Skyvern/docs/cloud/getting-started/core-concepts.mdx

---
title: Core Concepts
subtitle: The building blocks of every automation in the Skyvern dashboard
description: Understand tasks, workflows, blocks, runs, browser sessions, browser profiles, and credentials in the Skyvern Cloud UI — what each is, where to find it, and how it fits together.
slug: cloud/getting-started/core-concepts
keywords:
  - task
  - workflow
  - block
  - browser session
  - browser profile
  - credential
  - run
  - schedule
  - engine
---

Every automation you build in Skyvern Cloud is composed of the same nine building blocks. This page is a quick tour of each one — what it is, where you find it in the dashboard, and when to reach for it.

If you've already poked around the dashboard, this map will tie what you've seen to the underlying concepts.

---

## Tasks

A **Task** is a single automation job. You describe what you want, Skyvern opens a browser and does it.

You create tasks from the **Discover** page. Type your prompt and target URL into the input bar, pick an engine, and hit send.

<img src="/images/cloud/discover-page-overview.png" alt="Discover page where you create one-off tasks" />

Tasks are the right starting point for one-off automations, ad-hoc data extraction, or quickly testing whether an idea is feasible before turning it into a workflow.

When you outgrow a single task — you need parameters, branching, loops, or to run the same flow on a schedule — graduate to a Workflow.

<Card title="Run a task →" icon="play" href="/cloud/getting-started/run-a-task">
  Walkthrough of every option on the Discover page.
</Card>

---

## Workflows

A **Workflow** is a reusable automation built by chaining blocks together on a visual canvas. Workflows are versioned, parameterized, and shareable across your team.

You build them on the **Workflows** page. Click any workflow to open the editor, where blocks appear as connected nodes you can drag and configure.

<img src="/images/cloud/workflow-editor-overview.png" alt="Workflow editor with blocks chained together" />

Use a workflow when:

- The same flow needs to run repeatedly with different inputs
- You need to loop over a list, branch on a condition, or pass data between steps
- You want to schedule the automation to run on a cadence
- You want a teammate to be able to re-run it without re-deriving the logic

<Card title="Build a workflow →" icon="diagram-project" href="/cloud/building-workflows/build-a-workflow">
  Tutorial covering blocks, parameters, branching, and execution.
</Card>

---

## Blocks

**Blocks** are the units a workflow is built from. Each block performs one thing — navigate, log in, extract data, branch on a condition, send an email — and passes its output to the next block.

In the workflow editor, click the **+** button on any node to insert a new block. The picker groups every available block by category.

<img src="/images/cloud/add-block-panel.png" alt="Block picker with categories and block types" />

There are 20+ block types organized into:

- **Browser automation** — Browser Task, Browser Action, Login, Extraction, Go to URL, Print Page
- **Data and extraction** — Text Prompt, File Parser
- **Control flow** — Loop, Conditional, AI Validation, Code, Wait
- **Files** — File Download, Cloud Storage Upload
- **Communication** — Send Email, HTTP Request, Human Interaction

Each block has its own configuration panel. The full reference, with every field for every block, lives at [Workflow Blocks](/cloud/building-workflows/configure-blocks).

---

## Runs

Every time a task or workflow executes, Skyvern creates a **Run** — a record of what happened, with a video, screenshots, action log, and any extracted data.

The **Runs** page is your history. Filter by status, search by run ID, click any row to drill in.

<img src="/images/cloud/run-history-overview.png" alt="Runs page showing execution history with statuses" />

Inside a run detail page you'll find:

- **Live viewer / recording** — full video of the browser as it executed
- **Actions** — every step the agent took, with the LLM's reasoning
- **Output** — the structured data extracted (matches the schema you defined)
- **Code** — auto-generated Python/TypeScript/cURL to reproduce this run via API
- **Downloaded files** — anything Skyvern saved, with signed URLs and checksums

A run can be `queued`, `running`, `completed`, `failed`, `terminated`, `timed_out`, or `canceled`. You're billed per **step** — one screenshot + LLM decision + browser action.

<Card title="Read run details →" icon="list-check" href="/cloud/viewing-results/run-details">
  How to interpret the actions tab, recordings, and output.
</Card>

---

## Browser sessions

A **browser session** is a live browser instance you keep open across multiple runs. Sessions preserve everything that lives in the browser — cookies, login state, cached pages, the current tab — so a follow-up task picks up exactly where the previous one left off.

You manage sessions on the **Browsers** page. Create a session, run tasks against it, then close it when you're done.

<img src="/images/cloud/browsers-page-overview.png" alt="Browsers page with active session and details" />

Sessions are perfect when you want to:

- Log in once, then run a sequence of tasks behind that login
- Hand off a partially-completed flow between an agent and a human (Take Control)
- Keep a long-running automation warm without re-authenticating each step

Sessions live for 5 minutes to 24 hours (default 60 minutes). When the timer ends or you close it manually, the browser is destroyed and its state goes with it.

