SIM AI Workflows Plugin

Field	Value
Plugin ID	sim-ai
Category	pipeline
Configuration Mode	user-required
Built-in	Yes
Auto-enabled	No

Overview

The SIM AI Workflows plugin lets you delegate the entire work generation process to a SIM AI workflow. SIM AI is an open-source visual workflow builder — you design AI agent workflows by connecting blocks in a visual editor rather than writing code.

When you select SIM AI as the pipeline, the platform sends your work context (name, prompt, existing items) to a SIM workflow that you've designed, the workflow runs on SIM's infrastructure, and the results are collected back into your work as structured items with categories, tags, and brands.

When to Use SIM AI

SIM AI is the right choice when:

• You need custom generation logic that doesn't fit the Standard or Agent Pipeline's built-in approach — for example, calling a proprietary API, scraping a specific website, or applying domain-specific rules.
• You want to use AI models that aren't available as Ever Works plugins — SIM supports any model (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, open-source models hosted anywhere).
• You want visual debugging — SIM Studio shows step-by-step execution logs, so you can see exactly what each block produced.
• You're building workflows as a team — SIM workflows can be shared, versioned, and deployed independently.

How It Compares to Other Pipelines

	Standard Pipeline	Agent Pipeline	Claude Code	SIM AI
Who controls the logic?	Platform (15 fixed steps)	Autonomous agent	Claude Code CLI	You (visual workflow)
Where does AI run?	Your AI provider plugin	Your AI provider plugin	Anthropic API	SIM's infrastructure
What providers do you need?	AI, Search, Screenshot, Content Extractor	AI, Search, Screenshot, Content Extractor	Screenshot only	Screenshot only (optional)
Setup effort	None	None	None	Requires SIM account + workflow
Best for	Broad, structured works	Exploratory discovery	Advanced reasoning	Custom logic, specialized domains

Since SIM AI handles AI and search internally through your workflow, you do not need AI provider or search provider plugins configured in Ever Works. The only optional Ever Works provider is screenshot (if you want the platform to capture screenshots after the workflow completes).

Step-by-Step: Getting Started

1. Create a SIM AI Account

Go to sim.ai and sign up for an account. SIM offers a free tier that's sufficient for testing.

2. Build Your Workflow in SIM Studio

Open SIM Studio and create a new workflow. Your workflow needs to do three things: receive input from Ever Works, generate work items, and return them in the expected format.

Configure the Start block:

The Start block is where your workflow receives input from the plugin. Add three fields of type object:

1. metadata — contains the work name, description, prompt, and target item count.
2. existingSummary — contains a summary of items already in the work (for deduplication). This is optional and may not be present if the work is empty.
3. workflowParams — contains any custom key-value pairs you pass from the generator form.

You access these in subsequent blocks using SIM's variable syntax: <start.metadata>, <start.existingSummary>, <start.workflowParams>.

Design the workflow logic:

How you build the middle of your workflow is entirely up to you. A typical work generation workflow might look like this:

Common blocks you might use:

• Agent block — an AI agent that can reason, use tools (web search, URL reader), and produce structured output. This is the most powerful option for work generation.
• Search block — performs web searches and returns results.
• HTTP block — calls external APIs (your own services, databases, etc.).
• LLM block — calls a language model for text generation or classification.
• Condition block — branches the workflow based on data.

Configure the output:

Your workflow must return a JSON object with an items array. Each item needs at minimum a name, description, URL, category, and tags:

{
	"items": [
		{
			"name": "Tool Name",
			"description": "A concise description (1-3 sentences)",
			"url": "https://example.com",
			"category": "Category Name",
			"tags": ["tag1", "tag2"]
		}
	]
}

You can optionally include additional fields per item:

Field	Description
content	Longer markdown description for the item's detail page
brand	Company or brand name
images	Array of image URLs

And optional top-level arrays alongside items:

Field	Description
categories	Array of { name, description } — explicit category definitions
tags	Array of { name } — explicit tag definitions
brands	Array of { name, url } — explicit brand definitions

If you don't return these optional arrays, the plugin derives categories, tags, and brands from the items themselves.

