tool workflows