<Card title="Browser sessions →" icon="window" href="/cloud/browser-management/browser-sessions">
  Create, attach, and reuse sessions across runs.
</Card>

---

## Browser profiles

A **browser profile** is the persistent counterpart to a session. Where a session is a live browser that times out, a profile is a saved snapshot — cookies, auth tokens, local storage — that you can reload weeks later to skip the login flow entirely.

Profiles are listed on the **Browsers** page under the Profiles tab. You create one from any completed run, then attach it to future runs to start in an already-authenticated state.

| | Browser session | Browser profile |
|---|---|---|
| **Live or saved?** | Live, in-memory browser | Saved snapshot of state |
| **Lifetime** | 5 min – 24 hr | Indefinite |
| **Best for** | Chaining tasks in real time | Skipping login on repeat runs |

<Card title="Browser profiles →" icon="floppy-disk" href="/cloud/browser-management/browser-profiles">
  Save and reuse authenticated state across days or weeks.
</Card>

---

## Credentials

A **credential** is a stored login, credit card, or 2FA secret that Skyvern injects directly into the browser at runtime. Credentials are encrypted at rest and **never sent to the LLM** — the agent decides where the password field is, and the value is filled in via the browser layer.

The **Credentials** page is where you manage them.

<img src="/images/cloud/credentials-overview.png" alt="Credentials page with password and credit card credentials" />

Three credential types are supported:

- **Password** — username + password, optionally with a TOTP secret or email/SMS 2FA
- **Credit card** — card number, expiry, CVC, billing address
- **Secret** — any single value you want to keep out of the LLM context

You can also sync credentials from **Bitwarden**, **1Password**, or **Azure Key Vault** instead of storing them in Skyvern.

<Card title="Credentials overview →" icon="lock" href="/cloud/managing-credentials/credentials-overview">
  Security model, supported types, and external vault integration.
</Card>

---

## Schedules

A **schedule** runs a workflow automatically on a recurring cadence. You set a cron expression and timezone, and Skyvern fires the workflow at every interval — no manual trigger needed.

Schedules are configured per workflow. Open any workflow's actions menu and choose **Schedule**.

<img src="/images/cloud/create-sched-form.png" alt="Schedule form with cron expression and timezone" />

Use schedules for daily reports, hourly monitoring, periodic data syncs, or anything that should "just keep running" without you remembering to click Run.

<Card title="Scheduling →" icon="calendar" href="/cloud/building-workflows/scheduling">
  Cron syntax, timezones, and managing scheduled runs.
</Card>

---

## Engines

An **engine** is the AI model Skyvern uses to drive the browser. Different engines have different strengths — speed, accuracy on complex pages, cost — and you can pick one per task or per block.

The engine picker appears on the Discover page (for tasks) and on every browser-driven block in the workflow editor.

| Engine | When to use |
|--------|-------------|
| **Skyvern 2.0** | Default. Best balance of accuracy and speed for most automations. |
| **Skyvern 1.0** | Lighter and faster for simple, single-page interactions. |
| **OpenAI CUA** | OpenAI's Computer Use Agent. Good for visual reasoning. |
| **Anthropic CUA** | Anthropic's Claude Computer Use. Strong at multi-step planning. |
| **UI-TARS** | Lightweight CUA model option. |

If you're not sure, leave it on the default. Switch engines if you hit accuracy issues on a specific site.

---

## How they fit together

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    A[Task] -->|Single job, one prompt| R1[Run]
    W[Workflow] -->|Reusable, multi-step| R2[Run]
    W -->|Composed of| B[Blocks]
    S[Schedule] -->|Triggers| W
    R1 & R2 -->|Optionally use| BS[Browser Session]
    BS -->|Snapshot to| BP[Browser Profile]
    BP -->|Restored by| R1
    BP -->|Restored by| R2
    R1 & R2 -->|Inject at runtime| C[Credentials]
    R1 & R2 -->|Driven by| E[Engine]
```

A typical day in the dashboard:

1. **Prototype** with a Task on the Discover page. Iterate on the prompt until it works.
2. **Productionize** by turning the prompt into a Workflow with Blocks, Parameters, and a Schedule.
3. **Persist state** by saving a Browser Profile after the first authenticated run, so future runs skip login.
4. **Audit** every execution on the Runs page — recording, actions, output, downloaded files.

---

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card
    title="Run Your First Task"
    icon="play"
    href="/cloud/getting-started/run-your-first-task"
  >
    Hands-on tutorial — go from prompt to extracted data in a few minutes.
  </Card>
  <Card
    title="Build a Workflow"
    icon="diagram-project"
    href="/cloud/building-workflows/build-a-workflow"
  >
    Wire blocks together into a reusable, parameterized automation.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>