Using SIM Studio's AI Chat

SIM Studio has a built-in AI chat that can generate workflow templates from a description. Paste this prompt to get a starter workflow:

Build a workflow that generates work listing items. The Start block has three object fields: metadata (accessed via <start.metadata>, contains prompt, workName, workDescription, targetItems), existingSummary (optional, accessed via <start.existingSummary>, contains existing items to avoid duplicates), and workflowParams (optional, accessed via <start.workflowParams>, custom key-value pairs). Use web search to find real items with valid URLs. Generate up to targetItems new items. Return a JSON object with an "items" array where each item has: name, description, url, category, tags. :::

3. Deploy Your Workflow

Once your workflow is built and tested in SIM Studio:

1. Click Deploy in the top-right corner of SIM Studio.
2. SIM will validate your workflow and create an API endpoint for it.
3. Copy the Workflow ID — you'll find it in the SIM dashboard URL or in the workflow settings. It looks like wf_abc123....
4. Copy your API key — generate one from the SIM dashboard if you haven't already.

warning

The workflow must be deployed before the plugin can use it. If you edit the workflow after deploying, you need to redeploy for the changes to take effect. The plugin will log a warning if it detects pending changes.

4. Configure the Plugin in Ever Works

1. Go to Settings > Plugins > SIM AI Workflows in the Ever Works dashboard.
2. Enter your SIM API key.
3. Enter the Default Workflow ID — this is the workflow that will run when you generate a work with the SIM AI pipeline.
4. Optionally change the Base URL if you self-host SIM (defaults to https://www.sim.ai).
5. Click Save. The plugin will validate your API key and check that the workflow is deployed.

You can also set the API key via the SIM_API_KEY environment variable in apps/api/.env.

5. Generate a Work with SIM AI

1. Go to Works > New Work and choose AI Creation.
2. Enter a work name and prompt as usual.
3. Expand Advanced Settings and select SIM AI Workflows as the pipeline.
4. The form will show SIM-specific options (see Generator Form Options below).
5. Optionally override the Workflow ID, set a target item count, or enable screenshot capture.
6. Click Generate. The platform dispatches the request to your SIM workflow and shows progress in real time.

You can also use SIM AI when regenerating an existing work — go to the work's detail page, open the generator, and select SIM AI as the pipeline.

Generator Form Options

When SIM AI is selected as the pipeline, the generation form shows these options:

Workflow Configuration

• SIM Workflow ID — override the default workflow for this specific generation. Leave empty to use the workflow ID from plugin settings.
• Target Items — how many new items to generate (default: 50, maximum: 500). This number is passed to your workflow as metadata.targetItems.
• Workflow Timeout — maximum time to wait for the workflow to complete (default: 60 minutes, maximum: 120 minutes). If the workflow doesn't finish in time, the generation fails with a timeout error.

Data Passing

These options control what context your SIM workflow receives:

• Pass Existing Items Summary (default: on) — includes a summary of items already in the work: total count, category and tag names, and the first 20 items with their names and URLs. This helps your workflow avoid generating duplicate items.

• Pass Data Repository Access (default: off) — grants your workflow direct read access to the work's data repository on GitHub. When enabled, three additional fields appear:

  • Data Repository URL — the GitHub URL of the work's data repo.
  • Repository Access Token — a read-only GitHub token for the repo.
  • Repository Branch — the branch to read from (defaults to data).

caution

When passing repository access, use a short-lived, read-only token. The token is sent to the SIM workflow and could be logged or stored there. Never use a long-lived personal access token with write permissions.

Features

• Capture Screenshots (default: off) — after the workflow completes, the platform captures website screenshots for items that have a URL but no images. This uses your configured Ever Works screenshot provider (ScreenshotOne, Urlbox, etc.), not SIM.

Advanced

• Custom Workflow Parameters — a JSON editor for key-value pairs that are passed to your workflow as workflowParams. Use this for workflow-specific configuration — for example, { "search_depth": "deep", "region": "US" }.

What Happens During Generation

When you trigger a generation with SIM AI, here's what happens step by step:

1. Validate — the plugin checks that your API key is valid, the workflow is deployed and reachable, and your SIM account hasn't hit its rate limit. If anything is wrong, you get a clear error message before any generation runs.

2. Prepare — the plugin builds a structured input payload from your work's metadata, the user's prompt, existing items summary (if enabled), and any custom workflow parameters.

3. Execute — the plugin calls the SIM API to run your workflow. Since the generation already runs as a background job, the plugin waits synchronously for the workflow to complete. You can see progress updates on the work detail page.

4. Collect — when the workflow finishes, the plugin parses the output. It's flexible about the format: it handles a direct { items: [...] } object, a plain array of items, and various nested structures. Items are validated (must have at least a name) and deduplicated against existing work items by name.

5. Screenshots (optional) — if enabled, the platform captures website screenshots for items that have a URL but no images, using the configured screenshot provider.

