Lesson 2 of 7
Scenarios, Zaps & workflows
6 min read
Make calls it a scenario. Zapier calls it a Zap. n8n calls it a workflow. Three names — but are they really three different things?
Same idea, three names
A single trigger and a single action is only the start. Most real automations are a flow: a trigger followed by several steps that run one after another. Make names it a scenario, Zapier a Zap, n8n a workflow — but under the hood they're the same thing, and once you know the shape you can read any of them.
A workflow is a trigger plus a line of steps. Each step takes what the one before it produced and hands its own result to the next.
Data flows down the line
The real magic is that data flows through the chain like a bucket brigade. The trigger catches a new order; the next step looks up who bought it; the next writes a thank-you; the last one sends it. Each step builds on what came before — raw thing in at the top, finished result out at the bottom.
Think of a flow as a pipeline: messy input enters the first step, and each step reshapes it a little until a finished result falls out the end.
Start small — a trigger and one action. Add steps only when you actually need them. Every long flow is just a short one that grew.
The shape of it
- —Scenario, Zap, workflow — different names for the same trigger-plus-steps flow.
- —Steps run in order; each one passes its result to the next.
- —Data is transformed as it travels down the chain.
In a multi-step flow, how do the steps work together?
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