8 min
Use secrets and variables
Keep the values a task needs out of the prompt. Variables hold configuration. Secrets hold credentials. The agent never sees a secret in plain text.
5,000 free credits to start.
- 01
Know which one you need
A variable holds a value you are happy to read in a run transcript. A channel name, a threshold, a sending address. A secret holds anything you are not. An API token, a signing key, a password.
- 02
Store it at the right level
Put a value the whole organization shares at the organization level. Put a one-off token on the workflow that needs it. The narrowest level that works is the right one.
- 03
Reference it from the prompt
Name the variable in the prompt and the run resolves it. A secret is injected where it is needed and never lands in the prompt text, so it stays out of the transcript your team reads.
- 04
Rotate without touching a prompt
The value lives beside the workflow. Rotating a token is one edit in one place. Every workflow that references it picks up the new value on its next run.
- 05
Prefer integrations for credentials
Connected integrations already inject their credentials at the network layer. The token for Slack or Stripe belongs in the integration.
Keep going
Next guides
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Connect a database
Give a workflow Postgres, MySQL, or ClickHouse. It reads the schema, writes real SQL, and checks the results in its own sandbox.
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Attach an MCP server
Point Helios at a remote MCP server, choose which of its tools workflows may call, and use Helios itself over MCP from other clients.
9 min
Share with your team
Hand a workflow to the people who need it. Four roles decide who may view, run, or edit. Every run leaves a transcript of what happened.
Templates
Put it to work
Templates that use what this guide covers.
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Nightly data quality checks
Runs your invariants against production every night and emails the on-call analyst which rows broke and since when.
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Inbound lead enrichment
Enriches every new signup, scores it against your ICP by reading the company's own website, and routes the strong fits.
Try it in your workspace.
Start free, connect a tool, and write the first prompt in plain words.