6. Cleanup — resources are released and the work is marked as generated.

Understanding Workflow Input

Your SIM workflow receives structured data from Ever Works. Here's what each field contains and how to use it:

The metadata Object

Always present. Contains everything the workflow needs to know about the generation request:

Field	Example	How to use it
workName	"Best AI Writing Tools"	Use as context for what kind of items to find
workDescription	"A curated list of..."	Additional context about the work's purpose
prompt	"Find tools that..."	The user's specific instructions — this is the most important field
targetItems	50	How many new items the user wants — use as a stopping condition
generationMethod	"create-update"	Whether to add to existing items or recreate from scratch
workId	"uuid-123"	Unique ID (useful for logging/tracking)
workSlug	"best-ai-writing-tools"	URL slug (useful if your workflow generates links)

The existingSummary Object

Present when the work has existing items and "Pass Existing Items Summary" is enabled. Use it to avoid duplicates:

Field	Example	How to use it
totalItems	25	Know how many items already exist
categories	["Writing", "Editing"]	Existing categories — reuse or extend them
tags	["free", "paid", "ai-powered"]	Existing tags — reuse for consistency
sampleItems	[{ name: "Grammarly", url: "..." }]	First 20 items — tell the AI to skip these

The workflowParams Object

Contains any custom parameters the user entered in the Advanced section of the generator form. The structure is entirely up to you — define whatever your workflow needs.

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Problem	What to check
"Invalid SIM API key"	Go to Settings > Plugins > SIM AI and verify your API key. Generate a new one from the SIM dashboard if needed.
"Workflow not deployed"	Open SIM Studio, find your workflow, and click Deploy. The plugin cannot call workflows that haven't been deployed.
"Workflow execution timed out"	Your workflow took longer than the configured timeout. Increase the timeout in the generator form (up to 120 minutes), or optimize your workflow to run faster.
"Rate limit exceeded"	Your SIM account has hit its API call limit. Wait for the limit to reset, or upgrade your SIM plan.
"Usage limit exceeded"	You've used your monthly SIM allocation. Check your plan limits in the SIM dashboard.
"Workflow returned empty content"	The Agent block in your workflow produced no output. This often happens when the input is too large and hits a context limit. Try reducing the input or simplifying the prompt in your workflow.
"Output does not contain items array"	Your workflow returned data in an unexpected format. Make sure the final output is { items: [...] }. Check the workflow execution logs in SIM Studio to see what was actually returned.
"No usable items"	The workflow returned a response but none of the items had a valid name field. Check the Agent block output in SIM Studio.

Debugging Tips

• Check SIM Studio logs first. Every workflow execution is logged in SIM Studio with step-by-step output. If generation fails, the logs will show exactly which block failed and what it produced.
• Test your workflow in SIM Studio before using it with Ever Works. Use the "Test" button in SIM Studio with sample input matching the format the plugin sends.
• Start simple. Begin with a basic Agent block that takes a prompt and returns items. Once that works, add web search, URL reading, and other blocks.
• Check the output format. The most common issue is the workflow returning items in an unexpected structure. The plugin expects { items: [...] } at the top level (or nested inside output, result, content, or data fields).

Example: Building a Simple Workflow

Here's a walkthrough of creating a basic work generation workflow:

Goal: A workflow that takes a work prompt, uses web search to find items, and returns structured results.

Step 1 — Start block: Add three object fields: metadata, existingSummary, workflowParams.

Step 2 — Agent block: Connect an Agent block to the Start block. Configure it with:

• A system prompt that explains the task: "You are a work curator. Given a topic and prompt, find real tools/products/services and return them as structured JSON."
• Tools: Enable web search and URL reader.
• Response format: JSON with an items array schema.
• Input: Reference <start.metadata.prompt> for the user's instructions and <start.metadata.targetItems> for how many items to find. Reference <start.existingSummary.sampleItems> to list items to avoid.

Step 3 — Output: The Agent block's response becomes the workflow output. Make sure the Agent is instructed to return the exact JSON format expected.

Step 4 — Test: Click "Test" in SIM Studio with sample input:

{
	"metadata": {
		"workName": "Best Project Management Tools",
		"prompt": "Find the best project management tools for small teams",
		"targetItems": 10
	}
}

Step 5 — Deploy: Once the test produces valid items, deploy the workflow and copy the Workflow ID into your Ever Works plugin settings.

Related

• Creating a Work — How to select SIM AI as the pipeline during work creation
• Pipeline Plugins — Overview of all pipeline plugin types
• Creating a Pipeline Plugin — How to build custom pipeline plugins
• SIM AI Documentation — Official SIM AI docs