# Action Node

### What is an Action Node?

An Action node allows your workflow to interact with external systems. You can use it to send data to other apps, update databases, trigger web searches, or automate other tasks across services.

This node is typically used after collecting and processing data through Input or LLM nodes.

Common uses include:

* Sending rows to **Airtable** or **Excel**
* Updating documents in **Notion** or **MongoDB**
* Querying or writing to **PostgreSQL**
* Triggering a **Web Search** and retrieving results
* Sending Emails using **Gmail** or **Outlook**

These nodes help turn your workflows into automated agents that don’t just compute — they also take action.

### How to use the Action node

To use the Action node:

1. Click the node.
2. In the right panel, search and select an action from the desired node.

Depending on the Action selected:

* **Input:** Requires structured data (usually JSON or plain text) from a previous node.
* **Output:** Sends data to an external service. The result can optionally be passed to an Output node or another processing node like an LLM.

Not all actions produce user-facing output. Some simply perform the task in the background — such as logging, sending an email, or updating a database.


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.stackai.com/workflow-builder/outputs/action-node.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.